Champion faithful , I'm going to look at and hopefully buy a 1995 181 sc this coming weekend. The 181 has not moved and been sitting on the trailer for around 3yrs due to a power head issue. Before I make the 2 1/2 hr trip home, I'm going to switch out wheels and tires with new ones . The current owner told me the tire size on it now is 215/65/15, my question is, will the Champion trailer fender wells have enough space for 225/75/15 tires ? Any and help is much appreciated !
That’s almost 3.5” bigger. I can’t answer your question but would guess it’s not a good idea.
Or better yet , does anyone know what size tires were ran on 181 single axle trailers back in the mid 90' s ?
My buddies trailer has 14s on it 181 dc 1995. and my dual axle 1995 champion trailer has 14s on it
Fishing Texas lakes one at a time
2000 Baltex hull 202 Elite Champion
2016 250 pro
8 inch Hydraulic Jack Plate
tempest 27 work by Steve
Hook sets are fishing reality.
Is the current owner sure the size of the tire is 215/65/15, and not 215/65/14? The rims and tires are not stock if they are 15's. I think the smaller 18 foot champions with single axle trailers came with 14's from the factory. My boat came with Carlisle radial trail 215/65/14's from the factory in 2012. I had a tire failure in 2014 and replaced both tires with the same brand and size. I had another failure last year. Puzzling since both tires that were destroyed had very even and little tire wear. America's Tire (west coast Discount Tires) measured the tread wear on the surviving tires both times and said the tires wore very good. They gave me 100% replacement both times since I purchased the certificate. They couldn't tell if the failure came from a side wall defect or picking up a slow leak from a nail and running flat. I think a lot of sidewall failures come from a slow leak and running flat. Unlike the truck, it's hard for me to notice a funny vibration or noise coming from the trailer until the tire goes flat . I'm always checking the mirrors, but it only takes a short period of time running flat to destroy the side wall. I would recommend getting the new Goodyear Radial Endurance, Carlisle Radial HD, or Kumho Radial 857 all with D load range. You won't have any clearance issues with a 14 inch D load range tire and 500 lbs. more trailer capacity compared to the corresponding sized C load range tire. My boat is very heavy and in my opinion both the factory tires and springs were marginal. I went with the Goodyear Endurance tires after the second tire failure and replaced the springs with 4400 lb. total capacity American made springs.Originally Posted by jjones1
Last edited by smokewagon; 09-20-2018 at 01:42 PM.
2012 Stratos ChampioN 183 Elite
Mercury 175 ProXS
My 1995 181 DC trailer has 205/75R15 tires on it.
It may not be the original rims as I bought the boat last year.
My 176 has st 205/75/14's on it my 190 has st 225/75/15's on it 10 ply.
Bruce Phillips
1995 190 DC champion ......1995 200 xri merc
My 1997 186 single axle had ST205/75R14 from the factory, my 2006 198 dual axle had/has the same factory ST205/75R14.
Ed R.
2006 ChampioN 198 225 Optimax
Thank you for all for the input, very much appreciated. !
My 1999 203 has 215/75/R14's and has plenty of room under the fenders.
my 95 181 has 205/75/15 on it
1988 Ranger 364V
150HP Merc Black Max
Well folks I am the proud owner of 1995 181 SC with a 2000 Yamaha 150 Vmax ! The 181 needs a little TLC and the Vmax needs a power head or power head rebuild. I had to put new trailer lights on, fix the trailer harness, repacked the hubs and put a set of 205/75/14's on it yesterday for the 4hr trip back to Cincinnati. Will probably have a lot of questions in the near future, going to be a nice winter project for my son and I ! I very much appreciate all the help and Champion insight !
Congrats on the 181! My first Champion was a 1996 181 it was a really fun boat.
Congratulations, JJ!!!!!
Congrats JJ good luck with the 181
2009 ELITE 210
Thank you all , I look forward to being part of the Champion family !
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