Like most Airstream trailers made in the past several years, our 2020 Globetrotter came with Goodyear Endurance tires. After four years (one of which was spent on the dealer's lot before we purchased the trailer) and 22,000 miles, those tires were ready for replacement.
Getting new tires on your Airstream travel trailer isn't exactly like getting new tires for your car or truck. There are several important things to consider:
1. Find the right tire shop
Getting an appointment at an RV service center can sometimes take quite a while. In our case, we needed to swap out the tires between trips, with only 10 days working time, so we chose to go to a local Discount Tire. That way we could get an appointment within a couple of days.
Yes, some national chains will happily service your trailer—but not all. To know which places will take care of you requires a little bit of research. You might get really lucky and find a company with mobile service (swapping tires right in your driveway!) but more likely you'll have to tow it to their place.
So your first step is to make sure that the tire store's parking lot is big enough for your rig. Personally I never trust the store personnel's promises—I always check satellite imagery on Google Maps. Then, ask specifically if they'll work on a travel trailer. (Big O Tires, for example, turned me away.)
2. Don’t forget the spare
Is your spare still in good shape? Chances are it is, because the spare has probably never been used and is well-protected from the sun. But pull it out and check it anyway, before you place your tire order.
In my case, since I switched to a slightly wider tire (the Goodyears were 225 width and the Michelins are 235 width), I couldn't fit a Michelin tire in the Airstream's spare carrier. So I elected to keep the existing Goodyear spare. If I do have to swap it on, I'll use it only for a short time.
3. Note the location of the TPMS sensors, if installed
Most tire shops are going to be careful about putting the TPMS sensors back in the same place, but to be sure you should make a note of where they are installed.
(If you bought your TPMS from us and we pre-programmed it for you, we put numbered stickers on each sensor.)
If you don't have a TPMS, you should seriously consider getting one!
4. Stay on site and educate the staff
The Discount Tire guys are pros, but they don't work on Airstreams every day. They appreciated me advising them on the correct place to put their big hydraulic jacks, and double-checking so that they didn't punch a hole in the belly pan or use the axle as a jack point. Be prepared to get down on the ground in the parking lot to double-check the placement of their jacks on the frame.
The other tip they appreciated was the correct torque for the lug nuts. On most Airstream trailers with aluminum wheels, the nuts should be torqued to 110 ft-lbs.
5. Consider an upgrade to metal valve stems
Any good tire shop will automatically replace the valve stems with good high-pressure valve stems when you get new tires. If you think of it, ask for all-metal (steel) valve stems. They don't cost much extra and they will last a long time, plus they're ideal if you have a TPMS.
In my case, the tire shop stocked only metal valve stems, so I got them at no extra cost.
6. Re-program the TPMS if needed
I'm not a fan of ST (Special Trailer-type) tires, so with this changeover I took the opportunity to get a set of Michelin Defender LTX 235/75R15 tires installed. These tires have a much deeper tread, last longer, and ride softer than the original equipment tires.
The "catch" is that my TPMS was programmed for 80 psi cold tire pressure, for the Goodyear Endurance tires. The Michelins run at 50 psi cold, so I needed to re-program the TPMS once they were installed. For the benefit of upgrading to a higher quality tire was easily worth the trouble.
7. Check the torque more than once!
If you take only one piece of advice from this blog, take this one. You MUST re-check the torque on the wheels more than once. Airstream even puts a sticker on the trailer, just above the wheel wells, to remind you of this.
If you don't, there's a chance the lug nuts will work loose over time, and then you have a disaster on your hands.
Check the torque at least 3 times, after 25 miles of towing, then after 50 miles, and 75 miles. You'll quite often find that the nuts take a while to "seat" properly, and until they do some of the nuts will be a tiny bit loose when you check them.
This is one of the key reasons you need a good torque wrench on board. We include one in our Tire Changing Kit. If you don't have a tire changing kit, you need to get one.
14 comments
Mike Lake
Excellent advice! I especially appreciated the reminder to tell them where to put the jac, also the reminder to reset the tpms. Thank you for your research
Jeffrey Taylor
Would you exlain further why you run the new tires at 50 psi. I thought you should run any tire at Airstream’s recomended psi on the name plate. Is it beasue you used a larger tire and have more area to distribute the load, thus run at a lower pressure?
thx
Daniel Schachtman
I just decided to rotate the tires on my 2021 Basecamp 16X because one side wears faster than the other. They put the jacks onto the axle – is that the wrong place to put the jack? Seemed like they knew what they were doing and I don’t see any damage to the trailer??
Thanks and thanks for the helpful article!
David Byrnes
Outstanding advice on all aspects of this list!!!
Rich Luhr
Jeffrey: Our new tires are Michelin Defender LTX 235/75R15, which take a maximum of 50 psi. You should inflate your tires to the recommended rating provided by the manufacturer of the tire. The pressure on Airstream’s data plate assumes you’re running the same tire as the original equipment.
The Michelins run at a lower pressure not because they are a little bigger, but because they’re designed differently (better, in my opinion). They still carry nearly the same weight, last longer, are more resistant to punctures, and provide a softer ride to the Airstream than the original equipment tires.
Tom Moore
Excellent advice. My tire shop gave me a good price on Goodyear Endurance but had NO place to park the rig – so i took the wheels to them two & three a time and had them mounted and balanced. A bit of a pain but all came out well in the end.
Rich Luhr
Daniel, jacking a trailer on the axle is not recommended. While no damage may have occurred to your Basecamp, the correct practice is to place jacks only on the frame of the trailer.
Keith Gapen
From the picture in this blog, it appears this trailer is being jacked up by the axles, which is a no no. Is this an optical illusion?
Bill Bartel
Rich – I have 16" rims with 225/75/16 Michelin Agilis Cross Climate tires. (load range E) I plan to use my 27" Airstream this winter and am looking at putting BLIZZAK DMV2 on my trailer. I will have the same winter tires on my TV. Do you see any issues going with the wider size as you did. That would make it 235/75R16. I do trust my Discount Tire shop here in Fort Collins, but would appreciate any input you have.
Dennis
Hi. Are the tires you purchased “E” rated to withstand the weight the trailer ?
Good information from you as usual.
Thank you.
Rich Luhr
Keith: There’s an L-shaped piece of exposed frame just forward and aft of the axles. That’s where the jacks are positioned in the photo.
Bill: I can’t comment on specific tire choices, but because I’m using a 235 width myself, I can confirm that it will fit on the trailer. However, it won’t fit in the spare tire carrier, as I mentioned in the blog.
Dennis: The Michelin tire I chose has a carrying capacity of 2,271 lbs per tire, which is slightly less than the Goodyear it replaced, but far more than needed for our trailer. Instead of looking at Load Range ratings, which are misleading and obsolete, look at the Load Index number. In this case, it’s 109, which equals 2,271 lbs.
Kim H
I took my single axle Caravel to discount. I have a 3” lift…. My jacks plates are placed nearly at rear of rig, and their jacks could not go high enough to get tire off the ground!
John Boxell
Hi Rich. . I like your comment about the Michelin Defender tire being too wide to fit in the spare rack under the trailer. A couple of years ago Can-Am replaced my Michelin tires (3rd set – all aged out without any problems) and my spare was the original Goodyear Marathon which had never been used. I asked the tech to get rid of it and and put the old Michelin in the bed of the truck. When I picked up the trailer (28 ft. International) I didn’t see the spare. When I asked where it was he said in the rack under the trailer. When I had a quizzical look on my face he anticipated my question. The others aren’t strong enough to put the Michelin there he said with a big smile. It remains to be seen if I would ever be able to get it back there if necessary.
Rich Luhr
John B: On my 2005 Airstream the spare carrier wasn’t big enough to take a 235mm wide tire (so matter how strong you might be), and I had to have a welder enlarge it. I haven’t tried to fit a 235mm spare in my 2020 Airstream’s spare carrier. Maybe they’ve made it bigger?
My solution has been to keep the Goodyear Endurance (225mm wide tire) in the spare carrier, since it’s still in good condition. I doubt I’ll ever need it. The Michelins seem to be superior at rejecting road debris, and in 13 years of using them I have yet to get a flat.