Choosing Bigger Tires to Increase Trailer Ground Clearance

Question

Question:

Hi - I am looking to lift my camper 3900 lbs dry weight up about two inches for better ground clearance and the only way is to increase the tire height. I run 225/75R-15s on it now. Is there an acceptable alternative tire I can use to increase the height ? Many thanks!

asked by: Brett P

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Expert Reply:

It depends on how much clearance you currently have around your wheels. Ideally, you should have 3 inches minimum clearance between your fender and your wheels and an inch minimum between your sidewall and trailer frame/wall. As your wheel size increases, your clearance decreases so please measure with that in mind.

You current tires are 225/75/R15 similar to # AM32680. As you can see, this tire has an outside diameter of 28.4". Going up two inches would bring you to a wheel and tire like # AM35010 with tire size 235/85R16. This has an outer diameter of 31.61". That will only lift your trailer by 1.6 inches by the way.

Another factor to note is bolt pattern. The wheels I suggested have bolt pattern 6 on 5-1/2". Please check the bolt pattern on your current wheels since your new ones need to match that, no matter what size they are. I attached a helpful article for figuring out your bolt pattern.

If you let me know how much fender and sidewall clearance you have and what bolt pattern your wheels are, I would be happy to make a recommendation!

If you don't have enough clearance, there are other options to lift your trailer like flipping the axles with a Dexter Trailer Springs Over-Under Kit part # K71-384-00 or part # K71-385-00. If you have leaf springs, you can also replace your hangers with taller ones like # APT5 to get some extra height.

expert reply by: Evangeline M

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Answer 1

The recommended space between tires on a tandem or triple axle trailer is around 4". If you were to replace ST205/75R15 tires with ST235/75R15 like the Taskmaster Radial Off-Road Trailer Tire part #TA45RR then you'd lose around…

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Answer 2

The correct lift kit to use on your Forest River R-Pod Trailer will depend on the year. If you have a post 2014 then you will need to use the Axle Riser Kit part #LC382741 for square shaped axles or part #LC270682 for diamond shaped axles as Forest…

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Answer 3

I spoke with my contact at Curt and he put together a chart that has all of the dimensions of the hitches you referenced.

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Answer 4

Generally speaking you will want to have 3 inches minimum from the top of your tire to the fender of your trailer to accommodate for suspension travel. Having a little more wouldn't hurt, but I wouldn't recommend any less than 3 inches.…

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Answer 5

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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Answer 6

Trailer tires are designed to fit on certain wheels so if you have ST145/R12 trailer tires now, you do need to replace your tires with the same size or they won't fit. I recommend the Kenda Karrier S-Trail ST145/R12 Radial Trailer Tire - Load…

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Answer 7

I reached out to the manufacturer and the Kenda Karrier S-Trail ST145/R12 Radial Trailer Tire - Load Range E #AM10140 will fit a 4.5 inch wide rim, however it may change the load capacity as the tire may be stronger than the wheel. If you have a…

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Answer 8

It's recommended that trailer tires be inflated to the maximum pressure rating listed on the tire's sidewall. As the pressure is reduced from that point, the load capacity of the tire is reduced by an unknown level, so it's safest to keep…

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Answer 9

Yes, a trailer that is nose up can cause big problems. A level trailer is ideal and worth working toward for safety. The good news is that you can get the trailer almost exactly level with switching ball mounts. This is where an adjustable ball mount…

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Answer 10

Ways to raise the height of a trailer for better ground clearance include using larger wheels/tires and installing an axle over-under kit that reverses the placement of the springs and axle. An axle over-under kit (we offer two) will give you a…

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Answer 11

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…

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Answer 12

In order to determine the torque rating for the lug nuts on your trailer you will need to know check out the chart I attached that shows all of the torque specs for all the trailer lugs available based on stud size, wheel material and wheel size.

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