Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hello,

Here's another question for you experienced teardrop masters.

What is the correct amount of space between the sidewall of the tire and the body of a teardrop?

Thank you very much for your help!

Stephen

I've got about 2" The main movement is up and down...I HOPE!

I had my axle made with a two inch gap between wheel and the sidewall of the teardrop. Thats what the guy who made my axle recomended, he said that was pretty standard practice. Hope this helps

Woody

As long as it doesn't rub no matter how much you bounce around...

Joseph

2" is what I had in mind but was not sure about lateral movement.

I needed this info before I order our axle.

Torflex 1500lb

This message from Don Million was in the archives on the "other" site:

http://teardroptimes.buzzword.com/discu ... endly=true

"...Torflex axles move straight up and down when they flex. For this reason, the tires can be closer to the frame/body. In this case, 1/2" of clearance would be a minimum, 1" would be plenty.

Spring-suspended axles, on the other hand, move the tire in closer to the frame/body as they flex, so you need more clearance for them. In this case 1" would be a minimum and 2" would be plenty...."

Rik

Oh yes, another reason to use a tosion axle. The wheels move up and down only in respect to the frame.

kai

Stephen:

Just to follow up further...

If you're using a Dexter torsion axle (I can only speak about this brand since I have done no research on the others), you are probably going to be more limited by the need to make sure the torsion arm clears the sidewall and by the minimum hub spindle length, than by the distance of the tire from the sidewall.

For an explanation of what I mean by this, I'll use dimensions from my trailer as an example:

The outside chassis frame width is 57.5" and the sidewalls are 2.5" wider (1.25" each side, to allow for skirts that hide the chassis) at 60". The torsion arms each have 3/4" clearance outside of the sidewalls, and therefore, the inside edges of the torsion arms are 61.5" apart.

The hub face width is 72.25". This was the minimum that could be manufactured, given the torsion arm spacing and a brake mounting plate (you might be able to go slightly narrower without a brake mounting plate). So, there is 5 3/8" from the inside edge of the torsion arm to the hub face on each side (and 6 1/8" from the hub face to the sidewall on each side).

My wheels have zero offset (incidentally, Dexter recommends to only use wheels with a zero offset with their axles to avoid overstressing the bearings). For my 7 5/8"-wide tires (195's), there is therefore about 2 1/4" clearance from each tire to the sidewall.

So, as you can see, the tire clearance was determined by the necessary clearance for the torsion arms and the minimum hub spindle length that Dexter is able to do. I was not able to get a smaller tire clearance.

Hope this helps. Dexter has lots of drawings on their site that help in figuring out these dimensions.

Rik

Rik

Slightly OT, but is the brake mounting plate all you need on the axle to mount electric brakes? Please see my thread with the electric brake question below. Thanks.

Brian

Brian: I think so. It's a square plate with four holes. The brakes get bolted to that and you need to run wires that end up at the brake controller in your tow vehicle.

Rik

Thank you Rik for taking the time to say that I had not considered that!

This kind of help does not make me feel so embarassed asking questions.


Thanks

Stephen