Changing wheel size on caravan
Submitted: Saturday, Nov 26, 2011 at 14:10
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Ray H5
I currently own a Concept tandem axle 18'6" caravan with 195/14 alloy mag wheels. I would like to upgrade the wheel size to 16", does anybody see any problems with this?. Additionally, I have been giving some thought to upgrading the existing
suspension with either airbags or shocks as part of the overall setup. This is all in effort to get some decent ground clearance and reduce the impact of dirt road corrugations. Any help would be appreciated, thanks. Ray
Reply By: PeterInSa - Saturday, Nov 26, 2011 at 17:36
Saturday, Nov 26, 2011 at 17:36
Agree with the above on checking the wheel arches the annex and annex skirt, From memory the 14inch wheels have 10inch brakes and the 16 inch wheels ahve 12 inch brakes, someone more knowledgeable that I can comment on this, but if you have to change over your brakes, I think in SA you would need and engineering certificate and an RTA
check which could set you back up to $1,000.
To get more ground clearance suggest spring over the axle to give you another 4 inches, but then again If I did it I would get an engineering certificate/RTA, becasue in case of accident insurance companiies have been known to follow up the manufacturer re your original van spec.
Re shocks, do a search, another thread a month or so ago on caravannersforum, gave the correct method of installing shocks and how not to do it, if its done incorrectly you could have major chassis problems.
I would also talk to Concept, a mate has a Concept and he has received good advice from them in the past.
Peter
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Reply By: Michael ( Moss Vale NSW) - Sunday, Nov 27, 2011 at 06:49
Sunday, Nov 27, 2011 at 06:49
Ray!!
I know of a guy who had the same problem on his own personal van, it is a 22 foot van from memory, he simply removed the axles and springs and added 50x 100 RHS to the chassis rails and new hangers and is now 100mm higher. You obviously need to know what you are doing, he owns his own licensed caravan repair business. He left the wheels and tyres. He simply wanted to gain some clearance and I guess there are some options in the
suspension area if you go down that track. So its not impossible without changing your van but as mentioned above, a trade may be simpler Michael
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