Can Larger Tires and Wheels be Used on a Trailer with 5.70-8 Tires

Updated 04/04/2017 | Published 04/02/2017

Products Featured in This Question

Kenda 5.70-8 Bias Trailer Tire with 8" White Wheel - 5 on 4-1/2 - Load Range B

(7500)

$56.15

Kenda 4.80-12 Bias Trailer Tire with 12" White Wheel - 5 on 4-1/2 - Load Range C

(7500)

$96.08

Question:

I am looking to up the tire size on my boat trailer. It currently has 5.70-8 tires on a 5x4.5 bolt pattern, but when I tried to install 5.30-12 rim/tires on, I found that the sidewall of the new tire was almost touching the frame of the trailer. Is there a difference in backspacing of the rim/tire combos, and is there a larger tire that will work or am I stuck with a 8?

asked by: Nick

Expert Reply:

Different wheels can have different offsets but usually the offset is zero. The 5.70-8 is a little wider than a 5.30-12 so either the wheels did have an offset or the tires were rubbing on something else (like a fender) considering they are almost 4 inches taller than the original tires you had.

If you go to a 12 inch then a 4.80-12 is more narrow and they fit the same wheels as a 5.30-12. So you could keep the wheels (if they don't have an offset) and just have 4.80-12 tires mounted by a local tire shop. The 4.80-12 tires are bout 2.4 inches taller than the 5.70-8 tires. I have included a link to all of the 4.80-12 tires and tire and wheel combos that we have. If no offset is listed then it will have a zero offset. I like the Taskmaster tires like # AM30660.

expert reply by: Michael H