Tire Well Cages
Back on the Sunday of Labor Day weekend of 2015, we were on our way home from Port Aransas Texas (that’s near Corpus Christi) when we suffered a blowout on the curbside trailer tire. The steel belted tread came loose and was flapping around like a mad whip. We were lucky though as it was on the right side of the trailer and out of the traffic zooming by at a zillion miles per hour on I-37. I was able to get off onto the shoulder and change the tire in 105° weather. The damage caused could have been a lot worse if it had been on the other side where the discharge plumbing is for the toilet and grey water tank. Usually when a blowout happens on the left (street) side, it takes out all the plumbing on that side and can destroy the inside cabinet in the bathroom as well. Being on the other side there was hardly any damage done. What did happen was the wheel well broke at the seam where the side piece comes together with the top arc of the wheel well liner. It spewed rubber chunks all inside the lower cabinets on that side. I was able to repair it with some black plastic asphalt glue so water wouldn’t come gushing inside the trailer if it rained while towing the trailer.
Those wheel wells are made of vacuum-formed plastic and are fairly tough but not enough to withstand a whirling steel belt going 70+ MPH! I had fabricated some cages to go behind each tire to protect my trailers plumbing and body encase I ever suffered another blow out, but the wheel wells were still in need of some bolstering to keep their integrity in tact from that same flailing tread. It wouldn’t need much, just some kind of metal to take the brunt of the force from ripping the wheel well plastic liner apart.
I decided to use some expanded steel. You know, the stuff they make those cheap 55 gallon drum BBQ pit grills out of? That perforated diamond shaped pattern steel. It’s not that thick but plenty tough! So what I did was get a new wheel well to replace the old damaged one and also to use as a pattern for the fabrication of the cages that would insert up into the wheel wells. I measured the wheel wells and came up with the sizes for the top arc with some left over for a flange on each end to attach the cage to the bottom of the trailer. Then I measured the side of the wheel well and came up with a square that could cover the side portion of the wheel well from the top of the arc to the bottom with a 90° flange also to attach to underneath of the trailer. Now I can weld, but this is something that was out of my league, and it needed to be precise so as to fit up inside the wheel wells and be snug fitting. So I had the steel cut to size and took the pieces and the new wheel well to Spiller Custom Hitches here in Austin Texas (they do all sorts of welding and trailer work and they have the right tools to do what needed to be done on this project) and explained what I need to have them do. They bent the steel and welded the parts together using a bent piece of steel rod to reinforce the seam where the two pieces come together (image 2200) and to give them something to weld to as well. They came up with this for me (images 2196, 2197). After I got them home I knew there would be some custom tweaking to be done to make them fit as each side is different. The right (or curb side) got the new wheel well (image 2207) installed and the cage only needed some length taken of the rear flange to make it fit like a glove (image 2198). The left (or street side) had to have a bit more done to it so as to clear the hot water heater and fresh water tank drain pipes (images 2199, 2201).
I used Rust-Oleum self-etching primer (my favorite) and painted both cages with several coats (image 2209) and then finished them with some Rust-Oleum glossy black to match the wheel wells (Image 2210).
They fit like a glove and looked real nice (images 2211, 2212) but the best part is now my trailer is bullet-proof from any blowout. I may have one again someday, but I can rest easy knowing that the tire will be the only victim of this calamity and no major damage will ever occur (like having the lower interior cabinets wiped out)! Like I have said before, you can’t put a price on peace of mind!