IMPORTANT tire question - Fiberglass RV
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Old 06-21-2003, 11:29 PM   #1
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IMPORTANT tire question

Ok so I went down and bought me some NEW goodyear marathons at the store for my newly purchased 1973 Scamp 13'. The previous owner went and bought him some cheapy little 20 dollar jobbies and I didnt trust them for my up coming 8000 mile trip. I put the new tires on and the left(drivers) tire is just barely up against the fiberglass underneath where the right is a good 3/4" away. I figure i will drive it a mile to a friends house and see if it is an issue. I get to his house and take a look and can smell burning rubber. I look underneath and sure enough it was rubbing pretty good but didnt damage the tire seriously fortunately. FINALLY the question. I went down to my handy Pepboys and bought a 5/16 spacer, installed it, and everything seems to be ok. Does anyone have any experience with a spacer on a trailer. Supposedly the trailer has a new axel which I assume accounts for this problem. The trailer tows straight with no noted problems but I have only been at residential street speeds so far. Any help would be greatly appreciated. By the way the buddies house I went to welded me a nice new battery holder to the tongue of the trailer. I will take some pics soon to show it off and maybe give someone else a new idea.

THANKS IN ADVANCE



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Old 06-22-2003, 06:09 AM   #2
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so you think the axle's off center a little? of was it rubbing on top? :conf guess it was on top if the spacer worked. I know some of them here have added spacers for ground clearance so give it a few days, and I'm sure some one who's done it will answer.

So when you added yours, did you re-center the axle? I thought they were welded on, but then how would you add a spacer? Sorry, I'm really ignorent on this.



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Old 06-22-2003, 06:14 AM   #3
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Jana Journeycake PullsButtercupwithHoneyletsEscape,

I suspect Mike added a spacer to move the wheel out on the hub, not an axle riser.

Have you fully recovered from the Georgetown hoorah?



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Old 06-22-2003, 04:04 PM   #4
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The spacer I added was to move the wheel out. It was rubbing on the inside sidewall.



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Old 06-22-2003, 04:17 PM   #5
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spacing

use a measuring tape and measure the distance to the tire flange on each side, if there's a difference there's a problem.

If your axle is mounted on conventional springs, it's not located properly and it can work around and cause serious damage if it does.
If its a torsion mount type, it may have been welded in incorrectly, which will eventually cause you some grief.



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Old 06-22-2003, 06:26 PM   #6
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I may not have known what he was saying, but you did, Morgan. way to go. Hope Mike got the help he wanted.


I'm so over my trip, I'm thinking of another one.



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Old 06-22-2003, 09:22 PM   #7
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Important Tire Question

I am assuming that you have the same size tires and rims on both sides of the trailer and you have a new axel. I would say that your axel was not properly centered when installed or you have a bent frame. Major problem! If this is the case you will need to (1) have axel removed and reinstalled properly and/or (2) straighten frame. Check alignment of axel with a simple tape measure to see if it is squared to the frame and equal on both sides from the back of the brake hub to the frame.



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Old 06-22-2003, 09:25 PM   #8
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Hi Skip
On Boler rvs they were biult offset.1 wheel was closer than the other one.Maybe scamp buit the same way.



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Old 06-22-2003, 09:31 PM   #9
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I have a solid axel with no up/down play. If the thing that comes up from the axel and then out to the hub is called the flange then yes it is at a different offset. as you look under the trailer from the rear the drivers side flange comes up even with the fiberglass wheel well where as the passenger side is offset ~ 3/4 " out from the wheel well. I hope this explains it and I am pretty illiterate when it comes to trailers. Sorry



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Old 06-22-2003, 09:32 PM   #10
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Important Tire Question

Thanks for that quick reply!

Why were they built offset? Wouldn’t that track badly? But it would still have to be square to the frame, wouldn’t it?


Just asking...



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Old 06-22-2003, 09:34 PM   #11
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Skip
I don't know why.Yes it is square to frame.



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Old 06-22-2003, 09:35 PM   #12
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the tires are brand new and are the same size as well as the wheels being the same size. with the spacer in place it seems to work fine and tow straight and gives me 5/16 mor room to move the tire out.



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Old 06-22-2003, 09:47 PM   #13
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Mike,

OK. Tomorrow I am going to go out, crawl under my Casita, and measure to see if my axel is offset. I’ll let you know.

Enjoy your trip!



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Old 06-22-2003, 09:56 PM   #14
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ok thanks let me know and thanks for all the help.



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Old 06-22-2003, 09:56 PM   #15
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Well, I couldn’t wait. The tires on my Casita are not offset.



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Old 06-22-2003, 10:01 PM   #16
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my guess is that when they welded the axel on the screwed up the offset. the right thing to do would be to cut it out and re-weld it but the spacer is working well and I am basically just looking to see if anyone thionks this spacer is a problem. it tows straight and seems fine with the spacer and the bearings are new and repacked. I have it gutted right now as i re-wired it and put in new flooring. we are leaving on our trip on july 6th so i am running out of room QUICK so if i dont have to do some welding that would be swell
thanks again for the help



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Old 06-22-2003, 11:01 PM   #17
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Scratch this off if I'm wrong!

I don't want to be an alarmist, but do I understand correctly that you now have just 5/16 of an inch space between the tire and the side of the wheel well? Did you say a new axle was installed by the former owner? Might that axle not be the correct width? I just got curious and checked the tires/wheels on our Casita--there is about 3 inches of clearance.

I hope I'm wrong on all these presumptions, but if I had only 5/16'' clearance, I wouldn't even pull my trailer out of the driveway, unless it was going to the axle shop!

Hope I'm wrong. Hope I'm wrong. Hope I'm wrong!:shg



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Old 06-22-2003, 11:59 PM   #18
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to be honest im not sure if it is the correct axel and for that matter how i could tell. If someone out there knows the correct length that would be great. The gap between the tire and the inner wall is probly at close to an inch and could be moved out maybe an inch at the most. Any more would put it closer to the outside of the trailer. the one thing I do know is correct is the tires/wheels. The tires say 50 psi on the sidewall but the guy at the tire store said he wouldnt put them above 40. Im planning on filling them to the correct psi but some insight wouldnt hurt. Thanks for any help.



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Old 06-23-2003, 06:38 AM   #19
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Thought here. If Burro off set theirs, then Scamp might? - -sooo call Scamp and ask. You did say you had a Scamp.



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