Distance Between Tire, Outigger, and Wheel Well?

Bill,

Here's a more complete reply.

Fore and aft clearance is apx 3-1/4" measured at an angle to the tire, top clearance is apx 4.5", and door side clearance is 1". This is with the factory lift and 215 14" GYM tires rated 50 PSI @ 1870 max load.

Wade

[Bill]

Wade -

That is exactly what I needed to know - and I suspect that a number of other people will benefit as well. Thank you for taking the time to make the measurements. I wish I could retrofit a lift kit - I think the factory makes it possible - but my garage door is too low, so I am stuck with my current configuration. However, raising the wheel well liners is still possible, and I think will work, based on your measurements.

But for anyone ordering a new TM, it seems to me that an OEM lift kit makes a lot of sense, for a number of reasons, including this one.

Thanks again.

Bill

[kempert]

??? Could someone explain what is a lift kit?  What is the purpose of one?

Bill, is your problem with clearance with your garage door due to the fact the door hangs down a little when it's open? I addressed this once before in another thread I believe......You can flip that little handle that puts it in manual mode once it's up, raise it a bit further, and put a stick cut to the desired length in the metal track where the steel rollers are to prop it up, giving you the additional height you need.

Kempert, a lift kit is the same one you can get at any Autozone, Advance Store, or Pep Boys for around $29.00 and install yourself. (Same one found on the typical "hot rod" to raise the rear end.)  All it consists of for the most part is a couple of blocks that go under your leaf springs and on top of your axle, and two longer "U" bolts with nuts. It raises yor TM for better clearance while driving in the back country. Hope this helps!

Happytrails........

[Denny_A]

---------snip---------------

Kempert, a lift kit is the same one you can get at any Autozone, Advance Store, or Pep Boys for around $29.00 and install yourself. (Same one found on the typical hot rod to raise the rear end.) All it consists of for the most part is a couple of blocks that go under your leaf springs and on top of your axle, and two longer U-bolts with nuts. It raises yor TM for better clearance while driving in the back country. Hope this helps!

Happytrails........

Maybe your elderly TM is different from the newer models.

My 2002 TM has trailing arm Torflex Suspension. That is, a tortion bar is used to absorb shock, rather than using antiquated leaf springs.

The Torflex system sytem uses steel torsion bars surrounded by four natural rubber cords encased in the main structural member of the axle beam.

The lift system for this system must be a pair of shims which move the frame (left and right) slightly more above the axle. It would merely require removing two nuts on each side, jacking the frame upward a small amount and inserting the shims.

I've owned 2 autos with trailing arm suspension, and flown a company airplane using the same principle on it's undercarriage. Tortion bar suspension is heads and shoulders above leaf springs.


Denny_A

We experienced our first blow out on Saturday (7/27/02) and if we had not had a lift kit installed in Feb. the situation would have been worse. First, we did not have any wheel well damage. Second, even though we were not carrying the correct tool to remove the well cover, we were able to get the spare on with the extra clearance. (Not without some effort. We will not travel without the correct tools again!)

I do have a couple of comments on the lift kits. We had ours installed by the dealer (our trailer is a 1997 3023). We also replaced the stab jacks, as the original ones did not reach after the installation. It was the jacks that cost the money. We were glad to have the lift even before Saturday.

Now we just need to find the best tires to buy, as we intend to replace all three!

When we had a tire blow out on our 1999 3124KS about 15 ago, our trailer fortunately also did not have any wheel well damage. The tire that blew out was an original Carlisle, 4 ply tire. I phoned the TM factory and they recommended that I replace the tire with a Goodyear Marathon. I had a tire dealership in Ft. Bragg, Calif., put on 2 Goodyear Marathons. The designations on the tires read:

Goodyear Marathon radials trailer
ST225/75R15
Max load 2540 at 65 psi cold
tread 6 plies 2 polyester cord

Donny at the Factory informed me that they haven't heard of any blowouts since the new TMs were being shipped out with Marathons. I don't know if this is still true now, over a year later.

When I inspected the other, undamaged tire and its wheel well at the Ft. Bragg dealership, I discovered that the other, undamaged tire was a Japanese brand (I can't recall the name right now) and that the wheel well looked different - as if it had been repaired out in the field. I believe therefore, that the previous owners of our TM had a blowout on the other side, during which that wheel well was badly damaged. I have since modified the square wheel wells by making them into rounded ones. The rounded interiors of the wells appear to be so rigid that it would be extremely difficult for a tire blowout to damage them, I feel. I installed my rounded wheel wells with triangular covers over the expanded foam - so that they are completely covered by sheet metal. This gives them a very finished appearance. They look as if they were installed at the factory. I have been unable to post pictures of my wheel well modification on this forum's site but will gladly provide the information on how I did it to anyone interested.

I don't know if anyone else out there will read this or not because I'm coming in late on this post, however, one important thing that has NOT been discussed here is this.

IF you go to 15 inch tires, then you must also upgrade both the wheels, the hubs and the brakes! A 15 inch rim will be too large on the 10 inch hub, which if I remember correctly needs to be either 11 inches or 12 inches for a 15 inch tire and wheel.

(Used to sell tire and wheel assy's for Trailers in another life...)

I didn't realize this until recently, but some of the TMs do come with the 15 inch tires. For sure, the 3023 because we are shopping for a new one and our local dealer had a 2002 model on their lot.

Wade

After our blowout we simply replaced our trailer's 15 inch Carlisle tires with 15 inch Goodyear Marathons. 3124 TM models all come equipped with 15 inch tires straight from the TM Factory. The next larger size of TM trailer, the 3326 models, have smaller 13 inch tires on tandem axles.

Trailer tires are not the only ones that blow out, however. On our recent, 3-1/2 week cross-country trip our truck blew out a rear tire that had lots of tread left. The alligator that flew off bent the truck's exhaust pipe upwards and this resulted in some damage to a newly repaired fender.

And, TrailManors are not the only brand of trailers that sustain wheel well damage from blowouts. At an RV park in Mississippi we parked next to a fifth-wheeler that had sustained a blowout a few days earlier. Part of an outside wheel skirt was torn off. The owner told us that their trailer had sustained some inside damage also.