My Coleman specs say 10'4" high, which if were true, would not be an issue. My storage plans are to park it in my pole barn alongside my horse trailer during the winter. It would remain dry, out of the weather, and be safe from the chance of damage. The problem is, after measuring it twice, it turned out to be 10'8", which is the exact height of the bottom of the trusses, no room for error. If I deflate the tires I could gain the room to get it in, damaging the tires in the process, not a good idea.My solution would be to put 12" 5-4 1/2 wheels on. This would give me 3" of clearance needed to park it, also gets the travel tires off the ground and kept round. My question is, will 12" rims fit on the 10" brake drums? If not, anyone know of an alternate method to lower the trailer a few inches? I have 3 light fixtures I will have to move to new locations to do this, and would hate to go through all that, only to find I cant get the trailer lowered. The last thing I would want to do is modify the suspension in any way shape or form, so not an option.

Is the entrance to your pole barn....dirt or gravel???Maybe dig down a little...just thinking....:h

Guessing that it is just the AC that is an issue. Taking air out of the tires to pull it in and then putting the air back in once you are between some beems should not do any damage to the tires.

Concrete, and I would have to pretty much deflate them to almost no air to make up the 3" difference. The AC is 15" high, and thats the bugger that prevents me from getting it in there easily. I have to back an 8' wide long trailer down an 11' wide aisle, using my tractor, so the less I have to be concerned with, the better. :)

How about removing the whole AC unit?

You could replace your A/C with a Dometic Penguin. Low profile - under 10 inches high.

Storage problem, Smaller wheels? | Good Sam Community

rbpru
Explorer II
Jun 24, 2016
Our off season storage is really several weeks between use storage. It seems like unless there is snow on the ground, we are always doing one last trip.

We have been known to dry camp for a weekend of snow shoeing at the state park if the roads are clear.

Our storage has to be easily accessible.
budwich
Explorer
Jun 24, 2016
I am "betting" that you can "easily" weld up the equivalent of what tow trucks use to tow away vehicles. Basically a "cradle" with "out board" tires (ie. wider than your trailer. You could even use you existing tires / rim as part of the "rolling cradle". You would some form of "drop axle" or such that allows the "cradle" to sit low and basically rest the existing "rimless (and tireless)" axles of the trailer to be just clear the ground.
Huntindog
Explorer
Jun 24, 2016
Can you weld?
If so, you coulf get some old junk wheels and modify them. I am thinking of some flat rolled steel, cut to the width of the rims, and the length equaling the circumference of the rims. Weld the steel to the edges of the wheels creating all steel wheels that will not dig into the dirt.

You may be able to pick up the wheels and steel for next to nothing and just have your labor and some welding rod into it.

Find out your TT bolt pattern and check with tire shops. They often have rims that were bent and replaced from customers vehicles. Those would be perfectly suitable for this use.

As for the steel, you may have some laying around, or a scrap yard... something that can be repurposed will do fine... Looks don't count on a project like this.
johntank
Explorer
Jun 24, 2016
Acdii wrote:
My Coleman specs say 10'4" high, which if were true, would not be an issue. My storage plans are to park it in my pole barn alongside my horse trailer during the winter. It would remain dry, out of the weather, and be safe from the chance of damage.

The problem is, after measuring it twice, it turned out to be 10'8", which is the exact height of the bottom of the trusses, no room for error. If I deflate the tires I could gain the room to get it in, damaging the tires in the process, not a good idea.

My solution would be to put 12" 5-4 1/2 wheels on. This would give me 3" of clearance needed to park it, also gets the travel tires off the ground and kept round.

My question is, will 12" rims fit on the 10" brake drums? If not, anyone know of an alternate method to lower the trailer a few inches?

I have 3 light fixtures I will have to move to new locations to do this, and would hate to go through all that, only to find I cant get the trailer lowered.

The last thing I would want to do is modify the suspension in any way shape or form, so not an option.

After reading your post I was thinking why not a solid rubber tires on the same size rims that are on the trailer now except with just 1 or 2 inches of rubber from rim to ground, that would help with the dirt to concrete problem you said you have using just a rim? I know it might be more $$ than you want to spent, but I found this company Solid Boss Tires (solidboss.com) that does custom solid tires.
westend
Explorer
Jun 24, 2016
colliehauler wrote:
The only mod I know that would get you 4" is to reverse flip the axles if they are on top the axle and you already stated you did not want to change the suspension. Personally I would not want to disassemble / reassemble the RV every time I went to use it.

X2
To remove the obvious hassle of getting it into the building, I'd suggest to build a shed roof on one side of the barn and park the trailer underneath.

A guy always needs more storage space and I'd bet you will be moving stuff around, inside, just to park the trailer.
wing_zealot
Explorer
Jun 24, 2016
If part of the floor is dirt, why not lower the dirt floor and put in a door where the dirt floor is?
colliehauler
Explorer III
Jun 24, 2016
The only mod I know that would get you 4" is to reverse flip the axles if they are on top the axle and you already stated you did not want to change the suspension. Personally I would not want to disassemble / reassemble the RV every time I went to use it.
campigloo
Explorer
Jun 24, 2016
Could you pour a strip of concrete wide enough for the wheels with no tires and long enough to store it out of the dirt?
rbpru
Explorer II
Jun 24, 2016
There maybe a few ways to do it, but none seem convenient. I would probably drop the tire pressure, back it in, set the frame on stand jacks remove and inflate the wires.

Or, replace the wheels with rims and back it onto plywood. Crude but about the easiest if you can get a cheap set or rims.

If the storage is short term I might opt of a barn modification as a long turm solution.
Acdii
Explorer
Jun 24, 2016
Yeah, raising a 36' x 80' barn is not an option. LOL I would consider rolling on steel if it were concrete all the way back, but where it will rest is compacted dirt, and the rims would just create two deep grooves on either side, then it would most likely sink down over the winter, and be a real PITA to get back out over the 2" rise to the concrete floor.

I will see if there is some clearance removing the AC cover, provided I don't break any seals taking it off. Would hate to develop a leak in the roof. I will check it this weekend when I have time to put the stabs down.

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Storage problem, Smaller wheels?

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