Tires on 27BH

[Kevin80]

If you’ve seen any of my few posts you’d know I was inquiring about used units and what not... well, we bit the bullet and bought a NEW Jay Feather 27BH yesterday. We felt the floor plan was exactly what we wanted, it has the outdoor kitchen, etc, etc...

Anyway, my question today (there will surely be plenty more) is about the tires. It has the Goodyear 14” 205/75’s, load range D... are they sufficient or should I go for the 215’s (still on 14” rims)?

The 205’s have a CC of 8,156 total, and the trailer has a GVWR of 7,500 (minus whatever tongue weight I have), so on paper they’re sufficient but should I have more “safety capacity” figured in? Or have I put way too much thought into this?

If clearence ends up being an issue, I’ll probably do some axle work and switch to 15”s but I figure I should actually have and use the trailer a few times before I get into any of that!!!

Thanks for any help on this and previous/future questions!!!!

[oldmanAZ]

Are they Goodyear Endurance? If so, those have been getting good reviews.

[Kevin80]

Yes, both are the Goodyear endurance trailer tires... one is just a little wider so it’s rated for more weight (2,200 lbs per tire vs 2,039 lbs per).

In reality I would just be adding ~660 lbs to my safety capacity...

[RogerR]

After 2 years on my china bombs I replaced them with Goodyear Endurance going from c to d to get a little more weight rating and to have the higher speed rating. But I would not have done that if they had been Goodyear Endurance because I trust them a lot more than Raineers.

[Midnightmoon]

Originally Posted by Kevin80

If you’ve seen any of my few posts you’d know I was inquiring about used units and what not... well, we bit the bullet and bought a NEW Jay Feather 27BH yesterday. We felt the floor plan was exactly what we wanted, it has the outdoor kitchen, etc, etc...

Anyway, my question today (there will surely be plenty more) is about the tires. It has the Goodyear 14” 205/75’s, load range D... are they sufficient or should I go for the 215’s (still on 14” rims)?

The 205’s have a CC of 8,156 total, and the trailer has a GVWR of 7,500 (minus whatever tongue weight I have), so on paper they’re sufficient but should I have more “safety capacity” figured in? Or have I put way too much thought into this?

If clearence ends up being an issue, I’ll probably do some axle work and switch to 15”s but I figure I should actually have and use the trailer a few times before I get into any of that!!!

Thanks for any help on this and previous/future questions!!!!

Just for my own knowledge, what axles did your 27BH come with? Does it have 2 3500# axles?

You are never going to be sorry running tires with more capacity than you need. I upgraded my old Airstream to 16" wheels and Michelin XPS ribs and it it was the best decision I ever made. My current Jayco came with more than enough tire from the factory with the Baja edition thankfully. But, it was one of the things I insisted on when I was looking for a new unit.

As mentioned, the Goodyear Endurance seems to be developing a great reputation and may not require the upgrades that we had to do in the past for reliability.

[Kevin80]

I've seen the 2 x 3,500 #'s referenced but I don't have the unit yet so I haven't been able to verify if that is correct or not...

If it is, the stock tires (which are the endurance) are rated higher than the axles, so I'll probably just leave them (and make sure I take care of them)...

I may end up making my own "baja edition" down the road, I guess we'll see if I am satisfied with how this unit is set-up after a few trips and go from there.

Thanks.

[oldmanAZ]

Originally Posted by Kevin80

Yes, both are the Goodyear endurance trailer tires... one is just a little wider so it’s rated for more weight (2,200 lbs per tire vs 2,039 lbs per).

In reality I would just be adding ~660 lbs to my safety capacity...

You've probably noticed, too, that the tire weight capacity varies with inflation pressure. Up to the maximum on the tire sidewall, the load capacity increases. So if you haven't already done so, you may gain additional load capacity by increasing tire inflation to the sidewall maximum. Higher inflation stiffens the sidewall which helps the tires to run cooler, reduces sway tendency, reduces rolling resistance, and (IMO) the trailer pivots more easily when backing on pavement.

Just to be safe, at higher tire inflation than necessary to support your loaded trailer weight, you should watch for abnormal tire wear in the center of the tire. I run my TT and TV tires at the max (TV front @ 5psi lower than max), have my tires rotated every 5,000mi (TT and TV) and have never had a wear problem.

[hboy]

x2 on dat! Keep tires inflated to the sidewall max.