Skoolie Wheel / Tire Modernization?

[TGreene5]

Hi All,
My wife and I own a 1998 International 3800 Midsize bus. We've got dry rot on our front and rears tires and are looking for the best options to replace them. The tire sizes are as follows. Front / Steer tires: 9.00-20. Rear tires: 10R22.5. Everyone we've called says they don't make the front tires anymore so we'll need to modernize them. Both front and rear wheels seem to be Dayton Style wheels so I'm not sure if the best course of action would be to buy new Dayton wheels or if they even make those, or if we'd need to replace the axles in order to modernize them. Not sure if they are split ring or not so I've attached pictures of both front and rear wheels. The rears are duallys.



Front:




Rear:




If you have any idea what the best route would be to move forward let us know. Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[Booyah45828]

There are a handful of threads here on this topic from people that were in the same situation as you.

https://www.skoolie.net/forums/f10/s...ton-38600.html

https://www.skoolie.net/forums/f35/w...wap-33423.html

https://www.skoolie.net/forums/f9/sp...ion-19162.html

Do a search on it and read until your eyes are sore.

You've got options here. Your bus is currently equipped with cast spoke "dayton" style hubs. Your front rims are multipiece and rear rims are one piece. You can retain the dayton hubs, install one piece rims on the front, replace all 6 tires, and then be back in business. The one piece dayton rims are still available new and also used, as are the 10r22.5 tires that you currently have installed on the rear. That would probably be the cheapest method.

10 years or so ago they sold kits that converted your dayton hubs to disc hubs. If you find an older parts guy you might be able to source those conversion hubs and the needed bearings, drums, wheels, etc. IDK on the availability of that stuff anymore, especially with covid's effect on the supply chain, so be sure to find someone that has first hand recent experience with it. Doing the conversion, you'd then have the more common disc style wheel, but you'd still likely be using a 10r22.5 tire that you currently have installed.

Another option is swapping the axles. Not exactly cheap either, but if you've got obsolete axles with light duty brakes and an undesirable gear ratio, you can upgrade/modernize all of it at one time and come out for the better in the deal.

I'm surprised your bus, being a 1998, has 9.00-20's on it. In my experience that size was last used in the 80's, with nearly everything in the 90's onward using a radial tire. FWIW the 9.00-20's are still made, but they're pretty rare and limited on tread type, so I'm not surprised that shops told you there no longer available.

What should you do? It depends on what YOU will actually be doing. If you're just writing the check, stick with your current axles/hubs and let the tire shop handle the multi-piece to single piece rim change.

If you plan on doing this yourself, then you can look into hub or axle swaps if that tickles your fancy. But I wouldn't pay a shop to do that, as it will likely be prohibitively expensive.

[somewhereinusa]

I just did a quick search, seems center hub is the same for 20 and 22.5. That rim is NOT a split rim, it may be a locking ring. One piece tubeless rims are available.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by somewhereinusa

I just did a quick search, seems center hub is the same for 20 and 22.5. That rim is NOT a split rim, it may be a locking ring. One piece tubeless rims are available.

my DEV bus is a 90 chassis and was shipped with 20's, at some point someone converted them to 22.5's, I run 11R22.5's all around on that bus without issue...


the locking ring 20's arent bad.. definitely not as unsafe as widow-makers.. however the bad press is out there and since most mobile tire rigs dont have a cage.. they wopnt touch em.. most reputable tire shops have cages and will work pn lock-ring rims..



biggest issue is if you get a flat on the highway.. a 9R20 tire isnt something most carry even if they will work on the lock ring..



id definitely tell the OP to convert those front wheels over to 22.5" rims and run a 10R or 11R.. no reason to convert the dayton hub to stud or hub pilot..

[Booyah45828]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

my DEV bus is a 90 chassis and was shipped with 20's, at some point someone converted them to 22.5's, I run 11R22.5's all around on that bus without issue...


the locking ring 20's arent bad.. definitely not as unsafe as widow-makers.. however the bad press is out there and since most mobile tire rigs dont have a cage.. they wopnt touch em.. most reputable tire shops have cages and will work pn lock-ring rims..



biggest issue is if you get a flat on the highway.. a 9R20 tire isnt something most carry even if they will work on the lock ring..



id definitely tell the OP to convert those front wheels over to 22.5" rims and run a 10R or 11R.. no reason to convert the dayton hub to stud or hub pilot..

Only reason I suggested disc rim conversion is because a lot of mobile guys don't know how to true a dayton rim, and therefore won't touch a vehicle with one equipped. If you don't know what you're doing, you can waste hours trying to get it right, only to have them give up and end up with something that shakes the fillings out of your teeth.

If you know how to, then the truing aspect of dayton rims are a non-issue. I've got them on my bus, and the only reason I'd swap them out is if I found a complete pair of axles that are better then what I have.