Leesurelite Wheel Mod

[granthendry1956]

Not sure this is the right place to post this but I’m sure someone will be kind enough to tell me where to go!

I’ve been looking at the Leesurelite (Excel II) campers by Sunlite. Traditionally, for use by bikes and trikes, they are ideal for taking into some narrower logging roads that aren’t Moab territory!

My question is this. The stubby little tires look almost like an afterthought. The small diameter rubber will be spinning pretty fast on the highway to get to where I wanna go with these units. Has anyone seen or know of any builds that have swapped the stock wheels out for something a little ‘beefier’? I’m not tallking 32’s or anything, just something to is approaching a normal size trailer tire/wheel combo?

Thanks in advance!

 

[mog]

I was in the camp of 'man I hate those little wheels' until I got a Featherlite raft trailer that had them. I expected them to grenade after the first hour going 70. I even carried two spare wheel/tire assemblies. But I never had an issue with them. I would check with a digital thermometer and nothing out of the ordinary. The people I bought the trailer from drove from Fairbanks, AK to southern Oregon, in one trip loaded over capacity, without those 'little wheels' complaining.

That being said if you go 'bigger' you will get more ground clearance not only from the increased diameter, but also you will have to 'lift' the suspension so the new larger tires will clear the trailer body. As light trailer axles are pretty reasonable you might be better off upgrading the axle with the lug pattern you want, instead of using wheel adapters. This would also give you an option to add brakes if those trailers don't come with them. Also instead of going with a straight axle and left springs, you could upgrade to Torsional Stub Axles which are smoother and would give you even more ground clearance as the bottom of the trailer does not have an axle hanging down in the center. Some people say this type of axle will 'overheat' when heavy-duty off-roading, but as long as you are not doing the Canning Stock Route in Australia, you should be fine.
Disregard - the torsional axle suggestion, it looks like that is the style of axle they come stock with.

 

[granthendry1956]

Good information to have. I would have wondered about why those ‘little wheels’ would have been stock for that unit but I think it might have something to do with the intended tow rig? These are marketed to the Trike/Harley/Gold wing crowd. Not sure that’s the reason but I appreciate your comments.

Also, some versions do have a straight axle. If that had been the case, I’d have done an axle flip, and probably a hub swap to match my vehicle. I’ve never seen one with that done so maybe there’s a good reason for that I don’t know yet. 🤷‍♂️

Thanks for the info.

 

[mog]

Another plus of larger wheels/tires is that off-road they will go over obstacles much better. If you intend to have a narrow/light trailer for offroading, then a wheel/tire upgrade is a real plus.

As far as wheel lug adapters, I am unfamiliar with this small size, and normally I am not a fan of adapters/spacers, but I have a small (7x12 single axle) enclosed cargo trailer I use to haul my RZR (RS1) behind my Gladiator. I used adapters to change from 5x4.5 to 5x5 lug pattern so I could run the same wheels and tires (35x12.5-17) as those on my Gladiator. The adapters had the added advantage of spacing out the wheels as the stock Gladiator rims have a +44.45mm offset and would have rubbed without the adapters. Something to watch for when going larger, not just circumference clearance, but also width clearance.

Of course, if you can pull off a swap so the trailer wheels/tires match your tow vehicle, then that has the added benefit of only needing one spare for your rig and trailer.

 

[granthendry1956]

Yep! All valid points. My biggest obstacle right now is to convince the wife that ‘any’ of it is a good idea!