Page 1 of 1

Clearance between body side and tyre?

PostPosted: Mon Apr 18, 2016 12:27 am
by paulnb57
Builders!
What would you consider to be an ideal clearance between body side and inner edge of the tyre?

I just picked up a galvanised boat trailer, which is just right to drop an 8x4 tear on, but, it is only 47" between inner tyre sides, now, I can get a couple of 1 1/4 inch wheel spacers easily enough and also if necessary, build in a small recess on the body. So what clearance between body side and inner tyre?

Opinions?

Re: Clearance between body side and tyre?

PostPosted: Mon Apr 18, 2016 6:35 am
by KCStudly
For leaf springs (every boat trailer I can think of has leaf springs) I would look for about 1-1/2 inches with 1 inch being the bare minimum (expecting rubs at that point). The up travel can't be more than the clearance between the frame and the part that will contact it first; be that the axle itself, the u-bolts, or mounting plate (if spring over axle), unless you have bump stops (which most trailers, especially small trailers, don't).

For torsion axles the side clearance can be less; 3/4 inch seems to be the accepted value.

Re: Clearance between body side and tyre?

PostPosted: Mon Apr 18, 2016 7:52 am
by dales133
I went for 50mm or 2 inches.
The more the merrier

Sent from my SM-N910G using Tapatalk

Re: Clearance between body side and tyre?

PostPosted: Mon Apr 18, 2016 11:17 am
by KCStudly
For a split tire well/narrow fender situation such as Paulmb57's case a little extra probably wouldn't hurt, so long as that doesn't pinch down the sleeping area.

On a traditional 'wheels and fenders outside cabin' build, if you are running a larger section tire (like me) or have preexisting skinny fenders, and you have a lot of space between tire and cabin (say, 1-3/4 inch, like me) you can run into a problem where commercially available fenders either doesn't cover the outside edge of the tire, or you end up having to space the fender out away from the body. If you are planning to custom make the fenders it's less of a big deal (unless you have already bought fenders... like me :oops: :NC )

Re: Clearance between body side and tyre?

PostPosted: Mon Apr 18, 2016 6:40 pm
by dales133
I had troble finding fenders for my 275 75 16s aswell