Tire recommendations for a 16' Front bath Scamp

[frankcfx]

Any suggestions for tires to replace the original tires? Tires on there now are B78/13ST tires.
Frank

[Carol H]

LOL Frank, asking what tires to buy is about the same as asking what car to buy !!

Recommendations as to what tires to buy will pretty well come down to what someones experience with a particular tire may have been - good or bad. Some folks swear by one brand and type while others will say its the worst tire they have ever owned!

If you use the search function Top Right and use the bottom box "google" you will end up with lots of threads from this site on the topic.

[varmint]

buy the highest load rating you can get, probably "C".

[Jack L]

Heck, I would go with 14" wheels and new tires if there was room.

[Timber Wolf]

Due to under-inflation (my fault) causing premature wearing of the old set, I will be shopping new tires soon. I do not know what I can find locally but do have a guy that will mount anything I bring to him so may end up with mail order tires. I would sooner have somebody cover the whole thing, supply them and mount.

[Tom Trostel]

Maxxis M8008

Ratings, reviews and specifications for Maxxis M8008 ST Radial BS Trailer Tire tires

[Wayne Collins]

Originally Posted by frankcfx

Any suggestions for tires to replace the original tires? Tires on there now are B78/13ST tires.
Frank

We had ST175/80R13 tires. After 10 years and no problems except uneven wear on the right side tire, we changed to ST185/80R13, which are a bit wider and a bit higher in load capacity.
You should be Ok to carry 45 psi air pressure. but may go as low as 35 psi as long as they don't get hot at highway speeds.

Go to a reputable trailer shop.

[honda03842]

We've used Goodyear Marathons SR185/80R13 set at 50 psi for the last 8 years. We travel about 7 months a year and have never had a problem.

[BillE]

Originally Posted by Jack L

Heck, I would go with 14" wheels and new tires if there was room.

Heck...why not Mickey Thompson TIRE SIZE: L60-14

[Radar1]

We upsized to 205/75R14 Provider wheels/tires from etrailer dot com. They are "M" speed rated to 81 MPH so we figure that should be a bit sturdier. The standard 13" tires are hard to find when traveling and you need a spare today. The front bath/side dinette 16 also is pretty heavy on the door side if you travel with an awning, full fridge, microwave, full water heater and fresh water tank so the extra capacity reduces stress on the tire due to greater capacity.

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[ruscal]

The Scamp side dinette 16' can get too heavy on the curb side for most 13" tires. We went to 14" wheels and found some Kuhmo tires that would carry the weight. They are 2 years old now and so far are performing well.
Russ

[Dsironi]

All comments seem to be steel radials. What do you think of these bias tires for my 3 yr old 16 foot Scamp? I am concerned about safety at 60-67mph, with 2200-2600 lb load, inflated at 50psi.

Loadstar ST185/80D13 Bias Trailer Tire - Load Range D, (these use 65psi. )

Is there a way of having softer ride for the trailer, or ones that take the unexpected pothole a bit easier?


Sironi

[ruscal]

Dave,
The nature of a torsion axle tends to ride jouncy. The rubber inside is no substitute for proper damping. The closer to the axle's capacity weight you load the trailer the softer the ride. Some people are installing shock absorbers to help soften hits and calm down the jounce. Larger tires can absorb more energy than smaller, but we are somewhat limited in space to house them. Weight capacity increases with more tire inflation pressure at the expense of comfort. Old sagged out axles will have less travel and resiliency, so should be replaced. More suspension travel is better for soaking up bumps, so lifting your rig can have a benefit.
Russ

[Dsironi]

Thanks Russ,
Good point about weight. I also wondered about shock absorbers. When mine approaches wear-out time, I'll look at shocks. I haven't searched for shock absorber posts, but that would be interesting. Sounds like a BIG project.


Sironi

[ruscal]

Dave,
I believe someone over on the Casita site is doing a shock kit. I don't know much about it though. I will add shocks to our Scamp in the future, but will make my own mounts.
Russ

[John & BJ S.]

I used the wheel adapters made for the Casita kit and welded a bolt for the upper mount when I installed shocks. Out of all the mods I've done, by far my favorite. Changed the tow experience significantly. Info on my blog at http://justfinding.blogspot.com/2014/09/shocking.html

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[ruscal]

John,
Thanks for the link. That mod should calm things down. Most of these trailers are so similar that the kit could be considered universal if the brake backing plates are drilled the same. I don't know how many variations there are for the different manufacturers. Our Scamp came with an Alko axle which I swapped out for a Flex-ride when we went to larger wheels and lifted it. We switched brakes along with the axle, so I don't know if the mounting bolt pattern changed. We could collect the needed information by recording the bolt pattern dimensions for the common axles. Maybe they are all the same for each weight axle, ie 2000lb, 3500, etc. ?
Russ

[redbarron55]

I would be interested in shocks for the Scamp with the Flexiride axles for my setup.
The mounting is different on the back of the arm.
I have thought of adapting the ALKO Euro shocks and either welding a bracket on the arm or making a bracket that fits where the big bolt that clamps the arm to the splined shaft.


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[ruscal]

JD,
I have not really done any recon on how to go about it yet. You could attach to the trailing arm, but the backing plate bolts would provide removability if say you wanted to alter the shock leverage ratio. The farther the shock is from the torsion bar the more leverage it has, and the more stroke it will need. Available space will dictate what you can get away with.
Russ

[redbarron55]

Sorry I didn't get back to you , but my thoughts on the AL-KO shocks are to adapt them to the flexiride arms.
You could buy a second set to modify by welding an arm to the top since the Octagon AL-KO shocks are made to be mounted more horizontally.
The arms are only $35.00 each so the cost to try one is not too high.