13" tire question

[les45]

Has anyone replaced their 12" tires with 13" tires on their Jayco pop-up?

[bankr63]

Just to get a give a bit of a lead, yes, there are a couple of threads here for those who have done so successfully.

I would suggest that you pay particular attention to the clearance between your current tire and the wheel tubs. Mine used to rub at full compression even with the stock tires, so a larger diameter tire wouldn't have fit without also raising the camper. If you have lots of clearance all around (keeping in mind suspension travel) then there is no reason not to.

Note that larger tires does not in any way increase your carrying capacity.

[RogerR]

I did not increase my tires with a larger diameter but like a lot of people I did increase by tire capacity from C to D rating. This gave me more total load capacity in the tires. Not needed when new but as tires age it may be needed.
Buying a good tire is more important than the size. Most of the 12 and 13s are limited to 65 max speed. Not sure if any are rated above that A 13 inch might stand up to speeds better than a 12.

[crockett522004]

I just found out last week that the 12 inch tires on my popup are only rated at 55 mph and they are really not designed for the size and weight camper they came on.
I was told at a camp ground we could move the leaf spring on top of the axil to allow for a bigger tire. Has anyone ever done this and are there any Saftey issues.

[RogerR]

What you are describing is "flipping" the axel. There are a lot of threads on this and a lot of people have done this for bigger tires or more ground clearance.

Try searching with the search feature in the command line near the top of the page.

[les45]

Originally Posted by crockett522004

I just found out last week that the 12 inch tires on my popup are only rated at 55 mph and they are really not designed for the size and weight camper they came on.
I was told at a camp ground we could move the leaf spring on top of the axil to allow for a bigger tire. Has anyone ever done this and are there any Saftey issues.

I am on another forum (TNTTT) where this issue has been discussed at length. The 55 rating is legal posturing for the tire manufacturers. Many of our members have put thousands of miles on those 12" tires, many at freeway speeds, without a problem. If the trailer manufacturer installed them initially then they are safe for the weight of your trailer. The main reason I'm looking to upgrade is aesthetics. The skinny 12" tires make my trailer look like a skateboard going down the road. I upgraded from 12" to 13" passenger car tires on a teardrop that I built and it also made a world of difference in how the trailer handled when towing.