Goodyear G114 17.5 inch

[JB BAR]

Has anyone put 215/75R17.5 on their rigs. They seem to be close to the same size as the Westlake 235/80R16 and are a Load Range H tire.

[D2Reid]

On my former 5th wheel it had two LCI 7k axles. LCI did a pretty good job of supporting their product. But the problem of blown tires continued to haunt us well after warranty period was up. So there I was, bent a spindle in OK coming south into TX, Austin/San Marcos area. The folks were in a bad way, they lived in San Marcos. So we were there to help out. I hit a really big pot hole in a construction area, wham. I stopped to inspect for damage but couldn't see anything really bad. Once we go set up in the RV park I started poking around and found major problems.

Segway: There are a lot of really stupid people working in the RV industry. I got a lot of non-answers fed to me in my hunt to really correct my axle problem.

I didn't find out till after I had individual wheel weight done at the Escappees in Livingston, TX that I had a design flaw, the left front wheel was carrying 400-600 pounds more than the rest of them, that's why it kept blowing. Only 2 places could talk intelligently about 5th wheel axles; Mor-Ryde in Indiana, and South West Wheel in San Antonio, TX.

At this point I put on Dexter 8k axles, Dexter 4k hubs and associated disk breaks, and Goodyear 17.5 G114 tires. It cost me 6k, but after two years of many blowouts and driving on pins and needles it was worth it. I never had another tire/axle problem after that. I did have to get my Dexter Nevr-Lube bearings replaced, but that was covered under warranty.

I have huge respect for the Goodyear G114 17.5 H rated tires. The axle and frame work that I had done raised my 5th wheel 2 inches, I was 13' 8' when they got done. I never had a problem with the added 2". I went through a lot of 13' 6" tunnels with it. Why no problem, because the tunnels are rated at the lowest point in the tunnel, typically the edges, AC is in the middle, tunnels are curved and higher in the middle than the rating. Don't quote me on this one, it's just been my experience and I am sure someone could find and exception to that.

When changing to 17.5 tires you really have to look closely at the exterior diameter of the tire and the distance between the front and rear axle. Fortunately for me I had a true professional doing the calculations so I didn't have to have a thorough understanding of each measurement, just a consumers general understanding that there is a minimum clearance between front and rear axles and a distance from the center of the axle to the ground that has to be considered. Another factoid that has to be discussed when you purchase your new wheel is the "Offset" of that wheel. Basically it's the location in the wheel that the center is welded into. If you have 0 percent offset the center plate with the lug holes is in the center of the wheel. If you have an offset, either positive or negative, that means the center plate is welded closer to the inside of the wheel or closer to the outside of the wheel. By asking about these things you learn really quick who know their stuff and who is just a salesman blowing smoke.

So yes I did get the 17.5 tires. They were awesome, but very expensive. I would highly recommend that you start off by getting individual wheel weights done. Then you are able to make a fact based decision on your needs.

[Big Mike]

I have them on my rig...good tire, however my rig came with 17.5" tires, so I can't help with any conversion questions.

Big Mike

[vonzoog]

^^ Dallas, I’m confused. Do you have the 17.5 wheels/tires on your current RV?

Your current RV (Momentum 376TH) starts out at 13’ 5” and adding the larger tires could easily put it up to 13’ 8”. Not sure what type of 5th wheel you had previously and what it’s height was.

[huntr70]

^^ Dallas, I’m confused. Do you have the 17.5 wheels/tires on your current RV?

Your current RV (Momentum 376TH) starts out at 13’ 5” and adding the larger tires could easily put it up to 13’ 8”. Not sure what type of 5th wheel you had previously and what it’s height was.

The 17.5" combo (30.2 inches) would actually be 1/2 inch smaller in diameter than the 16" combo (30.8 inches)he has.

Rim size means nothing for overall diameter, you have to look at all the numbers.

[el Rojo]

I went to 17.5" tires and wheels on my Solitude and kept them when we bought the Momentum. Didn't have any problems on either.

YMMV

Red

[D2Reid]

^^ Dallas, I’m confused. Do you have the 17.5 wheels/tires on your current RV?

Your current RV (Momentum 376TH) starts out at 13’ 5” and adding the larger tires could easily put it up to 13’ 8”. Not sure what type of 5th wheel you had previously and what it’s height was.

I have Goodyear G614, 16" tires on my new Momentum 376th.

I put the 17.5's on my Cedar Creek that I owned before we upgraded to the Momentum 376. Another part to the height raise was the square I-beam frame they built to handle the new axles. Essentially they cut off all of the Lippert suspension system on the Cedar Creek, then built a little trailer frame to remount the RV onto. It was a significant mod. But the end result was changing a suspension system that was weak into a suspension system that was very hardy. GVW 17,000 on two axles.

I thought my Mo was 13' 6". Since I didn't have any problems with the 13' 8" in the five years we towed it I am not concerned about 13' 5" or 13' 6".

One of the reasons I didn't instantly take the new Mo to MorRyde was the triple axles. I was definitely over weight on my Cedar Creek. I wanted to avoid that with the new 5th wheel, so having learned a bunch about if from past experience I was smarter about weight and balance. Just dumb about china tires.

[Airrace]

Dallas, Wish I had seen this post last year. I too was troubled by the 16" E rated tire blow outs. So far G rated tired are doing good. At a RV show yesterday and saw 17.5 inch tires and found this post about them. Will keep it in the back of my mind if I decide to go with disc brakes.