Larger Tires and Axle Over-Under Kits to Lift Trailer Height

Question

Question:

Is there a larger diameter trailer tire available for a 15inch wheel than 225/75r15? I already have a 2inch lift on my trailer but would like just a bit more and figure bigger tire would be easiest. If not is there any 16inch on 5x4.5inch wheels available? My searches havent shown much. Thanks for any help.

asked by: Brandon

0

Expert Reply:

Your 225/75-15 tires have an overall diameter of 28.4 inches.

If you have the vertical and lateral clearance within your wheel wells to move to a 16-inch tire size like 235/85-16, which is 31.6 inches overall diameter and 9.25 inches wide, then this will give you a lift of approximately 1-1/2 inches. You need to maintain at least 3-inches vertical clearance above the tread for normal suspension movement and 1-inch a lateral clearance between the inner sidewall and trailer frame. Do note that moving to 16s means you also need new hubs, since 16-inch wheels/tire like Karrier ST235/80R16 Radial # AM32764 do not come in the 5-on-4-1/2 bolt pattern.

Trailer height can also be lifted using an axle over-under kit, # K71-384-00 for 2-3/8-inch axles and # K71-385-00 for 3-inch axles. If this is not the type of lift you have installed now you can gain much more height using one of these kits which switch the positions of the axles and leaf springs, as shown in the linked photo. These kits move the leaf spring stack to the top of the axle which lifts the trailer several inches, the sum of the axle diameter plus the height of the spring stack.

expert reply by: Adam R

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Answer 1

Yes, the Torflex Lift Kit #K71-725-02 is the correct one to use on your 5th wheel trailer with tandem #12 Dexter 7K Torflex axles. This kit will provide an additional 3-1/8 inches of rise and will help level out your trailer so it isn't…

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Answer 2

I attached a link to this page that has the install instructions for the Axle Riser Kit #LC382741 that you referenced.

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Answer 3

It's definitely possible to upgrade a trailer's axle rating to a higher rating by just swapping the axles. To pick out the correct axle you'll need to measure the distance between the hub faces and the spring seat centers and…

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Answer 4

You can add a heavier axle to the trailer but the rest of the components of your trailer may not be rated for a higher weight capacity such as the suspension components and wheels. If you go from a 3,500 lb axle to a 7,000 lb axle like part #8327834…

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Answer 5

As you may have already found, 5200 lb, 6000 lb and 7000 lb axles can all use the same components including inner/outer bearings, hubs and brakes. Here are some other things they share in common: Dexter 5200 lb Regular Duty Axle - 0.180 inch tube…

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Answer 6

The only axles we offer that have a high enough weight capacity would be the Timbren setup like part #ASR5200S01. This is actually an "axle-less" system that attaches to the trailer frame and provides an axle setup that is somewhat similar…

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Answer 7

The Jayco Jay Feather Lite x17z uses a Dexter Torflex Axle so we do have lift kits available. The correct one is the Torflex Lift Kit part #K71-707-01 for model #10 from 2,300 lbs to 4,000 lbs.

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Answer 8

There is no specific torque rating for shackle bolts. Basically for the middle bolt there should be enough free play in the shackles to allow them to move. Tightening the shackle bolts too much will squeeze the shackle straps against the leaf springs…

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Answer 9

The recommended amount of tire clearance to allow for suspension travel on virtually any trailer is 3" from the top of the tire to the bottom of the fender or frame and 1" from the inside of the tire to the frame. If you need to raise the…

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Answer 10

For a typical trailer wiring you will have a brown and green wire for the right-hand side of the trailer and brown and yellow wire for the left side. If this is a new wiring installation and you are installing wiring like part #A35W42B, the brown…

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Answer 11

The metric size equivalent of the 18.5 x 8.5 - 8 tire size on your snowmobile trailer is the ST215/60-8 size, such as #AM1HP28 which is a tire only and #AM3H325 which is this tire size mounted on a galvanized 8-inch wheel with a 5-on-4-1/2-inch bolt…

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Answer 12

You can add larger wheels and tires to a trailer as long as you have enough room for the larger size. The main clearance issues we find when putting larger tires and wheels on a trailer is from the top of the tire to the fender and from the inside…

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