Affordable Heavy Duty Trailer Rims

[ram350002]

Like many others, I got tired of trailer tires barely rated for the load, and even cheaper quality trailer tires. I wanted to upgrade my existing 15" tires but was some what limited by the 6 x 5.5" rims. The goal was to upgrade to 16" wheels but I found the selection of 6 x 5.5" rims max'ed out @ 3200lbs then I came acrossed these:

 

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/greenball-spoke-16x6-white/prod3110109.ip?navAction=

 

 They are rated for 3760lbs so you can mount G rated tires on them and NEVER have to worry about blowouts. Better still they only run $43.00 and NO shipping charge. Not much in the way of styling but they are functional. I plan on pairing them with some 235/85-16 tires. At this point I'm not sure if I wil;l go with the cheaper Load Range E or more expensive Load Range G but regardless, I will have a significant safety margin. It's about a $70 pre tire increase to jump up to these G rated tires:

 

http://geostartrucktire.com/tires/steerhighway/geostar-g574

 

 I would be going from 2540lbs per tire to 3750lbs per tire and a total increase of almost 5,000 lbs. A 50% increase over my current rating which will eliminate most any chance of a costly blowout on my 5er as long as they are properly maintained. Yes, I know my axles aren't rated for anything near this weight, but it's the tire shredding and taking out the side of my RV that I'm worried about. Hope this info helps others out.

 

P.S. Received them 4 days after my online order, less then $250.00 for a set of 5.

[diesel4life]

Just be careful of towing at higher speeds...I didn't see where they stated their rating but in general ST tires have a rather low speed rating. Generally it's not an issue unless/until you get on the freeway with it, and everybodys running you over because your trying to stay under 65mph.

Other than that, they should be a big improvement over the 15" tires you were running.

[Mopar1973Man]

Double check there is a Load Range G tire out there with a speed rating of Q (99 MPH) and its still a ST tire.

[Wild and Free]

With some E/G tires you need to worry about shaking and rattling the TT to death as you are riding on flintstone tires at that point every single road crack is jolting your trailer extremely hard unless you keep them aired down a lot., Would be ok on any other trailer but I would watch your speed and roads and drive accordingly with them on a TT or any sort of towable camper.

Edited January 19, 2014 by Wild and Free

[Ilikeoldfords]

Also a thing to keep in mind, double check the max load that the axles themselves are rated for. The bearings and spindles are only rated for a certain weight. Heavier tires wont do much if you overload the axles.

 

Surprisingly the axles are the common fail point rather than the tires. I had hundreds of people come in with broken axles or spindles that split and the tires were still ok after overload problems. Its amazing how many people dont take the axles into consideration. I am sure you have though.

[ram350002]

Finally decided on commercail grade e range 235/85-16. I was also concerned the g range tires would pound the 5'er the death. The jump up to a 16" wheel/tire gives me all kinds of options. Next step is to get it across the scales when it's loaded to calculate the correct air pressure. The ride quality can be adjusted pretty easy with these tires, but the side walls on the g's would have been too stiff to do anything about. As to the axles, they are 5K each and I won't exceed that. As stated above, I'd just be trading one problem for another. I just don't trust the current crop of trailer tires to run long distances at anything appraoching max rated load and don't want to experience the damage from a blow out.

[Mopar1973Man]

Actually I ran the load range G's on my pickup and no different in ride at all. Just adjust tire pressure accordingly and it was like any other load range E tire.

 

 

[AH64ID]

I am currently running LRG tires on my pickup and as long as the air pressure is adjusted properly they ride great. You do "feel" the road more, but not in a rough manner, I actually think they might be the smoothest tire I have run.

When I need to replace my trailer tires I am not sure what I will do. I might get 2 more seasons out of them (2 so far, with 2 spares rotated in annually, and 7K miles with lots of dirt). I haven't had a flat yet, and only have them about 70% loaded at the highest. But it would be nice to have a little nicer tire, but buying 6 gets pricey. I spend too much time in remote areas for 1 spare, or mismatched spares.

[Mopar1973Man]

I am currently running LRG tires on my pickup and as long as the air pressure is adjusted properly they ride great. You do "feel" the road more, but not in a rough manner, I actually think they might be the smoothest tire I have run.

When I need to replace my trailer tires I am not sure what I will do. I might get 2 more seasons out of them (2 so far, with 2 spares rotated in annually, and 7K miles with lots of dirt). I haven't had a flat yet, and only have them about 70% loaded at the highest. But it would be nice to have a little nicer tire, but buying 6 gets pricey. I spend too much time in remote areas for 1 spare, or mismatched spares.

 

Always strange how you leave the pavement and get way back in the middle of nowhere and you manage to find a nail, sharp rock, tree stob, chainsaw file some left in the road, etc.

 

Hmmm... That's one thing I've never done is rotated the spare into the mix.   I still got the factory Mitchellin LTX on the rim and it looks brand new maybe 300 miles on it tops. (265/75 R16) I know eventually I'll have to change the spare out for something else 12 years old of a tire the rubber will be getting rather old.

 

But I tend to like the LRG's more so than the LRE's.

[AH64ID]

I figure I paid for it and I might as well use it. Then it leaves me with a worn down tire for a 2nd spare in the future.

 

I carry two spares to some places for the mentioned reasons.. long way from nowhere....