Recommendations to Raise 2008 Airstream Travel Trailer  

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Expert Reply:

In order to determine if you are able to upgrade to 16 inch tires on your Airstream Travel Trailer, I first recommend checking to make sure you will have enough space around the existing tires to use a larger size.

I am not sure of the exact size of your current 14 inch tires, but a 16 inch tire and wheel like the Kenda ST235/80R16 # AM34834 will be around 4 inches larger in diameter compared to your existing set. You will want to ensure that you have enough wheel well clearance for this kind of upgrade. This is a really nice radial tire mounted to a black mod wheel. It has a maximum load of 3,500 pounds at 90 psi and a speed rating of 75 mph.

Keep in mind that raising the height of your trailer by increasing the tire size is not the most effective method, as you will at most only raise the trailer by half of the size difference between the two tire sizes. This is because only half of the diameter will make a difference on how far the center of the hub sits above the ground. You will also likely get some travel in the trailer's suspension due to gravity, which will work to further cancel out the difference in tire size. No less than 3 inches of clearance between the top of the tire and the bottom of the fender or wheel well is recommend to allow for normal suspension travel.

A better option to raise your trailer will be with an over-under kit like # K71-384-00 for 2-3/8 inch axles or # K71-385-00 for 3 inch axles. These kits will allow you to basically "flip" the axles on your trailer, allowing the leaf springs to be moved on top of the axle instead of underneath it. This will raise the trailer by the width of your axle plus the leaf spring stack.

expert reply by: Chris R

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