New wheels and tires on the WinnieVan

[BillsPaseo]

Got new wheels and tires installed on the Winnebago Paseo today. Custom Wheel Solutions wheels and Yokohama Geolander A/T G015 215/85R16 tires. Had them installed by Discount Tire, and they did a good job. They checked out all of the clearances and said I was good, but that any bigger would have issue at the frame when turning, just about a fingers width of clearance between the tire and the frame on the drivers side when making a hard left turn. Really good clearance between the dualies.

These tires are about 2.5" taller than stock, adding 1.25" of ground clearance. That combined with the SumoSprings and SuperSprings I installed on the rear axle a few months ago mean that when towing I will be using a draw bar with a 2" drop where I used to use one with a 2" rise. Big difference in rear departure angle, which was really bad when bone stock.

[Thunder Bay]

Looks good, I’ve been researching my next set of shoes for our Travato. I’ve heard great things about the Geolanders - do you like them? How are they on dirt/gravel roads?

[Alec]

Looks great; thanks for being the pioneer so we more timid Paseo owners can benefit from your experience. Interesting that the front tire clearance is apparently different, left vs. right. A fingers-width sounds a bit tight. Of course being a Republican I seldom turn left.
On an unrelated issue, on all our class A's, walking on the roof was a non-issue, but I'm afraid to step onto the Paseo roof. Should I stay off, or ???

[BillsPaseo]

Originally Posted by Thunder Bay

Looks good, I’ve been researching my next set of shoes for our Travato. I’ve heard great things about the Geolanders - do you like them? How are they on dirt/gravel roads?

So far I really like them, but I have put less than 50 miles on them so far, and the only gravel is my own driveway. First impression is that they are quieter than the stock tires, which is surprising for an All Terrain tire. Although as All Terrains go, these have a pretty mild tread.

They should be way better in snow than the stock tires, since they are actually snow tire rated (they have the snowflake emblem). And definitely should do better than the stock tires in dirt and gravel, but likely not as good as something more aggressive like the BFG AT KO2's that I have on my pickup truck.

[BillsPaseo]

Originally Posted by Alec

Looks great; thanks for being the pioneer so we more timid Paseo owners can benefit from your experience. Interesting that the front tire clearance is apparently different, left vs. right. A fingers-width sounds a bit tight. Of course being a Republican I seldom turn left.
On an unrelated issue, on all our class A's, walking on the roof was a non-issue, but I'm afraid to step onto the Paseo roof. Should I stay off, or ???

The tire guy said that was enough clearance - the way the suspension moves in that area, it can't get any tighter than that. And if it were somehow to make contact, it just would mean that the outer rubber tread would rub a little bit on the frame. I will be keeping an eye on it, checking for rub marks on the frame, but don't anticipate it being a problem.

I wouldn't advise walking on the roof - the sheet metal isn't very thick. I've crawled around up there on my hands and knees, spreading my weight out as much as possible (and I'm only 145 lbs), and I could still feel the sheet metal flexing under me. I've found for that the ladder that came with the van will get me access to about 70% of the roof (kind of a dumb design that it won't work on the side where the awning is, the awning is too tight to the rail that the ladder goes over). For that other 30% I use a tall stepladder, which admittedly isn't as safe, especially if you don't have someone else present to stabilize the ladder.

[BillsPaseo]

Also, if there were to be a bit of rubbing, most vehicles have adjustable steering stops. A small adjustment to the steering stop would fix the rubbing at the expense of a small loss in turning radius.

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

I don't know... my instincts tell me to always install the original sized tires for the vehicle.... your choice.

Then again, I don't live in snow country or take my vehicle off road.

[BillsPaseo]

If you never venture off pavement, then sure, stick with the stock tires. I prefer boondocking to parking lot camping though, and the stock ground clearance was very limiting.

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Originally Posted by BillsPaseo

If you never venture off pavement, then sure, stick with the stock tires. I prefer boondocking to parking lot camping though, and the stock ground clearance was very limiting.

If I want to go off road which doesn't happen often, this is my choice.... more capable, nicer ride and good ground clearance...

Enjoy.

[BillsPaseo]

I'm not talking about offroad, just off pavement. We frequently camp off dirt forest roads. For the real offroad, I'll take my motorcycle. And no Subaru can go some of the places we ride...

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Bill, okay, maybe you're right, I will tell you that we took our car down an unmaintained and washed out road in Sequoia National Park to see the famous "Chicago Stump" about 2 miles or more one way. I'm glad we didn't get stuck, because, there's no cell phone service and it was a lot of up and down passes.

[BillsPaseo]

We haven't gotten stuck yet, but have dragged the trailer hitch pretty badly. We're about 3.5" higher now at the rear bumper between the suspension improvements and tires, so it should be much less of an issue.

Last time out we hit hard enough to bust the skid plate that protects the rear propane outlet, luckily no damage to the outlet or line, but I need to order a replacement skid plate from Winnebago...