Fender clearance?

[OCD]

I am building my 6' x 10' tear on an old Boler trailer frame, how much clearance do most people leave between their tire and fender? Anyone out there have an ingenious mounting method for steel flat fenders?

[Oldragbaggers]

I'll be very interested in seeing the responses to this one.

[doug hodder]

So are you planning on flat steel fenders? When I say flat steel fenders..do you mean flat top and slanted sides? They typically only have a short lip on the outer edge like 1.5- 2" max and the outside clearance isn't such an issue on them. On a full formed fender, usually glass...I allow about 3/4" between the outer edge and the tire. Some may not agree, but I think that tire fit in the fender is important for the overall street appearance. It's what looks good to you and clears the fender through it's full movement. Doug

[48Rob]

It's what looks good to you and clears the fender through it's full movement. Doug
_________________

Good thoughts Doug!
Appearance is a good point...

For those trying to determine "how much" clearance, it is important to understand that "full movement" besides the obvious up and down motion includes the tires moving from vertical, to a point between vertical and horizontal, as when one wheel encounters a deep pothole, and the other remains on flat ground.

Tire sidewall flex also, though not usually great, can contribute to closing up a gap and allow rubbing on a fender or frame.

I'm not sure what the OP. meant by steel flat fenders... but some fenders can be mounted to the axle itself with some creative fabrication of special brackets, negating the worry about clearance.
Someone here on the board did theirs that way.

Rob

[aggie79]

I have fiberglass fenders, but most steel fenders could be mounted the same way. I used stainless steel carriage bolts through the sidewalls to mount the fenders.

First, I made a template out of 3/4" mdf to locate the drill holes in the fenders and in the sidewalls.







After drilling the holes and painting the bolts, I inserted the carriage bolts through the sidewalls.







I don't have any pictures of it, but I used rubber fender welting between the fenders and the sidewalls. The welting is held in place by friction, but to help hold the welting temporarily to the fenders I used weatherstripping adhesive. Then I mounted the fenders using a little loctite on the threads and nylock nuts. The carriage bolts were a little too long, so I cut off the excess length beyond the nuts.



As far as clearance, I have about 3/4" on both sides (measured from the bulge of the sidewall, not the tread) and about 2-1/2" from the top of the tread to the bottom of the fender.



Good luck with your project! Take care,
Tom

[OCD]

I'm not sure what the OP. meant by steel flat fenders... but some fenders can be mounted to the axle itself with some creative fabrication of special brackets, negating the worry about clearance.
Someone here on the board did theirs that way.

Good point, a picture is worth a few words here:


In the picture the fender is only sitting on a scrap piece of 2"x4". I don't want the tire rubbing on the fender when I hit a large bump. How much travel does the average torsion axle have? Mounting the fender to the axle itself would allow tighter clearance and my 1/4" birch sides wouldn't have to support the weight. Anyone with pics of axle mounting brackets?

[Jim Edgerly]

As far as mounting goes my trailer came with bolt on mounting brackets to bolt to the frame then attach the fender. I upgraded from 12 inch tires to 14 inch, and moved the axle back a few inches, so the original mounting holes were useless. I had to buy larger fenders for the 14 inch tires. I positioned the fender over the tire and drilled new mounting holes for the fenders, using the original mounting brackets. I'm sure you can order mounting brackets online...if you have access to your frame. My "running boards" pretty much hide the mounting brackets. For clearance I measured the maximum travel of my springs (full compression bottomed out) and used that plus 1/2" extra to know I could never bottom out my fenders against my tires.

[streetrod23]

I used a modified steel fender as I wanted it wider. I tried to have the trailer fairly loaded before mounting the fender and left 1 1/2 inches between the tire and fender. We have hit some good bumps and it has never rubbed the tire. I think it looks better with the fender close to the tire IMHO. I just used 3 carriage bolts from the inside with lots of sealer. I see guys using a lot more bolts that that but I am not sure why.
gallery/image.php?album_id=474&image_id=88559
gallery/image.php?album_id=474&image_id=88558
Ok..sorry about the pics I tried pressing the Img button but pics dont post without clicking the link???can anybody help Me?

[Martiangod]

One execution I've not seen here is to bolt brackets to the brake flange, go for minimum tire clearance and have the fender travel with the tire/axel, like a cruiser bike rather than attaching to the trailer body

[streetrod23]

Ithought about mounting the fender to the axle like a bike (to get it close to the tire) but figured the weight of the fender bouncing like that would eventaully fail. Somebody else had a post with this set up and it did fail. they had photos but I cant find the post..