question about wheel size, fender allowance & door place

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question about wheel size, fender allowance & door place

Postby martha24 » Sun Aug 20, 2006 6:25 pm

We are trying to figure out which is the best way to go about it. The trailer frame was given to us (see hello from Goleta, newbies). The trailer frame is an old trailer frame for a 4’ x 8’ trailer (Zagelmeyer) and the wheels are old Ford wheels (have one hubcap with Ford logo on it and one rusty fender). We are going with the Kit 47 shape of teardrop. In working out the particulars my husband, David, noticed the wheels are 16 inch. The wheels themselves David likes as they are wire spoke, but their size creates a problem. To use those wheels we would have to move the door closer to the front of the teardrop by about 4 inches or so depending on how much room needs to be allowed for the fender, going by the one old fender we have. How much room should one allow for the fender? Or is it better to get new wheels that are smaller, like 14 inch? Being that they [img]are old Ford wheels, would it be a problem getting new wheels? How does one measure for bolt pattern or for whatever information is needed to figure out what wheels would fit?

Any advice or information you can give would be greatly appreciated. Martha :thinking:

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Postby Juneaudave » Sun Aug 20, 2006 7:06 pm

Here's some advice...do whatever it takes to use those wheels!!!! Those are GREAT!!!!!
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Postby Kevin A » Sun Aug 20, 2006 7:15 pm

Martha,

I agree with Dave. I would love to find a pair of those wheels with the chevy 6 lug pattern for my trailer. One option you have is to contact Grant at Lil Bear and see about getting a pattern tracing for the original Kit profile. It will have the layout for the fenders and doors location for that Kit profile. Another thing I notice from looking at your photos is the tongue length of the frame, it appears to be a little on the short side. You might want to consider adding some length to it.
Here's a link to Grant's pattern page, scroll to the bottom and check the second to last entry. http://www.teardrops.net/plans01.html
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Postby Steve_Cox » Sun Aug 20, 2006 7:27 pm

The wheels are keepers, they will really complement the retro look. It's possible to have a little cut out on the corner of the doors that matches the raidus of the fender. Can't remember right off who builds that way, but there are several.
It seems on a lot of vintage trailers they have short tongues, was that maybe because back then car bumpers stuck out from the back of the car?
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Postby Kens » Sun Aug 20, 2006 8:53 pm

How about some low profile tires for the wheels to bring the overall size down? :thinking:
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Postby jagular7 » Sun Aug 20, 2006 9:46 pm

Steve_Cox wrote:The wheels are keepers, they will really complement the retro look. It's possible to have a little cut out on the corner of the doors that matches the raidus of the fender. Can't remember right off who builds that way, but there are several.
It seems on a lot of vintage trailers they have short tongues, was that maybe because back then car bumpers stuck out from the back of the car?


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Postby martha24 » Tue Aug 22, 2006 1:46 am

Thank for all your input. :thumbsup:
So we will be working around the wheels. Modifying the door is a good idea. Before we cut the doors, the next step I think will be to buy the fenders so we know the exact size. I was hoping to be able to delay this purchase a little. $>

In doing some research the wheels are Ford, 1932 - 1936. Now we have to decide between an early Ford or a Kit fender. Martha
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Postby KA » Wed Aug 23, 2006 11:32 am

Hi,
I bought a side profile pattern from Grant (Benroy style) and it was well worth the money. It came rolled up in a tube and is on heavy brown paper. After listening to my wishes and kindly answering a bunch of questions, he made some modification suggestions and also drew a chassis sketch. 8)
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Postby martha24 » Wed Aug 23, 2006 1:11 pm

We bought the Kit plans from Desert Teardrop Trailers and it came with a full size side profile pattern. So we have that. The pattern from Grant is a good deal, but since we had never done anything like this we thought it would be good to have directions too.

With working with a trailer frame and wheels that are different from the norm, modifcations have to be made. The situation with the wheels we didn't realize until we working with the actual plans, seeing where the plans put the door, where we thought the door should be (ie sitting up on the floor and where would it be easy to put your legs out) and seeing where the wheel was. The 16 inch wheel with fender goes a little into the area where the door should be. If we had a 12" or 14" wheel we wouldn't have that problem. But since we are so lucky to have these Ford wheels, we just have to work around them. I'm seeing that building a teardrop is like putting together a puzzle and sometimes you really need all the pieces. Just like I wouldn't cut out the window hole in the door without all already having the window, with having to modify the door I need the fender first. I like the idea of part of the lower back of the door following the fender line. :thumbsup: Thanks Steve_Cox and jagular7!

I'm thinking about going with the Early Ford Style from R.W. Johnson to go along with the wheels. So far I've only looked at internet catalogs.

Thanks for all the input. :) Martha
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Postby angib » Wed Aug 23, 2006 3:32 pm

It looks to me like the axle is in about the right place on that frame, so that's where the wheels have to go.

And those are the perfect wheels, bar none whatsoever, to go on a teardrop, so whatever it takes to get them on is what you're going to have to do!

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