Distance Between Tire, Outigger, and Wheel Well?

Is it normal that the distance between the tire and Outrigger are only about 1/2 inch. And the distance between the top of the tire and the wheel well are only about 1 inch away?

I have a 1998 2720SL. It has been in the Shop since I purchased it about a month. It had a tread seperation when it was being delivered, and it did a lot of damage.

Anyway, when the TM was being repaired I wanted to put all new tires on it. I called Jimmy Davis at the Factory and asked what I should use and what size.  He said Goodyear 215s. He gave me the exact specs, but I don't have them now.

I gave the specs to the dealer doing the repairs, they called me back and said it had 205s on right now. I called Jimmy back and he verified they had purchased the correct tires and they should now be 215s.

The dealer has now called back saying the mounted the new tires and the gap between the outrigger (the steel rod behind the tire) is only 1/2 inch. Also, the distance between the top of the tire and the Wheel well is about 1 inch.

The dealer is concerned if I hit a bump, the tire will hit the wheel well. They talked to Jimmy, and he said this is normal.

Is this normal for your Trailmanors?

Dave

I wonder if this is because the large size is Load Range D? I have a 1996 2720SL and ran into a similar situation.

When my dealer put new GY Marathons on (at purchase time in June) I requested Load Range D. When they checked the tire specs, Only load Range C was available in ST205. However ST215 had a D rating.

However, this board strongly advised against increasing tire size, so I stuck with ST205. I hope I made the right decision....

Just wondering? For those of you that have the lift kit, does the additional road clearance provide the desirable wheel well clearance for the 215 load range D tire?

Happy trails...........George

I'd like to help answer your question about clearance with a lift, but let me know what to measure. I have the factory lift kit and really am glad I got it. Tires are original Goodyear Marathons.

Wade

I just took a closer look and my tires are the 215's. There is plenty of room in the well with the factory lift.

Wade

After speaking with the Dealer again, they said there is not a problem with the Height. They are now only concerned about the distance to the outrigger. The problem seems to be mainly on the door side. Apperantly there is more room on the Port side of the trailer.

Dave

I just spoke with Jimmy Davis. He said they actually moved the outrigger back when they switched the tires to 215s. I guess he wasn't thinking about that when he told me to use 215's.

He said I should cut out the piece of outrigger behind the doorside tire.

Dave

[Bill]

The Goodyear web site is hard to navigate, but I finally found the right link at http://www.goodyear.com/rv/products/..._marathon.html. Not all of the entries in the table make sense to me, but most of our questions can probably be answered here. The 14-inch 205 tire that has been described in earlier posts is possibly a Load Range B tire (carrying capacity 1430 pounds) or more likely a Load Range C tire (carrying capacity 1760 pounds). The load range is printed on the sidewall, and I would guess that all of the posts refer to the Load Range C tire.

I am trying to put all this together, because I am not entirely comfortable with the load rating on my tires vs the loaded weight of the TM. I went through the following steps to determine whether I could upgrade. The specifics may be different for your TM, but the general idea should be the same.

My TM came equipped with ST215/75R14 tires. This is a 14" Load Range C tire, rated for 1870 pounds. Therefore two tires can carry 3740 pounds. According to the label inside the TM, after I add propane and fresh water (but no black or gray water), I am left with something like 800 pounds of capacity for all our stuff. Now, I don't think we have 800 pounds of stuff, but I bet we do add 400 pounds, and the remaining 400 pounds doesn't seem like much reserve to me.

Unfortunately, the Goodyear web site says that the next step up requires a 15" tire. The ST225/75R15 tire is Load Range C (2150 pounds), which would make me very comfortable. The tire is slightly thicker (225 mm as opposed to 215 mm), but 10 mm is just under 1/2", and that is probably manageable. However, the tire diameter increases from 26.7 to 28.3 inches - an increase of 1.6 inches. As near as I can tell, this is probably NOT manageable, at least on my TM. By eyeball, I have only about an inch of clearance between the top of the tire and the inside of the wheelwell liner. With the bigger tire, almost no clearance would be left, and as the suspension goes up and down, the tire would hit the wheelwell.

A lift kit might have solved the problem, since it raises the trailer body (and hence the wheelwell liners) up away from the axle. This should increase the clearance between the top of the tire and the wheelwell. Wade, can you tell how much clearance you have above the tire?

For me, it appears that a solution might be to unscrew the wheelwell liners from the floor of the TM (inside the kitchen cabinets), insert a 1" thick wooden "rim" around the wheelwell cutout in the floor, and reset the wheelwell liner on the rim. Any comments or thoughts?

The larger tire would also come closer to the front and back of the wheelwell liner, but there seems to be more clearance here. Also, since the spring action is up-and-down, I wouldn't expect the fore-and-aft clearance to be subject to much change during driving. Maybe a reduced clearance is OK here - any thoughts? Wade, can you tell how much fore-and-aft clearance you have?

I am unable to identify an "outrigger" in this area of my TM. Surely the outrigger is not the steel frame member that extends behind each tire. What is it? Did it go away in the new units?

Thanks for all thoughts and inputs.

Bill

Bill,

There is apx. a 4.5" space from the top of the tires to the top of the wheel well inserts.

Wade

Thanks for the great information Bill!

I feel better knowing that the 215's are Load Range C also, but have another 110lb of capacity.

I assumed the outrigger was the part of the frame that extended past the main frame member, but I could be wrong.

I guess I need to get off my butt and weigh my rig, so I know once and for all how much my 2720SL weighs..