Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

You have to trust me that the other side looks just like this one. I couldn't see the point of posting photos of BOTH sides.



It wasn't all that easy mounting them, but things nontheless went remarkably smoothly--which is a first for me.

The jack didn't even slip out from under the trailer and crush my legs or anything!

I made my holes in the fender side, got it into position, marked one spot on the TD wall, inserted a hanger bolt (real easy using 2 nuts, a wing-nut and pliers), and placed the fender in position. I then did the same thing for the next 4 bolts, one at a time, making it easy to match up the bolts with the holes. Then just popped on the washers and wing nuts and tightened with the pliers.

So where's the aggravation?

The tires look WAY too wimpy with these monster fenders, and now I have to make special wheel covers--moon caps won't cut it either. Here's the plan, but do you think it will work?

What if I epoxied 5 tee-nuts to the wheel, then took a ship's wheel and drilled holes into it, and secured it into the tee-nuts? (Am I saying the right thing--tee nut?)

Roly once explained how he did his, but not only don't I remember what he said, at the time, I didn't understand what the heck he was tallking about.

Ira,

I can't help you with your problem, but let me say that's one salty looking teardrop! Really looks great and you've done a super job putting it all together.

Maybe you could go with a 13" wheel and tire and use a baby moon hubcap.

Scott F.

Thanks, Chris--and Scott, if I walked in the house with 13" tires and hubs, I would be WEARING 13" tires and hubs.

Nahhhhh--this calls for something gawdy and totally tacky.

Ira - Very nice work. I would be a little worried about the wheel balance using a ships wheel plus wouldn't you be able to see the white wheel through the spokes?. I'm sure it could be done though. My thought is to have someone with a lathe make some baby moons out of wood and then you could decorate them to your style. Attachment would still be a problem, the only idea I have for that would be to install longer bolts on the hubs. Then you could put the wheel on securly and have some type of stand-offs, maybe conduit cut to length, and then bolt the cover onto the same bolts. Just an idea.

Ira wrote:Nahhhhh--this calls for something gawdy and totally tacky.

In that case why don't you look for some of those wheels like they used on chariots. You know, the ones with the big knives sticking out. We could call you Ira Maximus!

Scott F.

Victor Star wrote: the only idea I have for that would be to install longer bolts on the hubs. Then you could put the wheel on securly and have some type of stand-offs, maybe conduit cut to length, and then bolt the cover onto the same bolts. Just an idea.

Wait a minute:

In lieu of messing with the hubs (I'm afraid), can't I get some kind of weird, long, two-sided nut, like female on both ends? Or are you saying take a piece of pipe and secure nuts on each end? One nut goes on the wheel bolt, and I can use a screw to secure the ship's wheel (or whatever) into the other end.

You got me thinking now.

By the way, does anyone know the size of those bolts, and anyone with these 12 inch wheels, does it measure exactly 12" from edge to edge? As you know, mine is at the boatyard, and I forgot to measure this yesterday.

Hey Iras Maximus , how about painting the white spoke wheels the same color as the wood sides ? Maybe making them look like wood ? Since theres only 2 to do , It seems like the easy thing to do . If you can find a paint that could be mixed to match it. I know Lowes & HD do mix custom paint . Ehhh just a thought , that did'nt hurt .

Ira, I believe what Roly did was to drill 5(?) holes, equally spaced around the outside of the wheel center and tap(thread) those holes (tap should be available at hardware or box stores)....then all ya gotta do is bolt the ships wheel to them...it would mess with balance but you aren't going far anyway...
madjack

How about a using a fatter tire? Ok... maybe not quite as fat as these puppies...

Ira wrote:
Wait a minute:

In lieu of messing with the hubs (I'm afraid), can't I get some kind of weird, long, two-sided nut, like female on both ends? Or are you saying take a piece of pipe and secure nuts on each end? One nut goes on the wheel bolt, and I can use a screw to secure the ship's wheel (or whatever) into the other end.

You got me thinking now.

By the way, does anyone know the size of those bolts, and anyone with these 12 inch wheels, does it measure exactly 12" from edge to edge? As you know, mine is at the boatyard, and I forgot to measure this yesterday.

I was thinking of very long hub bolts like 5" or so. Then you could secure the wheel and on the same bolts put in some kind of spacers then install the wheel covers and bolt them down. I think what madjack is saying would be easier and probably safer though.

madjack wrote:Ira, I believe what Roly did was to drill 5(?) holes, equally spaced around the outside of the wheel center and tap(thread) those holes (tap should be available at hardware or box stores)....then all ya gotta do is bolt the ships wheel to them...it would mess with balance but you aren't going far anyway...
madjack

Thanks, Jack. But what exactly is a tap thread? Like, one end accepts a bolt, but does the other end just screw into your hole, or is it secured in a different way?

Ira, a tap is a tool used to make threads inna hole...you drill a hole, twist a tap into it, which cuts threads in the hole...remove the tap and now you have a hole with threads in it, which can be used with a regular bolt to attach something to the wheel...
madjack
p.s. here is a pic of a tap used for a 7/16 hole borrowed from the Sears Craftsman website

As you can see, I STILL have a lot to learn.

How do you turn the tap?

...as you will notice in the pic that the top of the tap is squared off...they make a specific wrench that is a "T" handle, which will adjust to fit that square end. However, for what you are wanting to do a Cresent wrench will work also
madjack