New tires don't fit

[tcrossan]

Meant to post this much earlier but has anyone else found that the tire shops can't remove the Westlake tires from the wheels? We have a 2020 Hathaway 34IK and need to get a tire replaced due to damage from axles out of align.
We had 2 instances where 2 different tire shops could not remove the tire from the wheel. Once with Westlake tire and once with Blackhawk tire. The last shop gouged my wheel on both sides trying to remove and replace a tire that had a huge spike through it.
I'm thinking that the wheels are over sized or out of spec.

T Crossan

[NavyLCDR]

Sounds like you have a problem that is unique to your trailer. I would look at the placard on the side of the trailer which specifies the tire size. Then verify that your rim (wheel) dimensions are correct for that tire size.

[Airdale]

Did you check the wheels for size 16"? The problem you described could be caused if the tires were mounted on 16.5" wheels. 16.5" wheels would be very uncommon if found on a 5th wheel. Forest River may have other types of RVs with that size wheel and made a mistake.

[Tblt44]

Strange issue
A tire shop would look at the rim and tire size I would believe

[Lubehead]

With regards to removing a tire from a wheel, there really is no such thing as can't. There's rather not or won't but can't doesn't fly.


Take them to a small company that has been in the tire business for 20,30 years or more, not some national chain.


They will look at it as a challenge especially when you tell them others "can't" do the job.



Last resort is they'll cut it off, but in any event, it will be removed.

[tcrossan]

Well it all began about a year after I bought the trailer new. Really uneven tire wear required replacing two tires. The 2 man shop had a REALLY difficult time removing the tires and an equally difficult time installing the new ones. That makes 3 shops all with the same problem mounting and unmounting tires.
These are factory installed Westlake tires. I had to buy a Blackhawk tire in VA, same issue.
I seriously doubt that the 16" tires would fit a 17" wheel. Is there such a thing as 16.5" wheels??
If so that could be the problem.
Now that I'm thinking through this I had to swap a tire in Branson and the shop had issues installing the tire from the spare onto the wheel and damaged the wheel in the process.
Wonder if FR will stand behind this ordeal and help me get 4 new wheels???🤔

[Flybob]

The wheel size should be marked on the wheel. May not be exactly as show below but should be there.
Wheel Size and Offset - The wheel/tire size and offset are typically written as diameter x width and the offset would be the ET. For example, 16x7 ET 0 means it is a 16" diameter wheel x 7" width and an offset of 0mm.

[5picker]

Originally Posted by tcrossan

Well it all began about a year after I bought the trailer new. Really uneven tire wear required replacing two tires. The 2 man shop had a REALLY difficult time removing the tires and an equally difficult time installing the new ones. That makes 3 shops all with the same problem mounting and unmounting tires.
These are factory installed Westlake tires. I had to buy a Blackhawk tire in VA, same issue.
I seriously doubt that the 16" tires would fit a 17" wheel. Is there such a thing as 16.5" wheels??
If so that could be the problem.
Now that I'm thinking through this I had to swap a tire in Branson and the shop had issues installing the tire from the spare onto the wheel and damaged the wheel in the process.
Wonder if FR will stand behind this ordeal and help me get 4 new wheels???��

Interesting dilemma.

By my count, that's 4 different shops having the same problem.

When you had the tire removed from the spare wheel and installed on the OEM wheel was there then the same issue mounting the replacement tire to the spare wheel?

Did anyone compare the spare wheel (when the tire was off) to one of the OEM wheels?

At this point we really don't know if it is a wheel issue or a tire issue.

[wmtire]

I think it's the ply rating and the thickness of the beads with the drop centers on the rims. Are you perhaps running 14(Load Range G) or 16 (Load Range H) ply tires? There are lots of these I cannot dismount, due to the thickness of the beads. A normal tire changer has trouble with these. I have a previous post somewhere on the forums about this.

I actually have one (16 ply) here now, and will post pics later.

[wmtire]

Here is the other thread I was talking about with the same thing:

https://www.forestriverforums.com/fo...ml#post2711259

[wmtire]

Ok, Here are pics that might better put it in perspective. I dismounted a 16 ply rated all steel tire and replaced it with a 12 ply rated tire. See the differences in bead thickness. I got the 16 ply off but mainly cause the rim had enough drop center to allow it and my tire machine still barely did it. It was grunting and groaning.

16 ply rated tire bead


12 ply rated bead


both tires together for comparison


rim drop center


Sent from my SM-A025A using Forest River Forums mobile app

[Jim34RL]

What size are the Westlake tires? If they are the same size as what was put on in the past such as ST235/85R16 G rated tire that were on my trailer. Discount Tire store was able to remove them with no damage to the rims at all.

[DeanV]

The tire installers at Walmart had a heck of a time unmounting my 16" G rated Westlakes last year when I had Sailuns put on. They will get stiff with age and like the Sailuns are a steel cased tire. They had a brand new tire machine and it took 3 big guys to wrestle them off. I might suggest taking them to a heavy truck tire shop. They have stronger tire machines and are used to this stiffer style of tire. In my case, the Sailuns were new and were much more pliable. No issues getting those on.

[Thomas ho]

tire removal !! thats why i buy tires at a dealer that sells big truck tires and auto / trailer tires. or stop at a tire dealer on the road when traveling that does semi trucks and auto.

[Thomas ho]

these rims may be like the ones put on a DODGE SPRINTER VAN. you cant just walk in a tire shop and get a tire replaced.

[gatormanpc]

I had the same problem. Took it to 5 different places including one that changes big truck tires and nobody could get them off. I ended up buying 7 new wheels and tires.

[dblr]

I have had tires replaced twice, once on our Cedar Creek (16") and once on our current River Stone (17.5") and both done at a Good Year Commercial center and as far as I know no issue either time, I do have a friend who works for Good Year who assist me and lets me know which center to go to, so I would agree to use more of a big truck shop as they deal with the larger sizes.

[Tireman9]

Originally Posted by tcrossan

Well it all began about a year after I bought the trailer new. Really uneven tire wear required replacing two tires. The 2 man shop had a REALLY difficult time removing the tires and an equally difficult time installing the new ones. That makes 3 shops all with the same problem mounting and unmounting tires.
These are factory installed Westlake tires. I had to buy a Blackhawk tire in VA, same issue.
I seriously doubt that the 16" tires would fit a 17" wheel. Is there such a thing as 16.5" wheels??
If so that could be the problem.
Now that I'm thinking through this I had to swap a tire in Branson and the shop had issues installing the tire from the spare onto the wheel and damaged the wheel in the process.
Wonder if FR will stand behind this ordeal and help me get 4 new wheels???🤔

Can you post a picture of the complete tire size? Are the wheels aluminum or steel? Most aluminum wheels have the size molded on the back side. Yes there were 16.5 wheels years ago.

[Red Roadrunner]

Originally Posted by tcrossan

Meant to post this much earlier but has anyone else found that the tire shops can't remove the Westlake tires from the wheels? We have a 2020 Hathaway 34IK and need to get a tire replaced due to damage from axles out of align.
We had 2 instances where 2 different tire shops could not remove the tire from the wheel. Once with Westlake tire and once with Blackhawk tire. The last shop gouged my wheel on both sides trying to remove and replace a tire that had a huge spike through it.
I'm thinking that the wheels are over sized or out of spec.

T Crossan

Are your wheels split? We got new wheels for our horse trailer due to them having split rims. They are made that way and require different tire machine than regular rims, they are usually on heaver trailers like semi's and dulleys . You probably would have better luck at a truck plaza with service center, like Love's or J & J .

[Splashes3]

I just, like a week ago, had my Westlake, ST 235/85R16 (G rated) tires removed from my Cedar Creek. I went to a tire facility that handles big trucks. They could NOT removed them (3 guys tried) with their "regular" tire machine....at the time a 4th guy was replacing a seal on their big tire machine. Once repaired, they had no problems removing the Westlakes from my aluminum rims using their bigger machine.

They told me that aluminum rims and tires with a wider bead, such as on G rated tires, is not really doable on a regular tire machine meant for cars, with say, much lower rated tires - their beads are much narrower.

So, after experiencing this, I am ordering an extra tire & wheel assembly just in case.....when I'm on the road somewhere.....