Uber Ultra-light tear

[ai4kk]

Hi, my name is Gene and I'm new here. I'm contemplating building two teardrops; one oriented as an offroader for my Trooper since my new job will have me spending a lot of time traveling and working in disaster zones (not very unusual down here in FL), and a second ultralight to pull behind my wife's Fusion hybrid that she plans to get with my pay raise.

At this point, I am starting to lay the groundwork for my off-road camper since I already have the trailer frame (coil-sprung with a looong tongue and a 4x4x8 box on it that is about to come off). I plan to for it to look somewhat similar to Steve's green off-road camper.

I'm intrigued by some of the lightweight ideas, mostly for hers but also how I can incorporate some of them into mine.

Is anyone concerned with the increased rotational speeds caused by smaller wheels and tires? Do you think this has an adverse affect on bearing life? I plan to use standard tires on both for spare interchangeability (and off-road ability on mine) but was wondering if anyone was concerned that an 8" wheel would be spinning much faster at 70 than say a 15"?

Has anyone looked at aircraft wheels? They're available in aircraft junkyards and while the bearings/spindles might not be up to it (they're very lightweight and made to go 50MPH for several seconds at a time), I wonder if they might be adapted to a standard spindle/bearing set? Finding DOT-approved tires might be an issue though.

Do you think that glass over foam composite construction would work as well as/be strong as/light as wood? While that is a given for her trailer (very sleek and lightweight, matching her Fusion in general outline and color), mine is a more traditional box, and while we don't have extreme rock-crawling here in FL, we still like to spend time in the woods with the kids in addition to the aforementioned disaster work. Would it be strong enough when used in such a slab-sided configuration? Is it lighter than wood when used in such a way? While my truck will obviously have higher towing limits than her hybrid, it is still a 4-cyl diesel, so I do want to watch what I lug it down with.

Thoughts?

[McBrew]

was wondering if anyone was concerned that an 8" wheel would be spinning much faster at 70 than say a 15"?

I don't think there is anyone here who would advise going 70 MPH with a trailer that has 8" wheels. If you look at most trailers with 8" wheels, you'll see that they have a recommended top speed of 45 MPH. Of course, there's some fudge factor involved, as well as a healthy dose of CYA... but those speeds will probably tear up the bearings pretty fast... and a lot of those 8" tires are only 3 ply cheapos and probably won't last long under that kind of stress.

Not to mention the fact that most trailers shouldn't be pulled at 70+ MPH period. Unfortunately, that's one of the reasons that car companies give a much higher tow rating in other countries... people in Europe seem to understand that it is safer to slow down a bit when you have a trailer in tow. People in the US generally want to drive as fast as they would without the trailer. I have been passed by pickups towing fifth wheels at 85+ MPH on the interstate!

[McBrew]

There are scooter tires from 8" to 16" that are speed rated up to 112 MPH. I don't know what the load rating is... but probably okay for an ultralight tear. A large scooter can weight 400 pounds... plus two 200 pound riders... so two the tires on a scooter like that can certainly handle 800 pounds. Don't know about the side load... but I'd feel safe trying it out. You'd just need to do some work to come up with the proper spindles and bearings for it.

[Miriam C.]

Well I have to admit to going 70 on my 8" tires. They are highway rated and come from a farm supply store......There are others here who do the same. I don't usually go that fast though because I really like the back roads.