Exchanging 15" Wheels for 16" on '11 Eagle 320RLDS

[cekkk]

I'm going to replace my trailer's tires pretty soon. I like substantial margins of safety where possible. The Marathon ST225 75R15D tires on my 10,000 # GAWR and 10,500 GVWR 320RLDS, at 2540#, have little margin. I called Jayco. As I expected, their lawyers will only let CS recommend the OEM stuff.

I'm looking for a load rating of 2800# or more. If you have gone to 16" successfully on a model similar to mine, or found it's not a good idea, I'd like to hear of your experience. Rims, type and size of tire, etc.

I don't want to go into ST vs. LT, but I am going to make every effort to go with a US made product. It seems the LT tires I find that have specs that appear close to my marathons in rim width, etc., end up being winter tires, even if tread appears to be non-aggressive.

Tire Rack explained "The winter compound is a very high silica compound for the best grip in snow and ice - very quick wearing and loud." Well, loud will only bother hitchhiking critters, and with the low miles put on trailers, wear doesn't seem to be important either. Any thoughts on that winter tire factor?

[tinlizzie23]

Our '04 Designer 29RLTS came with 15", but previous owner changed to 16" aluminum rims, and put D rated Chinese Marathons on. Not long after we got it, two of the Marathons developed bulges, and blew out the sidewalls. I then changed to E rated Maxxis, and have had no further issues. The Maxxis tires are made in Thailand, but the company says it is a US based plant that makes tires to US standards - just located in Thailand. Many folks report good experiences with them. My problem with LT tires is that they have stiffer sidewalls that are not designed to stretch sideways when maneuvering in the tight turns experienced with parking double axle TTs and 5ers. ST tires are designed for this, and therefore I prefer them.