Spare Tire Mount: Play or Normal?

[CampyTime]

Took the spare tire off my 2012 new to me Scamp just to check pressure. It needed inflating so I did so. But factory had tire mounted so close to FG body that the rubber letter/size marks from the tire made a big imprint. A lot of waxing later, u got it to look decent but not perfect.

Anyway my friend out the spare back on the mount for me. It backed the tire away from the trailer wall this time to avoid touching the FG. Now I don't know what it felt like before but when I grab the tire in the sides there's just a teeny bit of rocking- nothing marked. are these things supposed to be tight as a drum, or is there just a teeny bit of flexing if tire mount in trailer wall?

I hope somebody would be willing to go out to their trailer and check for me? I sure would be grateful.

Wendy


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[CampyTime]

Sorry for the texting typos. He put the tire back on the mount!


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[Carol H]

Wendy I keep mine tight to the trailer as possible. You really don't want it to move at all as it can cause some fatigue in the mounts through the fiberglass.

[Paul O.]

You are paying good attention to details, Wendy. I have observed the same thing on mine. The spare could be tighter against the back wall of the Scamp, but then it will rub and make things worse if there is some desert dust between the tire and the fiberglass. I keep it just tight enough to be able to slip the tire cover in that space. It does not stop the tire from moving completely. I hope that tire actually rests on the rear bumper some of the time when driving on rough roads, and I hope that the fiberglass is reenforced where the three bolts are attached. At one time I thought I would put some spacer between the bumper and the tire to keep it tight, but have not done anything. I think some of the people who have done Scamp restoration might know how the bolts are attached.

[Carol H]

There is a piece of wood on the back wall of the Scamp under the rat fur that Scamp used for reinforcement.

[Byron Kinnaman]

I found some 1/4" thick felt and put that between the tire and trailer. Now I can snug the tire up without worrying about wearing through the fiberglass. I set the inside nuts so the will be snug but not tight against the fiberglass, then tightened up the outside nuts to keep the tire put.

[Paul O.]

Originally Posted by Carol H

There is a piece of wood on the back wall of the Scamp under the rat fur that Scamp used for reinforcement.

That should make us feel better. Scamp does that in many other places, but I was not sure. Distributing the load is always good. Thanks, Carol.

[Carol H]

As far as wear on the fiberglass goes I know mine has been very snug to the trailer with no movement for 22 years and although the fiberglass is of a different colour behind the tire there is no wear on it. I would think having it so it is moveable would create a higher chance of wear on the fiberglass.

[CampyTime]

Hi Everyone,
Thanks for your great help, information and suggestions. Byron, where did you pick up the felt? A craft/sewing store? I think I like that idea, and agree with Carol that keeping the tire as close as possible is the ticket to minimizing movement/jarring while driving down the road.
I went out there tonight and took the tire off. While it was off, what the heck! Tried waxing the "tire ring" off of my fiberglass once more. Well, I gave it the old college try with paste wax and it's still there, so I'll live with it.
I learned something else tonight. The top bolt back nut has to be a little further back than the two bottom backing nuts. After spending all this crazy time getting exactly 1-1/8" of bolt sticking through the backing nut, I observed that the distance between the tire and the FG at the top of the tire was greater than at the bottom. DUH! I have a contoured trailer!
So in the end, it got too buggy out and I just tightened it all up for now. Will go out tomorrow, but wondered Carol, would you be able to check (or do you have a rough idea) of how much distance is between your tire and the FG? I like what I've got at the bottom of the tire (about an 1/8" looks like). Having the bolt protrude through the backing nut 1-1/8" seems good, but I'm also wondering if I'll be able to get the tire cover back on??

[Paul O.]

Good question about getting the cover on the tire. I think the cover for the spare is important, since the same area (top outside) of the tire would be getting all that UV exposure. (Not many people rotate tires on trailers, I think.) On the wheel tires, the UV exposure gets distributed.

[mary and bob]

Some carpet pad is felt, we use it in the storage spaces to keep stuff from rubbing the fiberglass. Liquid version of Barkeepers Friend may remove the tire mark. I had a tire do that to a vinyl car seat years ago. Seat was out of the car while I was rewiring, and I stupidly laid a tire on it. Never got the mark off.

[Carol H]

I can get the standard Scamp tire cover back on - but it is a tight fit.

I highly recommend picking up a small bottle of 3M Marine Restore and Wax. It will take the black marks off no problem.... you can use a micro finer cloth to do it by hand but if you want it off real fast a power polisher will do it.

[Borrego Dave]

You can go to Lowes/big orange get a piece of 1/8th" thick carpet to use against your tire/shell, comes in grey and brown. It is cheap too, I have used it on the inside of my aluminum tool box in my dune buggy to keep the noise down. Used 3m spray contact cement to install it but you wouldn't want to glue it for the spare tire. I kind of wondered about the sand/dirt too but other than the tire marks on the FG I don't see a problem with the tire being against the shell and having a few rubber marks on it. Won't hurt a thing in the big picture. As far as the cover, I put the cover down on the bumper then the tire on it so the tire will be pinching the cover to the bumper. Tighten the spare against the body and pull the cover over the top.

[CampyTime]

Hi All,
Thank you for all the help! Carol, I went to West Marune today and picked up the 3M restorer. Worked like a charm with a little elbow grease! My mom was going to check out the fabric store for me but gosh...I never thought about carpet pad! What a great idea! For now I think I've got the backing nuts where I wAnt them. My friend had the tire about 1/2inch away from the FG but I didn't like the play. I moved back 1/4 inch so far and a little more on top nut due to trailer contours so tire sits about same all round. I'm gonna torque the nuts down as goid as I can with my small frame. Thought about the suggestion to put tire cover partially on top first before tightening nuts and I like it. Gonna give it a shot now!


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[Carol H]

Originally Posted by CampyTime

Hi All,
Carol, I went to West Marune today and picked up the 3M restorer. Worked like a charm with a little elbow grease!

Glad it worked. I carry a bottle of it in the trailer - takes off the worst of bug blood stains as well. Actually haven't found anything yet it will not take off. I like it as it not only takes the stain off but also protects the spot with wax as well.

[CampyTime]

Snugging that baby right up to the trailer wall right now and .zero play. I like it! Till I get the felt I won't worry - that 3M restorer rocks! I agree: that tire needs to be tight to minimize stress in area. As usual, you strike agAin with sound advice Carol!


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[Dan Meyer]

Mine is the same way; since it is hidden by the spare tire, I don't worry about it.

-- Dan Meyer

[Timber Wolf]

When I pulled the old spare off my 1988 Scamp during the rebuild and axle swap I noticed a circle cut into the fiberglass of the trailer. It bothered me at the time but then I moved on to other issues and actually enjoying the trailer and forgot about it, until this thread that is.

[RogerDat]

Over time the black of the tire will bleed through the tire cover. One solution is saran plastic wrap or those bags dry cleaners use wrapped around the tire to keep the rubber stain off the tire cover, might that not also keep the stain off of the camper?

Came up for me when after 1 season my new tire cover was showing a brown stain in the exact same pattern as the tire tread.

[CampyTime]

Geez! I'm sorry to be the bearer of evil tidings! I'm too curious for my own good perhaps. Earlier in this thread Carol let me know about 3M fiberglass restorer and wax. I picked it up at west marine and it did a great job of cleaning the tire ring.

Had I not posted I would have left the tire about a 1/2 inch away from the trailer wall and I've learned that's not good for flexing and stress. My friend suggested it and I observed a lot of play in the tire that way.

My plan each year for normal maintenance is to take tire off to check for inflation. And then clean the "bathtub ring" as I am now affectionately calling it!


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