under spare tire

[christineb]

We just took off the spare tire to clean our Scamp and found a soggy piece of cardboard underneath, I assume to protect the paint? Any ideas what to put back?
Thanks!
Christine

[Pete Dumbleton]

If it's the original factory finish, it's fiberglass gelcoat, not paint -- After my trip to Alaska on all the gravel roads, and lots of miles on my Scamp, I found that the raised lettering on my spare had actually reverse-imprinted itself into the gelcoat without wearing out the rubber on the tire -- I just cranked it all down again -- You might try some sort of thin polypropylene foam between the tire and body (like the stuff used for packing dishes for shipping).

An alternative would be to put a second set of nuts on the studs before mounting the tire to keep it away from the body, but unless the tire is also supported on the bumper, the studs are likely to produce some crazing or cracking around their bases from the stress of supporting the tire.

[christineb]

If it's the original factory finish, it's fiberglass gelcoat, not paint -- After my trip to Alaska on all the gravel roads, and lots of miles on my Scamp, I found that the raised lettering on my spare had actually reverse-imprinted itself into the gelcoat without wearing out the rubber on the tire -- I just cranked it all down again -- You might try some sort of thin polypropylene foam between the tire and body (like the stuff used for packing dishes for shipping).

An alternative would be to put a second set of nuts on the studs before mounting the tire to keep it away from the body, but unless the tire is also supported on the bumper, the studs are likely to produce some crazing or cracking around their bases from the stress of supporting the tire.

Thanks Pete, good idea. I'm not sure if it's paint or gelcoat, but the tire's left a dullish yellow color, not too bad, but nice to avoid when we put it back on

[Con]

I had the same problem with the spare on our Boler. I took everything off, installed some rubber stand-off pads to keep it off the body and stop the tire from moving, replaced all fasteners with stainless steel. have made a couple of trips and it seem to have solved the problem. See my pictures on Webshots.

[Gerry]

Thanks Pete, good idea. I'm not sure if it's paint or gelcoat, but the tire's left a dullish yellow color, not too bad, but nice to avoid when we put it back on

I agree with Pete, but there is no way that I would place a spacer nuts as that would cause too much stress on where the bolts come through the glass.
Being a builder and always having stuff left over I used Sill-Seal, a 1/4 thin closed cell foam that can be found at building supply stores and I also have used this as water proof washers (under large fender washers) on screws that go though the glass to inside and it works great.
Gerry

[Tom Trostel]

Some of the Casita folks buy a second tire cover, cut a hole in it, and install it backwards on the spare. Then they install the regular tire cover over the top of the backwards one. That way they have a layer of vinyl between the spare and the gelcoat.
Tom Trostel

[christineb]

Why I love this site!
Great ideas! Thank you all
Christine

[Loren G. Hedahl]

My Scamp is old and decrepit enough that I really don't consider this enough of a problem to fix. . . . .

But, if I were to decide to fix it, I would pick up a set of those large round plastic furniture mover discs from the local Home Depot or Lowes and mount them strategically under the tire.

Loren

[Pete Dumbleton]

I should have mentioned that with Scamp, the mounting studs are NOT bolts, but are two studs mounted (welded?) to a plate that is installed on the inside of the wall during trailer assembly, rather than a set of bolts -- There'd be a LOT of ripped fiberglass if one were able to pull those studs out...

Also, the studs do NOT have the same diameter or threads as the mounting studs on the wheel hubs, so the nuts are not suitable for use as an expedient replacement for lost lug nuts

I don't know how the various other egg manfs install the spare tire mounts.

[Loren G. Hedahl]

I should have mentioned that with Scamp, the mounting studs are NOT bolts, but are two studs mounted (welded?) to a plate that is installed on the inside of the wall during trailer assembly, rather than a set of bolts -- There'd be a LOT of ripped fiberglass if one were able to pull those studs out...

Also, the studs do NOT have the same diameter or threads as the mounting studs on the wheel hubs, so the nuts are not suitable for use as an expedient replacement for lost lug nuts

I don't know how the various other egg manfs install the spare tire mounts.

Some time ago I removed the spare tire to clean out a hornet's nest behind it. I found the fiberglass badly cracked around the studs and ended up cutting out the foam on the inside, removing the original plate and bolting in a large backing plate of ash hardwood.

I don't think the tire was ready to fall off, but since we are known for boondocking in obscure places that are often reached by obscure and marginal roads, it just seemed wise to upgrade this a little.

Loren

[Donna D.]

I've permanently removed the spare from the back on my Scamp. 15" spare won't fit, neither on the mounting studs (wrong pattern), nor below the height of the belly band. When I took the spare down, I noticed slight grazing around the studs and discoloring around where the tire had rested against the fiberglass. MOST of the discoloration was caused by the gunk that got trapped against the trailer due to using a spare tire cover. Green moss, dirt, red and black mold, etc. I keep my trailer clean, but over the winter the cover acted like a magnet for whatever nature could throw at it. For a spare that rests right against the trailer, I'm not sure there is a really good solution for all the conditions. The good part, the grazing and discoloration wasn't noticable because it was behind the spare! MY theory, no point in fixing something that really isn't a problem...that's my story and I'm sticking to it!