Fisherguy
BC Canada
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Joined: 07/31/2003
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We've got a deal going on a 2007 Komfort 274 down in Spokane Wa. It seams like a good deal, we're getting awning toppers put on it and the dealer is being pretty good about it, it all goes well we pick it up next weekend.
The trailer has a GVW of 10,000 pounds, it has 225/75/R15 D rated tires on it with alum wheels, don't know what brand the tires are. Marathons the same size have a weight cap of 2540 pounds and figuring over 1000 pounds will be on the hitch it should be okay, but not by much.
We were looking at Arctic Foxes and most of them 27 ft or longer have E rated 235/80/16's on them, they have a 3420 lb capacity. The Komfort dealer near us also orders trailers 25 ft or longer with 16's.
I like heavy duty, am the bigger is better kinda guy. I have 35" E rated tires on my Ram after having bad experiences with 33" D rated Coopers.
Do you think I should get 5 new 16" wheels and E rated tires at time of purchase or do you think we'll be okay with the 15's Komfort put on it? 5 new alum wheels and new tires will not be cheap though, especially ontop of what we're paying for the trailer.
Thanks
Will
06 Dodge Ram 3500 Cummins 6 spd std with a few mods.
2007 Komfort 274S
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tvman44
Southwest Louisiana
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I think I read somewhere that Maxis makes a 15" E rated tire if your wheels can take the extra pressure.
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skipnchar
Topeka Kansas USA
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I think you're looking at the problem wrong. You need BETTER tires not bigger ones. think Maxxis D and you'll be fine.
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Fisherguy
BC Canada
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Well with E rated 16's I think they'd be bigger AND better?! 
Are Maxxis Chinese? I think I had them on my old trailer.
BTW, they DO make n E rated 15:
maxxis tires
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smkettner
Southern California
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If you can get credit for the take offs I would go ahead with the upgrade at time of purchase.
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coolbreeze01
Redding, Ca
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My 07 Komfort came with 205 75 R15 load range C Milestar tires. At about 10,000 miles, one had a tread delamination. I replaced them with 225 75 R15 E rated Maxxis tires. Enjoy your new TT and good luck.
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NHguy
Nashua, NH
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If you want to do the 16" tires be aware they are a lot taller than the 15's. 225/75R15's are 28.3" tall, and 235/80R16's are 30.8" tall.
You may want to lift the whole trailer if you run a tall tow vehicle, this is a good consideration for you running 35's on your truck. Some trailers are easily raised by performing an axle flip. Doing this allows a better hitch setup than you could do with a deep drop hitch.
Just a couple of thoughts that may not yet have occurred to you.
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SteveRankin
Sequim, WA
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Most RV manufacturers determine the GVWR of their TT's by adding the tongue weight to the rated capacity of axles. So a trailer with 2 - 5,000# axles & 2540# tires) and a 1,000 dry tongue weight would have am 11,000# GVWR. Yes, that puts the GVWR at the limit of the trailer's ability, but that's what the GVWR is for--the upper limit of the trailer's ability.
However, if you're going to build an RV for severe use such as the RV trekking that Arctic Foxes are built for, then you'd design in large safety margin on your trailer's ratings in order to achieve the ruggedness required for off-road use. If you're going to drive on roads like this
day after day to get to places like this
Camped on the edge of the tundra north of the Atigun Pass on the Dalton Highway.
then you want big tires with lots of reserve capacity and lots of tread. We wore off 12/32" off the tread of those big LT's this summer. ST tires only come with 8/32" tread when new. 
However, for most folks the normal highway ratings are entirely adequate provided that they don't overload any of the components. Of course, all you have to do is read this forum for about 10 minutes to realize that quite a few RV owners are convinced that their overloaded RV is totally safe. The larger problem is that it is so easy to overload a single tire or an axle because the trailer isn't level when towed, or one side is loaded more heavily. Most trailers are towed slightly nose down, which is fine in itself. However, this has the effect of increasing the load on the front axle more than the rear axle. The difference can be staggering. For example, when we first hitched up our Arctic Fox 29V TT the front was down a few inches resulting in 4,480# on the front axle and only 2,720# on the rear axle.
The real solution to this issue is to weigh your rig getting individual axle and wheel weights, then make adjustments as necessary. Then re-weigh the rig. It's not difficult. We weigh our rigs when new, after being loaded, after being reloaded and before we depart on every long trip.
* This post was
edited 11/01/09 08:52pm by SteveRankin *
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firecapt1
Sonoma County, CA
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The real problem with changing to an "E" rated tire may be your rims. As mentioned before, the E rated tire may require a higher fill PSI (typically 85 psi).
If the current rims are not rated to the PSI required by the E rated tires you would have to replace both the rims and tires. To check the rims for their rating look on both sides of the rims for the max tire pressure stamped into them. If not on the outside of the rim it's stamped on the inside. If your spare has the same rim as your other tires you can take it to a tire store and have them check the rim to see if it will accept the tires you are considering.
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Happy Trails to you, until we meet again!
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Fisherguy
BC Canada
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Some good info Steve.
I think the Komfort is built just as well as the AF's and everytime we go fishing/camping it will mean some gravel and/or dirt logging roads so I'm thinking 16's are a good idea for us depending what it's gonna cost us. We'll see
what the dealer can do for us.
Will
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