2005 Montana 2955RL Tires/Wheels

[Carl n Susan]

quote:Originally posted by Winmagbar

Carl,

Where do you go to acquire wet bolts and have them installed?

Robert

I assume you have no interest in searching the internet for pieces parts and then installing them yourself. For a turnkey replacement, I would find a local trailer supply/repair shop. One that does all kinds of trailers and not just a RV dealer (although they may be OK) where they deal with trailer suspensions on a regular basis. They will have the technical knowledge to obtain the correct kit and the tools and experience to install them.

In my experience, RV dealers and their knuckle-dragging repair staff don't do enough wet bolts to really know the tricks. I am sure there are some who do, but it is more likely to find a trailer repair shop better prepared.

IMHO, The best repair is done by me, assuming I have the resources. I did farm this job out to a local RV supplies and repair shop (not a dealer) as I had other work done at the same time (axles and springs).

[PatnRich]

My 2955 came with Tacoma LT tires. When it came time to change them out I replaced them with Firestone Transforce HT tires. My choice was made based on MOC tire guru Lonnie's recommended list and what was available at the time.

[djgodden]

An entire kit with wet bolts is on Amazon (Dexter Axle (K71-359-00) Heavy Duty Suspension Kit), watch a YouTube video on install.

[djgodden]

Carl... did you ever experience the inside of the fender rubbing the outside wall of the tire? We went over a particularly rough spot crossing the CA AZ order. The Montana bounced pretty good and I stopped to check things out. Noticed a rub spot on the sidewall. No damage, just evidence of a rub.

[Carl n Susan]

quote:Originally posted by djgodden

Carl... did you ever experience the inside of the fender rubbing the outside wall of the tire?

Yup, I had a spot on the curb side fender (in the center where the plastic drops down between the tire area) where the tire rubbed. As I recall it was only the curb side (which was the heavy side?) and only occurred after a severe bump or running over extremely uneven ground.

It has been a while but I remember that the white surface was rubbed away exposing the underlying material. In one case, the brace on the back had come loose which let the fender flex enough to cause some contact. In any event, there was no damage to the tire or the fender.

[djgodden]

Same as I experienced. After your comment I went inside the well to look for evidence of wear and there isn't any significant wear. Some black from where it rubbed but that came right off. It's something for me to keep an eye on.

[djgodden]

Another question. The Montana has original wheels on it and for the life of me I can't find anything on the wheels to indicate if they can take the G614 tire pressures. Crawled underneath and looked on the inside of the wheel on all four. Having had one, do you know?

[Carl n Susan]

Sorry but the 2005 wheels are *NOT* rated for 110 PSI that the G614's go up to. However, you can run the G614s (or Sailuns) at the rim max of 80 PSI and probably have more than enough carry capacity for your rig.

The G614s or Sailuns are great tires for those with 7K axles. Your 2955 has 5280 axles and are just as well served running a good quality (and less expensive) LT E rated tire. The Duravis 250 or Michelin XPS Ribs are a couple of ones everyone seems to like.

[djgodden]

I thought as much. Thanks. I did just what you suggested but a few months back. Running with US made Yokohama YK-HTX LT235/85R16. 80 psi 2780 lbs gives me 11120 lbs on the axles. Will CAT scale again just before we leave on our Yellowstone trip this Thursday. Will upgrade to the Sailun next time.

Thanks again. I may pick you brain again sometime.

[Carl n Susan]

As long as you are running a *GOOD* LT Load Range E tire made in the USA (or anywhere but China), you should be good to go for a long time. And when it is time, replacing them with the same type of tire would not be a mistake.

The Yokohama YK-HTX LT235/85R16 actually is rated at 3042 Lbs. @ 80 PSI as a single tire installation. Dual tire installations (such a dually truck axle) drops the capacity to 2780. So you have will have 12,168 Lbs. (4 x 3280) of carry capacity (with an undocumented ~20% reserve capacity) on axles rated for 10,560 Lbs. (2 x 5280). Many, many of us ran LTs back in the day of 6K axles and if you had a tire problem, it was due to a road hazard.

Feel free to ask me about your 2955. I pretty much knew ours forwards and backwards. If you email me I am more likely to respond timely.