Lifting plastic trailer fenders?

[Elkins45]

I have a 16’ aluminum boat on a trailer with 13” wheels and plastic fenders. I have had two tire failures with locally purchased new tires in the last few years, tires I know were properly inflated. One essentially delaminated itself while traveling 15-20 mph in rush-hour traffic in downtown Atlanta on I-75. That was not fun, and I don’t want to repeat the experience so I’m done buying no-name tires.

I’m told that Goodyear Endurance are good trailer tires, but unfortunately 14” is the smallest diameter they are made. My intention is to get a pair of 14” wheels and put Goodyears on my trailer, but my worry is that the extra 2” diameter (meaning 1” less clearance with the top of the fender) might cause them to bump or rub the fender on a big bump. I can’t just buy 14” fenders because the mount points are farther apart, but can I raise the 13” ones somehow to get a little more vertical clearance?

Worst case is flipping the axle, which I don’t want to do because there are a couple of really shallow ramps I use now and I don’t want the boat to ride any higher if possible. Any thoughts?

 

[Elkins45]

These are the style fenders I have.

 

[Scott Danforth]

What is the OD difference between the tires?

 

[Elkins45]

What is the OD difference between the tires?

The difference is 2.1” (26.1- 24) so essentially 1” less clearance up top. It’s probably nothing to worry about but I’m just thinking ahead.

 

[Elkins45]

This is the boat and trailer if it’s helpful at all.

 

[matt167]

Hankook Vantra should be available in that size. Which are a quality option as well. But you possibly could use spacers to raise them

 

[icyb]

Just measure how much clearance you have now with the 13 inchers.

 

[ahicks]

I think the current fenders mount to some outriggers in the front and rear of the fender and tire. Shouldn't be too hard to come up with a shim (placed between the fender and outrigger) the right thickness to raise the fender to the desired height. Shims and new mounting hardware should be all it takes....

 

[Elkins45]

I thought I would follow up. I bought some 14” wheels and mounted the Goodyear tires. It was obvious when attempting to install them it wasn’t going to work with the stock 13” fenders because they wouldn’t fit under the lip to be installed.

Replacing the fenders with 14” ones is actually quite an involved task that would require cutting and welding because the outriggers are spaced farther apart. What I decided to try instead was just removing the fenders and lifting them by cutting a spacer from a 2x8 and setting it on top of the outrigger. I had to drill vertically thru the stack and use new bolts because they previously secured against the sides of the outriggers.

It’s been driven about 1500 miles and so far everything seems OK. I haven’t hit a bump big enough for the tire to contact the bottom of the fender, or at least not hard enough to crack it. So far, so good.

 

[RMClark]

Glad it's working out for you. But honestly, in my opinion, that clearance is a bit close. Strange things can happen if a rock and piece of road debris gets wedged between the tire and the fender. It doesn't seem like it would, but at speed anything is possible.

The trailer that came with my boat (very used) didn't have fenders. Given that there were fender mounting points on the trailer, my guess is the fenders went away a long time ago and were never replaced.

This past winter I bought fenders, similar to yours. I also bought a set of these mounting brackets from etrailer. I had to make a couple of easy mods to the brackets to meet my needs; drilled a couple holes and cut down the legs just a bit to delete metal that wasn't needed.

I cut the old rusted support brackets off with an angle grinder and had a buddy with a welder put new brackets on. Since the buddy often fishes with me in this boat, that part of the job was free.

Just relating what I did when faced with a similar situation...

 

[Elkins45]

Glad it's working out for you. But honestly, in my opinion, that clearance is a bit close. Strange things can happen if a rock and piece of road debris gets wedged between the tire and the fender. It doesn't seem like it would, but at speed anything is possible.

The trailer that came with my boat (very used) didn't have fenders. Given that there were fender mounting points on the trailer, my guess is the fenders went away a long time ago and were never replaced.

This past winter I bought fenders, similar to yours. I also bought a set of these mounting brackets from etrailer. I had to make a couple of easy mods to the brackets to meet my needs; drilled a couple holes and cut down the legs just a bit to delete metal that wasn't needed.

I cut the old rusted support brackets off with an angle grinder and had a buddy with a welder put new brackets on. Since the buddy often fishes with me in this boat, that part of the job was free.

Just relating what I did when faced with a similar situation...

One of the plastic fenders is a replacement, the original having been blasted to smithereens when a tire came apart at 70mph. I wonder if the amount of clearance gained by swapping in 14” fenders would really make a difference in a worst case event? When my first tire failed at speed it actually ripped an opening in the trailer tubing where it struck the mounting point. My biggest concern is hitting the fender during normal suspension travel because my experience is that plastic fenders don‘t handle trauma well regardless.

On the other hand, grinding off the outriggers wouldn’t be all that difficult, but I’m not sure those replacements would be my first choice. With the current welded Ls they can support my full weight. I’m not sure those bent brackets would be weight bearing.

 

[Moserkr]

Replacing my fenders with larger metal ones for $100 from the online jungle as we speak. Just weld, paint, and go. Costs more but the solution is solid.

 

[JimS123]

Hankook Vantra should be available in that size. Which are a quality option as well. But you possibly could use spacers to raise them

I bought my first brand new car in 1970. The oem tire brands varied over the years, but in my experience when I ordered a car with a towing package (which is always) I usually got Goodyears. On some of the wife's cars there were varioys brands, some OK, some good and some crappy.

My current car is a Lincoln and it came with Hancooks. These were the WORST tires I ever ran. Don't know about trailer tires, but I can assure you they will never be on MY trailers.

 

[airshot]

Lots of experiences will be different, in my years of vehicle owning, Good Years have been one of the worst. My most sucessfull tires have been Michelin, had issues with them on my motorhome, the Hankooks were much better, but, on my van the Michelins were far superior to the Good Years that came on it...who knows !!

 

[airshot]

Replacing my fenders with larger metal ones for $100 from the online jungle as we speak. Just weld, paint, and go. Costs more but the solution is solid.

Have to agree here, no plastic fenders on my trailer, just an accident looking for a place to happen.

 

[JimS123]

Have to agree here, no plastic fenders on my trailer, just an accident looking for a place to happen.

I bought my first boat trailer in 1968. Had metal fenders for eons. Constant problems. Back about 20 years ago I got some plastic fenders. The improvement was so great that I wouldn't own metal fenders ever again.

Like lots of things, experiences can be different.