Lifetime Tent Trailer from Costco

[Lumpy Grits]

"I plan on trying to figure out how to replace the little 12.5" trailer tires with at least a 31" tire as soon as possible."
What's the bolt circle dia. Looks like 5 on 5 1/2" which is old Jeep CJ and Ford BroncoII.
Be carefull making right turns with the spare in place. Why not put the spare under the tongue?
LG

[avjeepfreek]

"I plan on trying to figure out how to replace the little 12.5" trailer tires with at least a 31" tire as soon as possible."
What's the bolt circle dia. Looks like 5 on 5 1/2" which is old Jeep CJ and Ford BroncoII.
Be carefull making right turns with the spare in place. Why not put the spare under the tongue?
LG

LG, It is 5 on 5 1/2 and a set of old Jeep wheels with 2.5 back space should work fine. I thought about putting the spare under the tongue but, it hung down to low. As for the right turns, the trailer sits back far enough for the spare to miss the bumper unless I have it completely jack-knifed in which case I'd be jacked anyway!! lol!!

[Lumpy Grits]

You'll need 3 wheels. You want the same tire & size for all 3, otherwise the trailer won't "track" right.
Is there room between the tongue rails under the "bed" to fit the spare?
LG

[avjeepfreek]

You'll need 3 wheels. You want the same tire & size for all 3, otherwise the trailer won't "track" right.
Is there room between the tongue rails under the "bed" to fit the spare?
LG

There is, but if I upgrade the tire size then it will greatly compromise the ground clearance under the trailer.

[Lumpy Grits]

The spares weight would be centered in front of the axle. A good place to have it.
2 carriage bolts and a couple of steel plates should do it for mounting.
Mount the tire's outside towards the ground so you can check the tire's PSI.
LG

[avjeepfreek]

The spares weight would be centered in front of the axle. A good place to have it.
2 carriage bolts and a couple of steel plates should do it for mounting.
Mount the tire's outside towards the ground so you can check the tire's PSI.
LG

LG, I'll probably never actually upgrade to a bigger tire anyways,... (The thought was a nice one though!)

I figure the little 12.5" / 20lb spare isn't enough weight to make much of a difference! Besides, once the trailer has all our gear in it and is ready for towing to the campsite it will all even out!

Weather mounting it (as per the instructions) for the mount I got at Harbor Freight or spending the $399 for the fancy spare mount that Lifetime offers it would not have centered it in front of the axle either so, I'm happy with my design and it should work out just fine!

[alittleoff]

I had the same issues with "were to mount the spare". And after salvaging a Toyota truck spare tire crank and chain assembly from a road side dumping area my crew & I clean up, I mounted it just ahead of the axle on my trash trailer. I fabed up a crank and keep it in the trailer tool box.

Steve

[MyBrokenJeep]

Scott, a quick question... Have you thought about how you might make it more "off roadable"? Perhaps swapping the springs to lift it up a little bit more and put bigger tires, say 33's or so on it? Thinking how one might pull this behind their jeep thru the Rubicon or some other trails...

Randy

[avjeepfreek]

Hey Randy,

The thought has crossed my mind on several occasions! You could defiantly lift this trailer. It comes with an SOA and regular trailer springs (Small) You could cut the old perches off and weld on new ones to accept YJ springs and get it up as high as you need it. You could also change out the hitch to one of the military style hitches and get the maximum flex/twist out of the Jeep and Trailer.

Check out this article or pic's of the older model trailer all set up for off road: http://www.jeepasylum.com/showthread...er-from-Costco
You will notice that the trailer in this article is the old style that folds up onto it's self (which gives the trailer a boxier low profile look) and looks a little different than mine (Unfortunately Lifetime has discontinued making this old style trailer, but I'm sure if you search a bit you could find one out there somewhere!)

We recently took our trailer camping up north and are planning to go up to Arrowhead and camp in the upcoming weeks. It's a great little trailer! It worked out perfectly and it was very roomy and comfortable! I highly recommend it!





Scott