[Philip]

Hello Again Folks,

Just thought I would let memebers know how the switch to 15" tires on my 2008 2720 went - I did the change myself; with a helpfull friend.

Installing the lift kit went smooth. It took more time since the factory had welded the suspension bracket to the frame and I had to grind the weld away. I jacked the TM up on the frame with jacks just forward of the axle on the frame(on both sides) to remove the tires. Using a square piece of board placed flat on the underside of the TM floor and just touching the axle, I marked with a magic marker the end of the board on the underside of the TM floor. I did this on four spots - forward and aft on both ends of the axle. These marks were used to assure I got the axle back in the same position after I installed the lift kit. I assumed the factory had the axle properly alligned initially. I then did what another forum member suggested - place a jack under the axle(in the middle) with a strong board between the axle and the jack to distribute the load. This jack was just snugged up to support the weight of the axle - no lifting was done with the axle. This jack allowed me to remove the bolts from both sides at once and install the new bolts and nuts. I then lowered the axle so the axle hung from the new longer bolts. I could then take one bolt at a time out, insert the lift tube and reinsert the bolts while the jack on the axle held the weight of the axle. After all the bolts were installed in the new tube spacers I just had to allign the axle to my marks and tighten the bolts and the job was finished.

Hindsight being 20-20 I thought I would mention something I wished I had done but didn't think of at the time. I should have put a bunch of washers on the four lift kit bolts to fill the gap between the bolts and the inside of the lift tubes. This would have allowed me to tighten these bolts much more without fear of crushing the tubes. This would further assure that the axle would not shift and get out of allignment anytime in the future. I still may go back and put these washers in but for now I am tired of working on the TM.

I also readjusted my WDH to the new TM height.

I also thought I would mention that the factory 14" tires were NOT BALANCED AT ALL. There were NO weights on any wheel. I say this because I have never seen a tire that didn't need some weight. The new tires having been dynamically balanced have taken the slight bit of pitching(front to back) I noticed in the TV at certain speeds. Perhaps the out of balance 14" tires caused the TM to pitch up and down slightly and the WDH transmitted this to the TV. In any event I have none of this with the new 15" balanced tires.

Well I have said too much again. Lets hope I accomplish my goal of preventing blowouts!

Happy trails to all,

Phil Friess