Tire/Wheel Size Upgrade

[harleywolf]

I want to move up to a 14

[hayyward]

I too have a wheel size question. Our old camper (1971 Bethany) had 12", skinny little tires and pulled with great ease. Our 1989 Jayco has 8" tires that are quite wide, and pulls like a dead horse. We're wondering if tires as large as the wheel well allows will improve the towing? And what about width, how does that impact?

And speaking of towing... what are the guidelines for a CAR to pull a pop-up? (engine size, frame, etc??) I have used my car in the past, even with the 'dead horse' jayco. My 1988 Olds Delta 88 was a champion with the camper behind but the 1993 Olds 88 left me stranded with engine problems half way home.

My tow vehicle needs to also be my work/commute vehicle so gas mileage is important. Thanks for any input.

Leaving for the North Shore in 16 days, for 8 days of Lake Superior relaxation! I'm so excited I can barely stand it!

[mike4947]

All RV wheels have zero offset so any width considerations are just the actual wider width. Do not try and use automotive wheels to match the TV's. They all have either a positive or negative offset and in 99% of cases will cause interference.
The most common interference points are not the top of the wheel, but the front and rear of the wheel wheels where the tire comes closest to the tire.
A little more clearance can be found if your spring shackles can be moved from the upper hole to the lower hole.
I take it your current tires are ST185-13's with a weight rating of 1660 pounds. The "normal" ST205-14's come with a weight rating of IIRC 1760 pounds so there's no problem with to stiff tires causing bounce problems.
 
As for the second poster you can safely go with tires rated up to apx 50% more weight rating than the tires currently on the camper. Our PU's use the tires as a significant part of the suspension and going to high compared to stock can cause driving problems. More than that you run the risk of having the tires to stiff and experiencing bounce, to the point of having the trailer tires to actually come off the road, at any irregularity such as expansion strips and skittering around corners.

[BirdMan]

I plan to go to larger wheels once I wear down the one's I have now.  What I did do this spring in anticipation for larger wheels is do an axle flip.  This involved welding two spring mounting perches, one on each side, on top of the axle and moving the axle below the springs.  It cost me $100 (included parts & labor) to have this done at a local trailer shop.  I gained 4.5" of clearance.  With this extra clearance you will have many more options for larger wheels.  Before the axle flip I was using a 5" drop receiver on my Dodge Ram and now I have one that is flat.  This will depend on your towing vehicle.

If your only reason for going to larger wheels is clearance you may be very happy with just doing the axle flip.