CHDinCT
Veteran Member
Well, a few months back I bought a used 14' tandem axle landscape type trailer to haul my BX and to pickup the occasional load of mulch, topsoil, etc. The trailer was in decent shape but the first thing I did was re-wire it since it had some bad connections and the existing wiring was pretty worn.
Next up was doing something about the rust-through on the wheel well skirts. The original thin gauge sheet metal had numerous rust perforations. So, given I don't work well with metal (don't weld), I decided to cut some 1/2" PT plywood for new skirts. About half way through doing the first side it dawned on me I might not have enough clearance between the tire and the plywood skirt. After sanding, priming and doing some touch up painting, I fit the wood skirt and re-mounted the wheels. Darn if one rubs and the other doesn't. The rear wheel with the drum brake (brakes not hooked up), clears while the front wheel doesn't.
I called around to see if anyone carries 1/4" PT plywood, but no go. So, I started looking into wheel spacers and did find plenty to choose from, but no one gives much for spec's other than the number of lugs. Here's an example though you can find them for sale elsewhere.
Amazon.com: Mr. Lugnut Automotive Wheel Spacers
The hubs are 5 lug with 2.75" spacing center to center for adjacent lugs. I probably only need 5-10mm of extra space. Any thoughts on which of these would work, or do you think I'm playing with fire adding thin spacers to gain clearance? How about some heavy gauge washers?
Pic's of trailer:
Next up was doing something about the rust-through on the wheel well skirts. The original thin gauge sheet metal had numerous rust perforations. So, given I don't work well with metal (don't weld), I decided to cut some 1/2" PT plywood for new skirts. About half way through doing the first side it dawned on me I might not have enough clearance between the tire and the plywood skirt. After sanding, priming and doing some touch up painting, I fit the wood skirt and re-mounted the wheels. Darn if one rubs and the other doesn't. The rear wheel with the drum brake (brakes not hooked up), clears while the front wheel doesn't.
I called around to see if anyone carries 1/4" PT plywood, but no go. So, I started looking into wheel spacers and did find plenty to choose from, but no one gives much for spec's other than the number of lugs. Here's an example though you can find them for sale elsewhere.
Amazon.com: Mr. Lugnut Automotive Wheel Spacers
The hubs are 5 lug with 2.75" spacing center to center for adjacent lugs. I probably only need 5-10mm of extra space. Any thoughts on which of these would work, or do you think I'm playing with fire adding thin spacers to gain clearance? How about some heavy gauge washers?
Pic's of trailer: