17.5 wheel / tire combination


N

NautiHoffs

Guest
Would appreciate any experience and thoughts on upgrading from 16" wheel and tires to 17.5s". My current configuration is 47' gooseneck steel triple 7k axles with 16" G rated tires (rated at 3750 per with 22500 overall). Boat/trailer weigh 18,700 lbs on the axles scaled this summer which would be realistic travel weight before filling up before ramp. I calculated another 1,000 lbs of fuel for shorter trips. It needs new tires for next summer as i'm planning to start towing between 300 - 600 miles one way once or twice year. Now i'm debating, should I suck up the additional money (2600) and upgrade to 17.5" (4080 (215r) or 6005 (235r) per tire depending on size ) for extra contingency due to the stress tires take from road conditions, tight turning, heat, etc. Its surprising how much the front and back tires peal out when turning now. While it wouldn't increase overall trailer capacity I'm thinking this would be the ideal route to reduce being stuck on the side of the road. Couple of questions:

Would the stronger 17.5" impact the ride?
What would be your recommendation on the 17.5" wheels and tire combination? I'm not finding a lot of tire reviews...
I can find 16" tires with 4k rating bringing the overall tire capacity to 24k...would this be sufficient?

Appreciate any insight you have and thanks!
 
16" tires today for some reason are crap. I have changed all my tire and rims on 4 trailers to 17.5's. I have not had 1 failure since switching. There are some aluminum wheels available on the internet that look nice. I just used steel on 3 trailers. These are equipment and dump trailers that get used everyday and are loaded heavy. I was having a failure a week with 16's. Carlisle and Marathons both were exploding. The swap is pricey but in the long run worth it. FYI some 17.5 wheels are hub piloted and some are stud piloted. Send a closeup photo of your existing wheel and hub to whoever you are buying from to save a return freight charge. Your lug nuts will likely not fit new wheel so get them as a package with the new wheels.
 
Thanks for the insight and i'm going with 17.5 combination with 7k axles for extra wheel contingency. Best option I have found is wheelsandtires.com, I do know my hubs are stud pilot.
 
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