Wheel size

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I just had an alignment shop cut the axel off of my 5W and add a 2" spacer between the axel and the frame so that I could replace the 13" wheels with 14" wheels. I found out that Scamp now offers the 5W with this option but according to them you need the spacer. Now it looks like I could even go with 15" wheels but that might not be a good idea???:shg
Any opinions??:conf

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Hi Larry
I think 15" wheels would be great.I am looking at that possibility with my Boler.:wave

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After schreding a Carlisle and blistering a second a month later, it was time to change tires....so in the might as well/why not dept. I decided to look cool also.

After a lot of research I came up with this P245/60Rx15 on 15"x7" wheels.

The criteria was to 1.carry the weight 2.Fit with out having clearance problems 3. have great tread wear 4.a speed rating above 65 mph 5.easy to find anywhere 6.cost about $65-$85 each (The Carlise cost me $73 on the road) 7. look Cooool

I put them on last year and have dragged them all over the westen states with nary a sign of tread wear and man do they corner great.



<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3ea41d0e1062dCoolWh&T2990.JPG/> <img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3ea423bdde370CoolWh&T2986.JPG/>

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Did it cost to have the spacer added? I'm looking to have that done to my 17' Casita. All of the welding shops that i have contaced around here don't seem willing to take it on...

You did yours at an alignment shop??

Maybe i should go to Belle Tire or someplace like that...

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bdavid:

A spacer isn't needed to put 15" wheels on a 'Casita'!

Note: Glen used a series 60 tire which helps reduce the overall diameter. He's got all the 'coool' stuff. :)

========

The spacer was what Larry put on a 'Scamp' 5th wheel. Apparently this is something the Scamp needed, I dunno. But I bet it wasn't cheap!!

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Don,


Thanks for the reply. I probably wasn't making myself clear (as usual). I 'm looking for the added ground clearance, not the 15'' tires. I've had a hard time finding a place around here that would do that for me....

I figure if i get the extra 2", i wouldn't need the bigger tires..

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Hi All,
Like the rest here I would like to swap to larger tires, I have a 17 ft Boler like Ches, does anyone know what is invovled to do so? Ches since you have one, what type of suspension does yours have, will you need to replace the axle or can 15" tires fit on the existing axle?
I'm going to Standens here in Calgary to see what they say but I would like to at look like I know what I'm talking about before I go.
Thanks for any help you can give.

PS: just wanted to say this has to be one of the best forums I've come across... a very positive environment if only the rest of the world could get along as well as the members of this forum.

Daniel G

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The alignment shop ACCURATE ALIGNMENT here in Appleton charged me $148 to cut the axel off, weld a 2" spacer on and re-weld the axel back on. I thought that that was quite reasonable. It appeared to me that 14" wheels would have fit fine as it was but the folks at Scamp want more clearance because the torson axel slowly sinks over time and for that reason, I took their advice. The reason that some shops are reluctant to do this is that they have to get the axel welded back in perfect alignment. Otherwise you are going to have abnormal tire wear among other things. My thinking was that by going to an alignment shop I would be assured that things would stay in alignment.
I have decided to go 15" with 205/75R15 tires to replace the 175/80R13 tires that came with the trailer. According to my tire shop that will increase the overall wheel diameter from 24" to 27.1"

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Orginally posted by Daniel G

Hi All,
Like the rest here I would like to swap to larger tires, I have a 17 ft Boler like Ches, does anyone know what is invovled to do so? Ches since you have one, what type of suspension does yours have, will you need to replace the axle or can 15" tires fit on the existing axle?
I'm going to Standens here in Calgary to see what they say but I would like to at look like I know what I'm talking about before I go.
Thanks for any help you can give.

PS: just wanted to say this has to be one of the best forums I've come across... a very positive environment if only the rest of the world could get along as well as the members of this forum.

Daniel G

Hi Daniel
I got springs on my unit and my axil is a 3500lb.All I got to do is find rims to fit in 15 inch size tires.

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for the info Larry.

When you're done with your Scamp you will have the coolest off-road 5th wheel ever....

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Orginally posted by Chester Taje
I got springs on my unit and my axil is a 3500lb.All I got to do is find rims to fit in 15 inch size tires.

Ches, did you have those springs put on? do you like it better? why did you do it? and any thing else closely related or not would be appreciated. (if the answer to the first part is no, then I guess you can't answer the others :( )

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Ches,
Thanks for the reply, now that it is somewhat drier here I had a look under the Boler last night and I also have leaf springs with 14" tires. If I remember correctly the tires are the same size as yours and not trailer tires either.
Jana, since both Ches and mine have the leaf springs I believe this is the original makeup.
Take care
Daniel

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Orginally posted by bdavid
When you're done with your Scamp you will have the coolest off-road 5th wheel ever....

Well, the reason for all this is that we are getting ready to leave on our dream RV trip to Alaska in about 4 or 5 weeks.:steer We plan on being gone for about three months. I have heard horror stories:omyabout bad roads, blowouts, etc. so I want to be as prepared as possible. As a matter of fact, as long as the Scamp was in the shop for the axel work, I had them install a set of shocks and weld on a fold down step under the door. At this rate I'll spend our entire trip budget before we even get out of town. :reyes

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Hi Larry
Going to Alaska is not the horror trip it once was.I lived up north for a while and talked to a lot of Americans about there trip.From my own experiance spare tires and some main spare parts are all thats needed.Most of those folks going North stop at Mile 1 for a few days to make finnal prep work. Have a good trip when you go.:)

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Larry- I saw a pic from a ScampCamp in which a fellow with the 5er did tandems....very cool and a great safety factor too. I would think this would be a simple operation on a scamp without enclosed wheel wells- just cut sidewall to accomodate tandems. If i could do it as easily I would have the only tandem Casita in existence........a 16 footer even.

Phil

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Orginally posted by phil moldovan
Larry- I saw a pic from a ScampCamp in which a fellow with the 5er did tandems....very cool and a great safety factor too. I would think this would be a simple operation on a scamp without enclosed wheel wells- just cut sidewall to accomodate tandems. If i could do it as easily I would have the only tandem Casita in existence........a 16 footer even.
Phil

Yup...I'm the guy that took the picture. I also crawled under his trailer and took a pict of the shocks that he had installed. You can view them on my photos site in my sig. That guy was Merle Lilly, a real inovative guy. He built and installed additional cupboards in the bedroom of his 5W Deluxe, he also belongs to the EAA and built his own airplane. He is also the person that I bought the shock kit from at the Florida Scamp Camp in January. He had purchased three shock kits and only used two. He said that he cut the existing axel off and moved it 9" to the back in order to accomidate the second axel. Installing the shocks turned out to be more than I wanted to tackle so I had Accurate Alignment do that as well.

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Larry,

I would be very interested in seeing pictures of the spacer and shock installation on your scamp, if you have the time. I'm curious as to what the advantage of shocks would be on a torsion axle.

I am also going to Alaska this year, planning to leave on the weekend before memorial day. I will keep an eye out for a lifted scamp 5th wheel from Wisconsin...

Orginally posted by Larry Page

Yup...I'm the guy that took the picture. I also crawled under his trailer and took a pict of the shocks that he had installed. You can view them on my photos site in my sig. That guy was Merle Lilly, a real inovative guy. He built and installed additional cupboards in the bedroom of his 5W Deluxe, he also belongs to the EAA and built his own airplane. He is also the person that I bought the shock kit from at the Florida Scamp Camp in January. He had purchased three shock kits and only used two. He said that he cut the existing axel off and moved it 9" to the back in order to accomidate the second axel. Installing the shocks turned out to be more than I wanted to tackle so I had Accurate Alignment do that as well.

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For my 2 cents worth on this. As far as the tandems . I built a tandem torsion trailer to haul cars on . Using the scamp dimensions as a pattern. And This trailer doesn’t ride nearly as well on the pavement that you find with the up and down at the seams As the front tire comes up the seam it tends to raise the hitch and as it goes over the top and the rear comes up it tends to push down on the hitch, resulting in a jerking motion that tends to make you think you will lose your head. Now the single axel just goes straight up and down and of coarse does some real bouncing back there. I believe that shocks will cut down that considerably. I have had the p-195-75-RH 14 tires on now for over 20,000 miles and they show no wear. These are regular car tires and are much softer than the tires that all recommend for trailers. and give a much softer ride.
I have a simple design to add the shocks that will not require any welding that I will be doing next week.

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Orginally posted by bdavid
Larry,
I would be very interested in seeing pictures of the spacer and shock installation on your scamp, if you have the time. I'm curious as to what the advantage of shocks would be on a torsion axle.

OK, I'll take some picts today and post them.

I am also going to Alaska this year, planning to leave on the weekend before memorial day. I will keep an eye out for a lifted scamp 5th wheel from Wisconsin...

...and I'll keep a lookout for a Casita with Michigan plates. We are planning on leaving that same weekend. We have red lettering on the back of our Scamp that says "Appleton, Wisconsin" and "SOI 386".
Larry

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Orginally posted by bdavid
Larry,
I would be very interested in seeing pictures of the spacer and shock installation on your scamp, if you have the time. I'm curious as to what the advantage of shocks would be on a torsion axle.

<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3ea6b916a488aShock Modification.jpg/>
bd, Here is a pict of the shock mod. The gold colored bracket came with the kit. Only time will tell if there is a real advantage, but I'm thinking better safe than sorry. The kit is specific for torsion axles and as I said, I got the kit from Merle Lilly in Fla.

<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3ea6b981df450Spacer.JPG.jpg/>
<img src=http://www.fiberglassrv.com/board/uploads/3ea6b9b71acc2Spacer Close-up.jpg/>
...and here are a couple of views of the spacer that they welded on.
Larry