16' Scamp tires - Fiberglass RV
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Old 12-26-2005, 06:06 PM   #1
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Trailer: 2000 Scamp 16 ft
Posts: 3
Had my second tire failure today, door side (heavy side)of the trailer
60 MPH, 70 degrees outside, tire pressure at 48 psi cold. This one was
a Goodyear Marathon two years old, ST175-80R13. Tore a 3 inch by 12
inch hole in the wood floor and the fiberglass at the rear of the wheel
well. These tires are rated at 1360 max load at 50 psi. The trailer
moderately loaded weighs close to 2700 pounds, not evenly divided side
to side. I know the hitch carries some of the weight, but when you are
on a curve, the tires on the outside of the curve have to be carrying
way over their safe load. After 2 failures over a 5 year period, I no
longer feel safe and secure with those tires. Does anyone know of a
tire with a higher load capacity that will fit my 13 inch wheels? Or,
can I get away with putting on 14 inch wheels? If so, do you know what
rims will fit it? Sorry about the long post, Ed
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Old 12-26-2005, 06:40 PM   #2
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Trailer: Burro 17 ft Widebody
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I can't be of much help, except to say that I didn't like the margin for error on the 13 inchers on mine either, and was unable to come up with tires for those wheels with a higher rating. So I switched to 14 inch wheels and was able to come up with tires with plenty of margin, enabling me to lower the tire pressure somewhat in the bargain.

The main issue is to find wheels with the correct offset and to make sure the tires will not get too close to anything on the body (especially to the frame) after you have accounted for the size and the suspension travel. My local Les Schwab dealer knew precisely what to do and everything is OK. I'd recommend taking a wheel off after you have measured the clearances and take it to a local dealer to check things out.
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Old 12-26-2005, 08:53 PM   #3
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Trailer: 19 ft Scamp (Egg Salad Annie)
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Wow Ed
Two blow outs. This is a subject of everyones concern. I just replaced the 14 inch tires on my Scamp 5th wheel with Goodyear 's My tire man said he could not find a low profile tire to fit a 14 inch rim. You may want to talk to Ken at Scamp and get the size of the tires they were using. They went back to 13' Goodyears because they were unable to find a supplier for low profile tires.
Good luck , Glad no one was injuried.
Taylor the sailor
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Old 12-26-2005, 09:09 PM   #4
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Trailer: 2000 Scamp 16 ft Side Dinette
Posts: 728
Hi Ed

I've had a tire failure also, and I lucked out that nothing was damaged when the tire blew. Read all about my tire failure on my web site under "Modifications and Repairs". Sorry to hear your trailer has been damaged by the tire failure.

Goodyear advertises a ST185-80R13 load range C tire that I suspect would fit without any problem if your axle is in good shape (see http://www.goodyear.com/rv/products/...marathon.html). This is one size larger than supplied by Scamp, and at 50 PSI will carry 120 pounds per tire more than the stock ST185-80R13 giving an additional margin of safety. See the load/inflation table at http://www.goodyear.com/rv/pdf/rv_inflation.pdf for more details.

Good luck, and let us know what you decide to do with your tires!

-- Dan Meyer
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Old 12-26-2005, 10:46 PM   #5
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Trailer: Bigfoot 25 ft / Dodge 3500HD 4X4 Jake Brake
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I had similar problems and found there are additional specs to look out for. Many trailer tires are rated for high pressure and low speeds. States like Arizona have legal towing speeds of 70+ mph. Now that doesn’t mean you have to go that fast, but the tires are rated to handle it.<blockquote>Service Description
The service description of a tire includes its load index and speed ratings. These two ratings tell us how much weight the tire can support and the maximum service speed of a tire.

Load Index
The load index of a tire is a number that corresponds to the maximum load in pounds that a tire can support when properly inflated. The maximum load in pounds and kilograms will also be molded on the tire sidewall.

Speed Rating*
Many Goodyear tires are available in speed-rated versions to match the speed capabilities of the world’s fastest cars. Generally, it is recommended that a speed-rated tire be replaced with a tire having an equivalent or greater speed rating.

However, if you never drive at speeds near the limits of your speed rated tires, you may choose to replace them with tires having a lesser top speed rating.

In situations where tires having different top speed ratings are mixed on a vehicle, the maximum speed certification is limited to the top speed certification of the tire with the lowest speed rating.

Speed ratings do not indicate how well a tire handles or corners. They certify the tire’s ability to withstand high speed.</blockquote>I decided to go with Good Year Light Duty Truck Tires with a higher speed rating. They don’t fall apart at highway speeds and are designed to carry the weight at lower tire pressures giving a smoother ride in the trailer.

You might start looking at http://www.goodyeartires.com/goodyeartires...=98&image.y=28#
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Old 12-27-2005, 05:59 AM   #6
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Here is a link to the Tire Rack's page on Goodyear Marathon in 185/80/13 with 1480 lbs. load rating. Tom Trostel

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?ti...re1=yes&place=1
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Old 12-27-2005, 08:09 AM   #7
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Trailer: 2007 17 ft Casita Spirit Deluxe
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Why does a quality trailer builder like Scamp, use 13" wheels, and also sell their 13' trailers without brakes? After reading dozens of posts on this forum, it appears 14" or 15" wheels with brakes would logically be the standard on all travel trailers regardless of size. After a few decades of heavy use of many of these trailers, I would think a manufactures engineers would agree with what members of this forum have discovered. Is this a financial decision for Scamp?
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Old 12-28-2005, 08:12 AM   #8
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Trailer: 84 16 ft Scamp
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I count myself as lucky, I guess, because I have towed our 16 Scamp many thousands of miles in all weather from ice to hot desert conditions and have never had a tire let loose except for one. On a warm summer afternoon the spare on the back of the trailer blew with a big bang. I would call that luck, wouldn't you?

On another track. When I bought the trailer there was a factory sticker placed over each wheel cutout that said: "Warning! Do not inflate over 22 psi." At the time I thought the reason for the low pressure was to aid an overly stiff suspension system. Since the original tires were badly cracked I replaced them with Yokohama 155-80 x 13's aired up to 22 psi. They looked a little squishy on the sides, but towed great and trouble free for several years of extensive use. I have since gone to 185-70 x 13's because they came on some junkyard mags that look sort of cool on the Scamp.

So why are there so many problems being reported by those who are going by the book with trailer rated tires, and you seldom hear about problems with standard auto p-metric tires. Maybe it's because us off-the-book types are just not about to fess up to our wayward deeds!
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