Wheel size

[WDavidG]

My wife and I are considering our first foray into RVdom with a 13' - looking at Scamp and Casita. Numerous variables but among them I tend to favor the 15" wheels on the Casita over the 13" on Scamp but maybe it doesn't much matter. We live in the northeast and plan trips west so we'll put a lot of miles on whatever we choose. Toyota highlander will be the TV. Any strong opinions on whether this should be a significant consideration?

thanks

[Frederick L. Simson]

My Fiber Stream has 12" wheels; four of them on two axles. In the nearly 10 years I've owned it, I've been between San Diego, California and Syracuse, New York twice, and between San Diego, California and Portland, Oregon eight times. I am getting ready to buy my 4th set of tires for it. I don't think the wear has been excessive, but they do rotate faster than the 17" tires on the Odyssey at the same highway speed.

[RogerDat]

Unless you put a lot of miles on your tires they will age out before they wear out. Tires degrade with age so by 5 years they have lost a lot of strength. So even cheap 10,000 mile tires you would have to do 2,000 miles every year to wear them out. If you buy a higher quality tire good for 20 - 40 thousand miles you would have to drive 8,000 miles every year to retire them for wear rather than age.

It is worth noting that some people go more than 5 years by several years or only replace when the tires are totally shot. But good looking 7 year old tires with little wear are not what most would want to use on a cross country trip at highway speeds.

[Francesca Knowles]

Casita puts 15" wheels on ALL its trailers...same load range tire, too. Must be a volume-buying thing. There's really no other practical reason that could explain their use of that big a wheel on a trailer as small as the 13 footer. And cosmetically speaking, they look too big for the trailer to boot, in my opinion.

I certainly wouldn't base a decision on which trailer to buy on that one detail since in my opinion except for perhaps an inch or two of extra "clearance" there's no other advantage over the Scamp's smaller wheels.

[honda03842]

We've had three small trailers including a Casita and Scamp, all with 13" tires, all Goodyear Marathons. We have traveled extensively averaging 7.5 months a year on the road, making 3 loops of the USA and Canada including a cross Labrador trip with a 1000 miles of dirt roads.

During this period we have never had a tire failure. Like many, we change our tires every 3-4 years though the tread is still good.

We have considered going to larger tires but why change what's working....

[WDavidG]

Thanks all, these are really helpful comments. I'm now convinced this is a non-issue. This is a great forum - appreciate all the help.

d

[FTTRV]

Escape went to 15 inch tires on all their trailers. Newer Bigfoot's have 15 inch. Most stick built trailers have 15 inch.
Chuck

[Donna D.]

I changed the axle on my Scamp, it needed it, wanted bigger tires because I THOUGHT I could match the spare to my tug... that didn't work AT ALL, different offsets. But still like the look of what's under my Scamp. Tows great, happy I did it. But, I wouldn't do it... just because someone thinks bigger tires are better. Not necessarily true. It's more about weight bearing, etc.

[SharonM]

I'm going to 14" tires on my Scamp for two reasons:
1) Weight bearing (as Donna mentioned).
2) I was "informed" that 13" tires can be difficult to find when travelling.

S.

[honda03842]

I really don't know if 13s are difficult to find having only one experience.

Before we put new tires on our Scamp while towing it home from FL we had a tire fail, in nowhere NC. Drove into some small town, stopped at the first tire dealer and picked up a replacement 13" tire.

Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever had a problem finding a 13" tire?

[Francesca Knowles]

No need to upsize if additional weight-bearing capacity is the concern. The 13" tires supplied by Scamp are load range "C", but they can be had in LR "D", too. ( Link)
That step up in range achieves an increase in load bearing capacity from 1360 to 1725 lbs.- per tire, of course.

And without changing the trailer's wheels!

One caveat:
This presumes that the trailer wheels in question are rated for the higher (65psi) pressure of the LRD tire. Such info is usually stamped on the wheel itself.

[David Tilston]

I wonder what kind of failure would result from excessive tire pressure?

[RogerDat]

Originally Posted by honda03842

I really don't know if 13s are difficult to find having only one experience.

Before we put new tires on our Scamp while towing it home from FL we had a tire fail, in nowhere NC. Drove into some small town, stopped at the first tire dealer and picked up a replacement 13" tire.

Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever had a problem finding a 13" tire?

I was at a tire store a few weeks ago for something and asked about 13" tires and was told they don't stock them but can have them in a day.

Asked at another store and they had them in stock, and there is always Walmart for cheap 13" in the load range suitable (or at least usable) on a 13 ft. Scamp. I think they stock them because so many pop-up campers, boat trailers, and snow mobile trailers use that size. But may not stock the higher load capacity tires mentioned in other posts.

Online tire stores the times I have looked always showed 13" as in stock, not backordered.

If you have a spare mounted on the back as is the case with a scamp getting a tire if you have a flat should not be an urgent issue.

[SharonM]

Thx all for the input.

S.

[ruscal]

Originally Posted by Francesca Knowles

No need to upsize if additional weight-bearing capacity is the concern. The 13" tires supplied by Scamp are load range "C", but they can be had in LR "D", too. ( Link)
That step up in range achieves an increase in load bearing capacity from 1360 to 1725 lbs.- per tire, of course.

And without changing the trailer's wheels!

One caveat:
This presumes that the trailer wheels in question are rated for the higher (65psi) pressure of the LRD tire. Such info is usually stamped on the wheel itself.

Francesca,
I changed wheel size to 14" to gain weight capacity. At the time I didn't see availability of the tire in your link. I could have saved a lot of money!
Oh well, It was a fun project, and I have new suspension now.
Russ

[Francesca Knowles]

Originally Posted by ruscal

Francesca,
I changed wheel size to 14" to gain weight capacity. At the time I didn't see availability of the tire in your link. I could have saved a lot of money!
Oh well, It was a fun project, and I have new suspension now.
Russ

I'm glad you brought suspension up, Russ. I forgot to point out in my earlier post that in all cases, the lowest capacity component of the system governs carrying capacity. In your case, I presume you have the 3500 pound axle that appears to be standard on the Scamp 16, so you have enough capacity there to reap the benefit of higher-weight bearing tires etc.

But of the two 13 footers the O.P. is considering, that is only true of the Casita 13, which also comes with a 3500 pound axle. Link to specs
(Side note: Strictly in my opinion, that's too much axle for such a small trailer...I suspect it would result in a really harsh ride unless the trailer was loaded close to 3,000 pounds or so.)

The Scamp 13, on the other hand, has a 2200 pound axle. Link to specs That's its limiting weight-carrying factor. Neither upsizing nor increasing LR of tires will result in an actual increase in carrying capacity.

And here's a bit of unsolicited advice to the O.P.:

This is the first time I've ever looked at the specs for these two 13-ers side by side...the Casita being so much heavier (even "dry"), it seems to me that if keepin' things small/light is a primary aim the Scamp would be the better choice.

With the 13" tires!