I was told by Airstream and others there should be no trouble going to a ST225/75R15 Marathon radial on my 81 Excella Limited from the 700-15's. I tried it and they do not fit. The 225/75R15 tire sidewall is against the inside of the tire well while there is about 4 inches from the outside sidewall to the outside fender well. Can anyone shed some light on this problem. The dealers and Airstream support folks claim they never had this problem. The whells and drums are original to the best of my knowledge.
I was told by Airstream and others there should be no trouble going to a ST225/75R15 Marathon radial on my 81 Excella Limited from the 700-15's. I tried it and they do not fit. The 225/75R15 tire sidewall is against the inside of the tire well while there is about 4 inches from the outside sidewall to the outside fender well. Can anyone shed some light on this problem. The dealers and Airstream support folks claim they never had this problem. The whells and drums are original to the best of my knowledge.
Possibly the axles were changed out with an incorrect overall length.
There is a metal tag on the axle. If you post the information that's on it, I can help ID it for you and maybe with an answer.
I new to posting and hope you get my reply. The metal tags are rusted and are not readable.The axles fit properly between the support rails, however if not correct the extension beyond those rails to the drum would be too short. Is that correct? Is there another way to verify the correct axles? Are the dimensions of what should be available?
Taking a photo or two will really help the community see what you see.
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I had to return the 225/75R15 yesterday in order to recieve a full refund, but the photo shows the close spacing of the original 700-15 to the inner side of the wheel well which was not a problem in the past. The other photos are of the axle and drum assembly. Included is also a photo of the wheel.
The original 700-15 bias ply tires are just slightly narrower than the 225/75R15 but not by much. Did you change to different rims when you mounted the new tires? On my 1980 31 Excella I have about 3 inches of clearance on the outside and about 2 and 1/2 inches on the inside with the 225/15's. I ran the radials on the old axles and replaced the axles last year with no clearance problems either way. My axle ID plates were also badly rusted a rotary wire brush chucked in a drill motor cleaned them up enough to be read. You did not mention how much clearance you have at the top of the tire in the wheel well. The wheel housings curve in at the top if the tire is contacting at the inside top portion I suspect that your axles are worn out and the trailer has "settled". There are threads on the forum that discuss how to diagnose worn axles and Andy at Inland has great information about Henschen axles on his site. Using my own experience as a guide I would guess your axles are pretty far gone.
The tags on both axles are rusted and cannot be read.
The stampings in those plates is rather deep.
Lightly sand one of them, and the numbers will start to appear. You should be able to read the axle rating and the serial number. The serial number will let me go back into the archives and find out what you have.
How long have you owned the trailer?
Are the clearances, or lack thereof, the same on both sides of the trailer?
Also you should measure the distance from the inner and outer part of the wheel, to the sides of the tire.
From your pictures and as a former tire and suspension dealer and owner of an A/S of similar vintage I have the sad duty to inform you that the problem is that your axles are shot and the trailer has settled pretty to much to the limits of the axle. The position of the top shock mount with the weight off the axles shows that. Also the shocks are bad, the oily stain on the barrel of the shock is fluid that was once inside that shock and was forced out past a worn seal. You need to replace the axles. Not a tough job the worst part is getting the old ones off and paying for the new ones. Wire brush the axle ID plates, give Andy a call and check out the threads on the Forums about axles. Lot's of good information there.
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