Fender clearance

[mckenney56]

I removed the extra leaf springs from my trailer to try to save weight and soften the ride. Now it looks like I only have 1 to 1.5 inches of clearance. How much clearance should I have between the top of the tire and the fender?

Here is before and after pics.

[Corwin C]

It's tough to say how much is enough. I think that I read somewhere 2" but I can't remember where. If your tire doesn't touch anything when fully loaded and on the roughest expected roads, then you have enough. Another option would be to mount the fender to the axle, then it would move along with the tire.

[48Rob]

If you measure the distance between the top of the axle and the bottom of the frame, you should have at least that much between the tire and fender.

If it is shy, and you like the softer ride, replacing the spring shackles with longer shackles will give you back some height, 1" for each 2" additional shackle length.
Just a caution; while removing spring leaves is a good way to get the springs more in line with the trailer load (many are sprung too heavily for the load) not knowing what the trailer weighs, and what the springs are rated for can leave you with broken springs if you just randomly remove leaves.
The trailer manufacturer, or spring manufacturer can tell you the capacity of the spring pack, and what each leaf holds.

Rob

[bobhenry]

Here is a really stupid idea that has been cluttering my brain on several occasions.

What if a softer torsion axle was mounted on leaf springs. The torsion axle would handle the light stuff for a soft ride and the leaf springs would give if the torsion axle was maxed out.
Is there any merit in this stupid idea.

[mckenney56]

If you measure the distance between the top of the axle and the bottom of the frame, you should have at least that much between the tire and fender.

If it is shy, and you like the softer ride, replacing the spring shackles with longer shackles will give you back some height, 1" for each 2" additional shackle length.
Just a caution; while removing spring leaves is a good way to get the springs more in line with the trailer load (many are sprung too heavily for the load) not knowing what the trailer weighs, and what the springs are rated for can leave you with broken springs if you just randomly remove leaves.
The trailer manufacturer, or spring manufacturer can tell you the capacity of the spring pack, and what each leaf holds.

Rob

There was only one leaf that could be removed. I'll do some measurements and adjust the fender height accordingly. Oh boy, more drilling!

[mckenney56]

Here is a really stupid idea that has been cluttering my brain on several occasions.

What if a softer torsion axle was mounted on leaf springs. The torsion axle would handle the light stuff for a soft ride and the leaf springs would give if the torsion axle was maxed out.
Is there any merit in this stupid idea.

On my budget, I don't think I'm going to find out. If you got the adjustable down angle kind, my fender height problem would be easy to fix.

[48Rob]

Greg,

Often, adjusting the air pressure in the tires is enough to smooth a harsh ride.
I run 32 pounds on my 2400 pound trailer, down from the 45 that the tire place set them at, "because that was the number on the sidewall".

Of course good sense and safety first, but that may be another option for you.

If your spring packs are old and rusty, or even new and rusty, a lot of good can be had by taking them apart, sanding, painting, and lubricating them.

Rob

[WhitneyK]

I spaced my fenders evenly all the way around my tire, centered it front to back, then raised it about that much on top. In my case, with the present tire/wheel combination, there's about a 3.5" clearance. I leveled the frame to the ground (ya, I know, my driveway slopes down hill) or at least parallel with the driveway, then used my jack stants raised up evenly (same number of clicks) until I got my desired height.


Your tire won't come up much past your maximum axle to frame clearance (hopefully you won't hit that large of bump). But when my axle was mounted under my springs I sure wasn't going to put my fender 6" above my tires! Sometimes you just have to stand back and say "that don't look bad" or "well, I thought it was ok, but that really looks stupid".

Just my thoughts, didn't say they were good ones.