16' Series Wheel Size

[1DayIll]

Met with a mate at the caravan show and we were talking about my van height being a problem. he asked if I had 14 or 15 inch wheels, I have 14. Suggested we try the bigger size to get a small height advantage that should make difference.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

[WHHEMI]

What van do you have and what suspension does it have, if leaf spring you might be better off underslinging the axle/axles.

 

[egomoi]

Met with a mate at the caravan show and we were talking about my van height being a problem. he asked if I had 14 or 15 inch wheels, I have 14. Suggested we try the bigger size to get a small height advantage that should make difference.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Wheel size is one aspect of total size. The other is tyre profile size. Manufacturers often offer greater wheel size option but with no increase in total diameter if profile size is reduced.

 

[1DayIll]

What van do you have and what suspension does it have, if leaf spring you might be better off underslinging the axle/axles.

yes i have also spoken about this and may also be an option, it will just cost a bit more and i have heard varying stories about underslinging of van.

 

[mikerezny]

yes i have also spoken about this and may also be an option, it will just cost a bit more and i have heard varying stories about underslinging of van.

Hi @1DayIll,
I am interested in this topic. Would it be possible to provide some more information: What was the cost of underslinging the axle and what stories have you heard?

kindest regards
Mike

 

[bigcol]

if you know which end of a spanner to hold
and you have at least 6 axle stands

you can do it yourself

the hardest part is the measuring and getting the axle to sit straight

 

[1DayIll]

And you make it sound sooo easy! and maybe it is if you know how and what you are doing. Shame you are in Perth otherwise I might be asking you for some help.

Mike, I did some asking around early and told that it may be an insurance problem and so never really followed this up. I do not know if this is true or not and must admit did not follow it up much further. i am hoping that someone else may be able to add more to this conversation as well.

 

[Dobbie]

If it helps...we had a Swan underslung by a caravan repair guy about six years ago.

We notified insurers ...no issue with them, particularly as it was done by a professional.

The difference to clearance was exceptional and the van actually towed better i believe.

Cost, then, was about $340 and they'd done lots of them so they weren't learning on ours.

Ours was done to give better clearance at our favourite camping spots.

 

[bigcol]

And you make it sound sooo easy! and maybe it is if you know how and what you are doing. Shame you are in Perth otherwise I might be asking you for some help.

as I said, if you were to do it yourself, the hardest part is getting the axle centered properly
I helped my F-in-law do it years ago with his camper, except he insisted on turning it upside down to do it
replaced the draw bar at the same time as well.........
yes it is easy, and not really that hard, (hardest part was working with F-in-law)

but...............

we had a Swan underslung by a caravan repair guy

this would probably be your best bet, do the ring around and get an idea on
how long
what price
what is covered
ect

also ring your insurance and ask them, you may have to take it to an approved repairer

it may be easy to replace the rims from 14' to 15' or 16'

I would prefer and suggest under slinging the axle first


you did not specify what the height problem is though

 

[The escapist]

Before you raise it - have you an annexe to consider? If it's raised too much it might not fit afterwards.

Our touring model is underslung - really happy with it! Towa great and much better clearance in and out of the driverway than std height.

Daz

 

[1DayIll]

Thanks everyone for your advice here. I might do a ring around and see what happens.

re the annexe, yes I have one but only used it twice in 8 years, so is not really too much of an issue but also a waste of money if I do not do something to make if work. It might only be an issue on the ends but I do need to consider this.

Thanks again

 

[Tuppy]

Met with a mate at the caravan show and we were talking about my van height being a problem. he asked if I had 14 or 15 inch wheels, I have 14. Suggested we try the bigger size to get a small height advantage that should make difference.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Could you just have it raised using spacers? Our 23'6" Nova Vita has 16" wheels (see profile pic), but we had it raised another 3" with chassis spacers for approx $350.

 

[Drover]

This is well covered in another thread where I have detailed how to undersling your axle, it does require some tools and a goodly amount of common sense but is a doable and easy job to do at home, insurance don't really care, even though the doom sayers carry on about them..

Rolling your axle under the springs will raise it about 100mm so before doing anything have your van and tug on flat ground with the van level but uncoupled, measure from ground to towball on both of them the difference in height between the 2 if the van is lower is how much you can raise your van before having to adjust your tug hitch.........................ideally your tug ball should be about 25mm higher than the van hitch, this with give a good rule of thumb for level.
Alternatively if you have 14" wheels, going to 15" with a wider and say 75 profile tyre can give you a 40mm lift depends on current tyre size, check out www.carbibles.com they have a couple of calculators there which will allow you to find out the sizes of differn't wheel/tyre combo's before having to spend money or rely on some tyre guru and again spending money on a hunch. You do need to be confident in using a tape measure to measure the actual space you have in the guard area as you will need to take measurements from the hub centre to make sure the wheel size will fit.

 

[Where to next]

I had the same issue with my van. When the van was in a level position had all of 115mm clearance to the nut of the spare wheel bracket in the drawer bar. Due to having an annex already, did not have the option to undersling the axles. In the end decided to spend the extra cash and had straight axles made and installed to replace the drop axles. Lifted the van 50mm which was perfect for what I needed. (Got rid of the spare wheel in the draw bar as well)

 

[Drover]

I had forgotten about the drop axles thanks for the reminder @Where to next , they do add another version which really is just get new axles....