Radial Tires for 13in rims in load range D

[michnern]

Hi everyone, I'm the proud owner of a new 2013 Jayco 228 travel trailer. We love it. But I'm not a fan of having bias ply tires on it. They don't pull or wear as well as radials nor do they dissipate heat as well as radials.

So.... I was going to just replace them with radial tires.... Not so easy I found... My trailer has 185/80D13 load range D tires and while I can get 185/80R13 radial tires in load range C, there aren't any for load range D that I can find...

Also, since my trailer still has two years of warranty, Jayco doesn't recommend replacing the tires with a "close" 14in rim combination because it could void my warranty if something was found to be defective due to an untested tire/rim combination.

My local "tire" guy says I can get a 14 inch rim with 205/75R14 tires that will only increase the radius of the overall tire by 0.7 inches which should still leave enough space between the tandem axels (my trailer has torsion bar suspension).

I am submitting a request to Jayco to officially test and release 14in tire/rim combinations recommendations for those of us that want to upgrade to radial tires. I guess we'll see where that goes.

Has anyone found a solution to this? Are there actually any 13in radial tires in load range D in my size that anyone has found?

Thanks for any help you can give.

[drfife]

Have you looked at what tires U-Haul puts on their trailers? Bias Ply

A friend runs a RV trailer rental company. What kind of tires does he use? Bias ply

He says the bias ply cost him less because they rarely blow-out, unlike radials

I'd keep the bias ply if I were you.

[Seann45]

Those 205/75R14's are they ST's? if not stay away from them.. you need the sidewall strength of a ST tire..

[michnern]

Originally Posted by Seann45

Those 205/75R14's are they ST's? if not stay away from them.. you need the sidewall strength of a ST tire..

Yeah, sorry, forgot to mention they were ST rated radials with rating of load range D.

[clutch]

I would wear them out first and then look for something different.

[JAMMFAM]

Originally Posted by clutch

I would wear them out first and then look for something different.

X2- might as well get something out of them before the sun starts to do its damage. Non-use wears them out quicker than anything.

[edatlanta]

I gave up on 13" tires on my boat trailer. I never found a "D" rated tire either and "C" rated tires were hard to find. The last ones I did find were 18 months old and still sitting on the shelf. Fortunately my boat trailer comes from the factory with 13's or 14's so I just replaced all 4 wheels with 14's and got the tires I wanted. I originally bought this trailer with 13's because I needed the trailer to be as low as possible so I could fit it into a garage. With a new garage with 8' clear doors that isn't a problem now.