Bigger tires

[Elaine Sturm]

Has anyone replaced the 2006 Beaver Montery Laguna IV tires with 315/80. Considering upgrading from current 295 tires.  Any advice,  cautions and success stories welcome.

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Elaine,
Before you make any change to tire size, get the dimensions of the larger tires; diameter, width, etc. and verify they will fit in the wheel wells with adequate clearance. Take coach "bounce" into consideration. Verify they won't rub when the wheel is fully turned in either direction. Also verify there will sufficient space between the rear duals as you don't want the sidewalls rubbing together (kissing) when flexing as this will cause a blowout. This distance should be spec'ed on the tire data sheet. Finally, ask yourself if you really need larger tires. Keep in mind they will introduce an error in your speedometer and odometer. For more info do a "tire size" search here on the Forum.
Steve

[Mike Shumack]

I did some research on this - as my coach has 295/80R22.5 on Drive and Tag, and 315/80R22.5 on the front. Installed by previous owner. He said he went to the 315s because they can handle more weight.

The 295/80R22.5 tires are 41.1 inches OD (that is 491 rev/mile), and 11.6 inched wide. The load capacity is 7,830 lbs. (load range H)

The 315/80R22.5 tires are 42.3 inched OD (477 rev/mile) and 12.4 inches wide. The load capacity is 9090 lbs (load range L), however if they are mounted on the stock 8-1/2 wide rim Michelin has de-rated the load capacity to 8,000 lbs. So not as much difference.

I carry a spare tire (a 295/8022.5) so I was thinking of going back to the standard tires sizes on all axles, then my spare can go on the front axle if needed and I wont have mismatch on tire sizes. Someone was commenting on that, and said the wider tire width of the 315 still makes it desirable to keep on the front as the larger tire contact area gives you better handling (less chance of skidding I guess) - That makes sense, so I'm not sure what I'll end up doing (I've got a couple of years of tire life to go).

[David T. Richelderfer]

We replaced the front tires (295s) with 315s.  The other six tires are still the 295s.  The reason I went to the larger size on the front is because the coach's front end weighs over 16k pounds and the 295s were showing radial cracks near the bead rim.  At full psi on the 295s, their weight-bearing capacity was very close to the front end's weight.  Our front rims are 9" so we get the full value of the weight-bearing capacity of the 315s.

We put the larger tires on the coach and checked clearances at both low bag and high bag heights and at both left and right full turns.  My recollection is there was still a couple of inches of clearance from the wheel wells in all possible positions.  After several thousand miles and several years I have heard no rubbing and have seen no tire damage.  Just a note - if the airbags are dropped to the low position and/or when air leveling, then make sure the front wheels are in the straight-ahead position, not turned either to the right or left.

[Jim Nichols]

We put 315s on the rear only. Coach is 36' and kept dragging hitch on most driveways. Thought about raising using the airbags but it would change the driveshaft angle more than I was comfortable with. Had Allison dealer change speedometer pulse. The 315s are 20 ply so they give a harsh ride on rough roads. We are going on 6 years with these tires and will replace with Mitchlen tires next time. You have to be careful of low air pressure or the side walls will kiss.

[Bill Sprague]

Elaine,

We had an '04 Monterey for 12 years.  We stuck with the stock size and inflated them based on the weight charts.  The first set of Goodyears were replaced at 7 years.  When we sold it at 12 years, 130,000 miles, the tires were approaching replacement. 

We never had any tire issues.  The stock size was fine.  It's maybe worth noting that the '03 Monterey tires were smaller.  Jeff Easter, our salesman, told us that the 295s were a good upgrade to the 275s that year. 

The only related issue we had was caused when a TPMS battery "shorted", got hot and melted the sensor.  That let the air out!