Wheel Well Construction & Protection

[flatlander]

Just happened to look up into the wheel well area above the tires on my Passport 2510RB and saw only a thin layer of plastic sheet providing protection, it was much like a plastic garbage bag type material. Am sure this is supposed to be for waterproofing but it seemed to be inadequate. Will have to take a closer look at this but wondered if anyone else has noticed this or come up with an improvement.

[sourdough]

It IS very weak looking. After a tire disintegrated I found that there's the trash bag looking plastic, a very thin layer of wood and then foam insulation. Seems the best thing is nothing to ever happen.....

[flatlander]

Am wondering if I should tear off the plastic and then cut a piece of wood to glue and fit in the space. This would give some 'beef' to the structure and then possibly I could spray the wood with undercoating. If the existing layer of wood is thin that would not allow using screws to fasten anything to it. Any other ideas would be appreciated.

[Ken / Claudia]

With a little thinking and work you could make a better-stronger fender. I remember having TTs with steel fenders. But, look all around the trailer at everything and I bet you will find many more items built cheap and light weight and could be improved. For me I am not into changing much on any vehicle unless it is wore out/ nearly wore out or broken.

[Tbos]

I'd leave as is unless it gets damaged. That plastic is part of the Darco under laying that covers the entire underside of the floor. You could always spray it with the undercoating you mentioned.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[SLIMSHADIE]

I'd leave it till it gets damaged, mine is 7 years with no problems.

Someone posted this years back:
I did notice only on the slideout side, if you look really really close, exposed plywood running the length of the slide, in between the fender and plastic material. Its the bottom edge of the outside wall? I thought it may have a chance to wick water up, driving thru rain constantly. I taped off and sprayed the edge with undercoating.
Current pic shows the backside of fender, sprayed wood, plastic material all done 5-6 years ago.

[willy3805]

I noticed the same thing over time I figured rocks, sand, gravel would eventually wear it out . So I found some thicker plastic that I installed in the tire area and secured it with self tapping screws .so far has worked great. I didn't what to invest to much time on it because a blown tire can destroy about anything.

[kimanderson98642]

I just had a tire come apart like mentioned above and it tore things up underneath included part of the flooring. Ended up redoing the insulation and covered with light aluminum then undercoating to give it some protection against another tire failure. Now I'm thinking about updating the other side to be a little proactive.

[audio1der]

I've never had a tire come apart but our spread axles provide a LOT of articulation. While a mobile tech was scouting for our slide leak he noticed we have wear spots through the plastic over all the tires. I clearly want to replace the protective film but don't want to build up the surface to wear it through even more quickly. I'm going to give each wear spot a good coat of rubberized undercoating spray, and check several times a season.

[JRTJH]

Fortunately I've never had a RV tire come apart while towing. I did have a flatbed trailer tire "sling the tread" with my tractor onboard. That trailer has 16 ga cold rolled steel fenders welded to the frame. The tire tread destroyed the fender before I could get the trailer stopped.

I've seen pictures of the damage done by similar "tire blowouts" on a number of RV's. There are many posted on this forum and on many other similar forums. The damage described in those posts include ripping out 2x4 flooring, tearing away, bending 1/2" black iron pipe, destroying or tearing away 16 ga steel outriggers, "punching holes" in 7/8" flooring, destroying framing material, appliances, gas lines, electrical lines, and many other types of damage.

It seems like adding the weight of a "plywood or heavy plastic" liner isn't a very strong match to a 5 or 10 pound "flapping rubber mallet" slinging around under the trailer at 65 MPH. Granted, in "normal operation" the added protection would probably help protect the underlying structures from rocks, water intrusion, wear and some damage, but I don't believe there's much of a chance of adding any "light weight material" that would prevent the damage done by a tire blowing while underway.

If the blown tire will rip away and destroy a 50 pound, 16 ga steel fender, breaking the welds and pulling it away from the chassis, I don't see much successful protection from a sheet of 3/8" OSB that's been oversprayed with undercoating. That may help the owner "feel better about the situation" but I wouldn't expect to "walk away undamaged" from a tire blowout based on that kind of protection.

Keep in mind that every pound added reduces the payload, water and camping equipment we can carry, it increases the amount of fuel needed to tow and also increases the amount of stress/wear with every mile towed with the added weight. Buying a "ultralight trailer" and then "converting it to a heavy duty trailer" pretty much defeats the purpose of having a light weight RV that can be towed by a light weight vehicle.....

I'd urge you to think and "double think" any additions that "beef up" the structure of the wheel wells. The manufacturers have a lot more experience with what works "under normal use" and we all have insurance for those "abnormal events"......

[bsmith0404]

Personally I don't know if it would help or not. You would think any additional layer of protection would be a good thing, but as already mentioned, a tire can do a lot of damage. I would wonder what additional damage could/would happen if the tire got hold of the additional layer of protection and ripped it off.

I have slides above my wheels with slide racks and hydraulic lines as well. I am very, very concerned about a blow out so my tire inspection/care is meticulous along with running a TPMS.

[sourdough]

I have to agree with John. I don't think there's much we can do to reinforce the already thin construction of our wheel wells to prevent a blown tire from causing tremendous damage.

Our recent episode caused just under $7000 damage; and it was done in what seemed like an instant. I was going 60 mph. Felt something and heard a funny buzz sound. I had already started slowing and looked in the mirror to see white "stuff" flying out behind the trailer. I had it shut down in pretty quick order. The tread had separated from the tire and in a very short time ate through all of the fender well material right up to the flooring of the trailer. If the tread hadn't wrapped around the axle there is no telling what it could have done. The steel fibers in the tread sliced the rubber propane line to the fridge like a razor and had beat up the underbelly.

2-3 months ago I saw a motorhome being hauled by a semi wrecker; the entire back lower side was gone along with one of the rear tires. It really tore it up. With those things in mind, I don't think it's possible to "beef" up the wheel wells enough to withstand that kind of event. BUT, I do think there are probably some opportunities to improve the efficiency of those areas to water intrusion.

[Desert185]

Agree with the futility of wheel well protection. Perhaps toolbox gauge or utility trailer front liner gauge, aluminum diamond plate, caulked or sprayed with rattle can bed liner would protect the wheel well from minor road debris, rocks, water intrusion, etc. and would be appropriate for longevity purposes?

[michael_h]

I was looking at an open range 22 footer and it has metal wells above the tires to (I assume) protect the underside of the box. I was thinking of adding a thin piece of lexan above my tires to add a second layer of protection . . . I mean what can it hurt, why doesn't Keystone do this? I'm sure it adds $$$ to the final product

[JRTJH]

[QUOTE=michael_h;204650]I was looking at an open range 22 footer and it has metal wells above the tires to (I assume) protect the underside of the box. I was thinking of adding a thin piece of lexan above my tires to add a second layer of protection . . . I mean what can it hurt, why doesn't Keystone do this? I'm sure it adds $$$ to the final product[/QUOTE]

I think you pretty much answered your own question. It's a matter of "extra expense" that probably won't pay dividends for the majority of purchasers.

[LittleJoe]

I use galvanized furnace ducting sheets. Cut to fit above wheel wells. After installation , I spray rocker guard undercoating over it all. Done two trailers now with excellent long term results.

When, not if you eventually tear the plastic crap covering the wood will soak up water and the rot will begin. I Cannot believe the cost cutting out of site out of mind the manufactures will go to. For the cost of these trailers, there should be at the very least an inner fender molded from HD plastic to protect from long term road damage.

I guess they figure it will never be an issue for the majority who pull there trailer to the park for the summer and home at the end of the season.

[denverpilot]

I've convinced myself that trying to protect against a tire blowup isn't likely to be very successful, but protecting against rocks and other things being thrown up seems like a reasonable reason to do some wheel well work compared to the shoddy job that's under most of these trailers.

[slow]

This must qualify for the ultimate wheel well protection: http://www.myrvtalk.com/mods/7562-fender-install.html

[kneeslider]

If it weren't cost prohibitive I'd build my inner wheel well out of carbon fiber & kevlar!

[kneeslider]

Does anyone know where I can buy a wheel well for a 2016 Hideout 175lhs. As reported earlier this month my left tire exploded & took out the entire wheel well, the repair shop says they can't find one!

WTF!