QuestionQUESTION: Hi! I have an 89 Itasca Spirit 21ft RV that I replaced all the tires for. It is a dually set up. The manufacturer suggests 235/75R16's on the door, but the tire store said that 215's would be better due to tire rubbing. Were they correct? It is a used RV (new to me), and I am having issues with front end wandering, which can supposedly be normal in for any motorhome.
ANSWER: Ty,
There are a couple of issues with your post.
First, is the tire size. I think you find the tires sizes involved are LT235/85R16 and LT215/85R16 - 85 , not 75 series tires. I'm going to assume I have this right.
Second, it is unclear if you used 235's or not, but Im going to take a guess you did.
The sticker on the door should have been modified by the vehicle manufacturer if he made a recommendation of a different size - and since it wasn't replaced, I can only assume you mean the dealer said that.
The problem is the dual spacing on the rear. The tires may rub and that may cause wandering problems.
But there are other things that might be caused your problem. So I need the answer to these questions:
1# Did I get the tire sizes correct?
2) Are you using the LT235/85R16'?
3) What inflation pressure are you using? What does the placard on the door say?
4) Does the wandering only occur on certain highways #like grooved roads#? Perhaps a bit of a description of when it occurs would help clear this up.
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Hi Barry,
1. You are correct: LT235/85R16. The sticker on the door says to use LT235.
2. The tire store *I don't know if you are averse to dropping names* said I should put on LT215/85R16 - so I went with those (as you can tell I'm not a tire expert).
3. The RV is in storage right now, so I'm unsure what the inflation pressure is. As these were all new tires, I'm assuming they went with recommendation.
4. The wandering may be due to shocks - which I plan to replace, as well as possibly getting a rear track bar. I don't want to get into the wandering - as that is more suspension than tire related.
To clarify: I wanted to know if having the LT215's would cause further issues with the handling - or should I have stayed with the LT235 as written on the placard. There was tire rubbing evident when the dually's were taken off, but I'm having second thoughts about going against what was on the placard.
Thanks!
Ty
AnswerTy,
I want to state this to make sure I got this right.
The sticker on the door says to use LT235/85R16's and the tires store put on LT215/85R16's - right?
If so, you need to take the RV back to the tire shop, point out the sticker and tell them they need to make this right. Remind them that the LT235/85R16 has more load carrying capacity and they put on tires that are likely to fail due to overloading. If they balk, tell them you will take them to court and there they might be subject to penalties beyond just the cost of the tires.
After they agree, remind them that they should do this for free since they screwed up and you were "terribly inconvenienced" by having to get this fixed!
As far as the rubbing is concerned - this is a bit complex, but I would fall back on the vehicle placard.
