Tires rubbing on camper 2 inch clearance ?

[fowlthing]

Bought trailer used. Have now noticed wear of tires against bottom of trailer.

Springs are above the axles.

Was this caused most likely from a flat tire rubbing the bottom or is clearance not enough?

Would stronger springs help??

Any ideas? Is best bet TPMS system to lesson chance of blowout or flat ??

Thanks

[fowlthing]

John

Thanks. That is great info. I will check. I remember seeing some arch to the axle. I have a long level. Will check.

Yes both sides of springs look the same.

[JBarca]

This pic of yours shows a heavy overload has occurred, even the minor leaves are bent down.



Are both sides of the camper like this?

You should check the axle camber on both axle tubes. If you have a 4 ft level or other known straight edge, mark off the center left to right on the axle tube. Then mark the straight edge on center of it's length. Hold the straight edge up against the bottom of the axle tube, the tube should be arched "up" at the center. Up means positive camber, a good thing. If the tube is straight across, you have lost camber as this is 0 camber where the axle can get to under full load. If the tube is bent down in the center, that is signs of a heavy overload and negative camber. The axle must be replaced or re-cambered or you will wear tires. And if the axle tube camber is gone, the axle stubs on the ends may also be bent.

See here. Don't mind the worn boots, they fit well... This pic shows positive camber.


If you measure the gap at the middle, you can back into how good or bad the axle camber is pending the weight of the camper and knowing the axle rating. This is a 5,200# rated axle tube that is not at full capacity.


There are other checks you can do make sure the wheel toe is not affected, (bent axle spindle stub) but if the axle tube camber is bad, you may be into new axle tubes anyway. Ideally you check the axles and wheel alignment before you change springs so you know the new springs will work OK. New springs on a bent axle tube means tires can & most times, will, wear real fast.

Hope this helps. We really need more info on the camper to help better. Someone did a number on those springs. There may be more damage elsewhere.

John

[Grit_dog]

Them springs are pooched.

[msmith1_wa]

Those are beyond flat and appear to be arched the opposite of how they should be. You definitely need new springs.

[fowlthing]

[fowlthing]

[fowlthing]

here are the pics... they look flat to me?

http://bitly.ws/wotc

[fowlthing]

It is not a grand design... have two trailers. Will work on some pics

[Grit_dog]

TenOC wrote:

time2roll wrote:
I assume replacement springs are needed. If spending money I would go up some in rating.

At same time flip the axles

He said springs are already on top of axles.

Just sounds like the springs are sacked out.
Not a horribly difficult fix.
Hand tools job if nothing is rusted together.

[time2roll]

Post a picture similar as shown above.

[TenOC]

time2roll wrote:
I assume replacement springs are needed. If spending money I would go up some in rating.

At same time flip the axles

[JBarca]

It would help us give you better answers if we knew some more about the camper. Year, make, model so we know what you have? And do you know the axle size, the dry empty weight and the GVWR of the camper? Some of this info can be in the camper manual or on load stickers pending the year the camper was made.

2" of wheel well clearance may only work if the springs on the camper are a lot heavier in rating then the GVWR. Some camper brands are set up as low riders, and usually underslung axles. But in your case, you stated the spring are over the axle, which does not fit the common thinking of low rider camper with heavy springs.

The prior owner may have overloaded the camper, as was stated, a spring broken, or the springs are fatigued from age. We have no idea if your camper is 5 years old or 50 years old. If they did overload the camper, there is an axle inspection that can be done to see if the axle tube has lost camber. And you can get leaf spring arch heights on the spring packs from the spring manufacture if you can find a tag on the springs or axle. Assuming you have leaf springs and not a torsion axle.

3" of wheel well clearance is a common guideline from Dexter axle. However, some manufactures set up campers lower then that, and they can work, but again, this comes back to the capacity of the springs verses the rated GVWR if they can run lower then 3" clearance.

The wheel well rub may have come from broken suspension (shackle failure) or a blown tire, or both to name a few by the prior owner.

Give us some more to go on, just throwing heavier springs at the camper may not solve all the issues you could be up against.

A TPM on a camper is a very good thing regardless. I use the TST system, this one, https://tsttruck.com/ It works well for my setup. I have it on the truck also as my truck is older before TPM's were mandated.

Hope this helps,

John

[fowlthing]

Tires have rubbed in the past.. through to the plywood. MFL thanks for the pics... mine are flatter.

I think new heavier duty springs are in order. The rubbing could have been due to a blowouts... but heavier springs can't hurt

Thanks again

[MFL]

fowlthing wrote:
Tires and rims are per factory sticker.

Springs look flat to me. But just a guess
On my part.

Tires/wheels match factory sticker, then most likely springs were barely adequate from new, and are loosing their arc, from carrying a heavy trailer.

Are both sides of trailer at just 2's clearance? Have both sides lost their spring arc? It is possible to have a broken spring in the pack, that is not real noticeable.

Here is a pic of my FW spring arc, which is allowing a good 3"s of clearance. They do not appear flat.