Hi Guys,

I'm new to caravaning, having recently purchased a 1982 Jurgens Fleetline 4 caravan. 

Overall, it's in quite good condition. Previous owner overhauled in 2024 (spending +/- 45k).

That being said, the caravan has very low ground clearance (just barely making it over speed bumps without scraping). From what I understand this is normal for this spec of caravan. 

I've spoken to and will be taking it in to Springrite in Pinetown (Durban) to inspect and possibly raise with new leaf springs.

Aside from that, will replacing the existing 55R12 rims/tyres to 13" rims/tyres help? 

Online "googling" seem to suggest this will raise by about 30mm-50mm.

Does anyone know what is the pcd of these 55R12 rims and which 13" rims will work?

Would really appreciate any insight.

(Hoping to get this done before an upcoming trip to Kruger via Swaziland)

Thanks in advance.

Try spacers. They fit between the axle and chassis. Gives 50mm.

Search on this forum for titel “spacer”.

The 13” can be VW Golf rims. Citi Golf.

Does anyone know what is the pcd of these 55R12 rims and which 13" rims will work?

Welcome on the Forum Mohammed.  Let's hear how your new adventure pans out.

Regarding your question above, look for tyre measuments on any tyre manufactores' web page, compare the diameter of the tyres you have to those envisaged.  Remember that the effect this will have on your caravan is HALF the difference between the two.

Regarding a spacer, this is quite feasable.  I had to lift my trailer about 40mm a few months ago when I could not find any off the shelve,  because of larger wheels I fitted.  I made up the spacers myself but it is probably best to have them made at an engineering firm. On the PCD, if it is four bolts, which ours probably are, you measure the distance diagonally, in other words to the one directly opposite. On a five hole rim, skip one hole, in other words, from say hole 1 to hole three.  Measure the distances from center to center of the holes or studs.

And lastly, if your van is in a good condition without any wood rot, you got yourself a good one.  Those older caravans were built much more solid than late ones and the suspension to my mind is superior to today's rubber assisted axels and normally gives no problems.

Thanks guys.Appreciate the advice and info. Will measure and check manufactures web page for specs that will fit.Fortunately the previous owners overhual included replacing "all" of the timber (structure and board), have the invoices and I recently re-sealed at the same place where they confirmed same. Really looking forward to using it end of April.Will update the forum on the upgrade once completed.   

I have no idea what the PCD is on those old rims.  But while youre at it see if you can fit a 14" rim.  The bigger rim with matching tyre could provide the ground clearance you need.

You must just make sure it will fit with in the wheel well without touching the outer fender or the chassis.

Leon wrote:

I have no idea what the PCD is on those old rims.  But while youre at it see if you can fit a 14" rim.  The bigger rim with matching tyre could provide the ground clearance you need.

You must just make sure it will fit with in the wheel well without touching the outer fender or the chassis.

They will. Even 13” will touch on rough roads. Spacer is a better option.

I had a 1997 Gypsey Raven with 12”. Spacers were the only option. Then also commercial tyres in 12” are almost extinct.

Leon wrote:

I have no idea what the PCD is on those old rims.  But while youre at it see if you can fit a 14" rim.  The bigger rim with matching tyre could provide the ground clearance you need.

You must just make sure it will fit with in the wheel well without touching the outer fender or the chassis.

Do take this serious and measure before you get bigger wheels.  When I bought 14 inch wheels to replace my trailer's 10 inch ones, (quite a jump in size!) the new rims did not have the same profile which I only became aware of after I received them, which resulted in them extending a bit more to to the outside and almost touching the mud guards on the side wall.  Luckily it was possible to bend the mudguards lightly to create the extra space which will not be possible in you your case.  With leaf springs a slight shift of the axle to the outside on the opposite side of a curve in the road when taking the curve is possible as lateral movement of the axle is not 100% controlled, meaning the you would need even a bit more space. 

If the 14 inch wheels you intend fitting has the same profile as your present ones, it will probably not be a problem but rather make sure.  And by the way, 14 inch wheels instead of 13 inch ones will only lift the van about half an inch, say 1.5 cm which will not be a big improvement.  Spacers I think is your only option.

So I've measured the PCD, closest measurement being 114/115mm.

Bore is 73/74mm.

14" would be really nice, but as Mulderpm mentioned, dont think it will work.                          Space in well area above tyre is 70mm (unloaded) and at middle (right & left side) is 40mm.    Haven't measured the space between stud side of tyre to outer fender.

Based on you'lls advice, I'll raise clearance with spacers for now (or/and new leaf springs if existing is worn out). Later on when budget allows, will try 13" and see how that works out.                                                                        

Prefer at minimum 13" seeing as it is more easily available especially since I'm planning on doing a fair amount of touring alone with my wife (don't want to be stranded in a dodgy place).

I'm planning on buying an additional used spare tyre before our upcoming trip (wondering if most people do keep x2 spares). Saw one for R600 (rim + tyre). Might seem a bit paranoid lol, but years ago I hit a pot hole and both left tyres blew about 10km past Umzimkulu. Fortunately I was alone, hitch hiked back to the town, and took a taxi back to the car, praying it would still be there untouched. 

Get some tyre pressure monitors. Then you will not distroy a tyre (and maybe part of the caravan) if it goes flat. They are about R300 on Takealot.

I bought my 50mm spacers from CampWorld some 20 years ago.

Prefer at minimum 13" seeing as it is more easily available especially since I'm planning on doing a fair amount of touring alone with my wife (don't want to be stranded in a dodgy place).

I think you have got it wrong.  13" tyres are quite difficult to come by while 14" ones are freely available.  I think this was just a finger fault?

You should certainly get tyre monitors as suggested by Paul.  The need for this is I found a long time ago after two blow outs.  I do not think two spares are necessary. You might never need one if you are lucky, but the chance that you will need two on one trip, seems quite improbable. Weight and space in a caravan is at a premium.  Also keep a can or two of tyre inflation in your caravan, as well as in any of your motor vehicles.  They can be a life saver. 

I wonder if you can still get 12" commercial (8ply) tyres. 13" will also be scarce but 14" is readily available.

I would not bother with two spare wheels especially on an on-road caravan. I have never used my spare wheel and we travel 7 months of the year. I have had two punctures on the caravan from self tap screws. The TPMS warns me and I head for the closest repair shop. Once we had set up camp when the alarm sounded. I took the wheel off and had it repaired. No damage.

It is more important to have a TPMS on your caravan than your car. But a rear tyre pucture is difficult to feel on the stearing. Get two TPMS. One for the car and one for the caravan. You could even put one sensor on the spare of your car and one on the spare of the caravan.

You do get TPMS sets for more than four wheels. I have one that suports six wheels. When you do not have the caravan in tow, the van's wheels just do not register so you do not need to do anything to disable them.

Temu sells a good set of the TPMS sensors... Bought it myself and fitted it to my bakkie and the Van... I just bought aluminium valves as well as i was worried about the extra weight on the valve stem by placing the sensors as it screws on top of the valve stem.. you do get internal sensors as well but a bit more pricy 

Have tested it on the bakkie and it gives me instant indication of temp as well as pressure differential ... Have not towed the van since i bought and parked it in the garage as yet 

Pity the owner of the business not giving me a weekend off to go camping

My first one which is still working on my car after 7 years was from Temu. Now they are the same price from Takalot.

I bought this one last month from Takealot. R310. It even has voice prompts.

I think you have got it wrong.  13" tyres are quite difficult to come by while 14" ones are freely available.  I think this was just a finger fault?

@Fred Thanks for that, I was actually under the impression 13" tyres were easy to come by.

 @ Paul I see takelot/temu..even makro are selling the exact same TPMS, just purchased one similar to yours on "onedayonly" website for R325 including delivery.

If anyone else is interested, here's the link.

https://onedealaday.co.za/deals/Solar-Tire-Pressure-Monitoring-System-BF?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=Shopping&utm_campaign=ODAD_GOOGLE_2021_NEW&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22226537013&gbraid=0AAAAACORpVaPT0GBGwJkSAN7_HUNZH77f&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjdC1hq3gkwMV15VQBh1eEybkEAQYBSABEgLpZvD_BwE

ITyre foam along with a plug repair kit are a constant companion of my cars toolbox, along with few bits and bobs (hose clamps, bicycle tube, self infusing tape, epoxy, putty epoxy, q-bond, stop leak - only to be used for extreme circumstances, binding wire etc) 

Fortunately have not needed to use any of this for myself in recent years, but old habits die hard...feel vulnerable without being a little stocked up.

I will be needing to buy a decent jack for the caravan, from what I understand a small trolley/bottle jack will be easier then using cars scissors jack, which will be better to go for?

I use a scissor jack to lift the wheels off the floor in order to insert stands for long storage and this works well.  On a trip I will use the car's scissor jack should I need one.  I do have a trolley and bottle jack but prefer to use this one.  For taking with I think the light weight and compactness is a definite advantage and then also is is inexpensive and very simple so it will last just about forever.  And it folds down very low which will be an advantage if you are faced with a flat tyre. My van also have a leaf spring suspension.

Regarding the tyre monitor set: It is a pity yours can only monitor four wheels. I would  rather use them on the van and the back wheels of the tow vehicle as back wheels loosing air are less noticeable than front wheels as mentioned above. If the tow vehicle has a built in system, obviously this would not be needed.

Desai wrote:

I think you have got it wrong.  13" tyres are quite difficult to come by while 14" ones are freely available.  I think this was just a finger fault?

@Fred Thanks for that, I was actually under the impression 13" tyres were easy to come by.

 @ Paul I see takelot/temu..even makro are selling the exact same TPMS, just purchased one similar to yours on "onedayonly" website for R325 including delivery.

If anyone else is interested, here's the link.

https://onedealaday.co.za/deals/Solar-Tire-Pressure-Monitoring-System-BF?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=Shopping&utm_campaign=ODAD_GOOGLE_2021_NEW&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22226537013&gbraid=0AAAAACORpVaPT0GBGwJkSAN7_HUNZH77f&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjdC1hq3gkwMV15VQBh1eEybkEAQYBSABEgLpZvD_BwE

ITyre foam along with a plug repair kit are a constant companion of my cars toolbox, along with few bits and bobs (hose clamps, bicycle tube, self infusing tape, epoxy, putty epoxy, q-bond, stop leak - only to be used for extreme circumstances, binding wire etc) 

Fortunately have not needed to use any of this for myself in recent years, but old habits die hard...feel vulnerable without being a little stocked up.

I will be needing to buy a decent jack for the caravan, from what I understand a small trolley/bottle jack will be easier then using cars scissors jack, which will be better to go for?

 

 

 

If I look at the wire in your comment you must have a Ford as a tow vehicle

I had a Ford twice and the wire saved met twice  ... lol

Once the throttle linkage op my 3.4 Sierra XR6 unhooked... the wire worked well to keep in place to get home as the little clip was missing

The next one was the power steering pump... the backet broke and the pump dropped throwing both fan belts on the car... luckily was close enough to home to get the main belt from a friend of mine that brought one to me so we could continue the journey back home... just tied the power steering pump in position so that it stayed out of the way of the only running belt... no power steering or aircon, as everyone probably knows, those cars were a bitch to turn without the power steering pump

Fred wrote:

I use a scissor jack to lift the wheels off the floor in order to insert stands for long storage and this works well.  On a trip I will use the car's scissor jack should I need one.  I do have a trolley and bottle jack but prefer to use this one.  For taking with I think the light weight and compactness is a definite advantage and then also is is inexpensive and very simple so it will last just about forever.  And it folds down very low which will be an advantage if you are faced with a flat tyre. My van also have a leaf spring suspension.

Regarding the tyre monitor set: It is a pity yours can only monitor four wheels. I would  rather use them on the van and the back wheels of the tow vehicle as back wheels loosing air are less noticeable than front wheels as mentioned above. If the tow vehicle has a built in system, obviously this would not be needed.

I was concerned about using a scissors jack because of the extremely low ground clearance of my caravan (winding it would've been difficult)

That shouldn't be a problem now, collected it today from the suspension guys. 

They relocated the leaf from under the axle to sit on top of it, retentioned the leafs and added x2 leafs as well.

+/- 100mm clearance gained so 14" tyres shouldn't be a problem now, big plus.

Will try to post before and after photos (caravan does need to be repainted, planning on using for this trip and then making a list of mods to do externally and internally)

Pontius wrote:

If I look at the wire in your comment you must have a Ford as a tow vehicle

I had a Ford twice and the wire saved met twice  ... lol

Once the throttle linkage op my 3.4 Sierra XR6 unhooked... the wire worked well to keep in place to get home as the little clip was missing

The next one was the power steering pump... the backet broke and the pump dropped throwing both fan belts on the car... luckily was close enough to home to get the main belt from a friend of mine that brought one to me so we could continue the journey back home... just tied the power steering pump in position so that it stayed out of the way of the only running belt... no power steering or aircon, as everyone probably knows, those cars were a bitch to turn without the power steering pump

Lol...not a Ford. Current vehicle is a 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe.

Many, many years ago owned a 1993 Jetta 3 1.8 CSX, used to do a lot of mileage at the time traveling for work across the province. 

Once it started giving trouble, it didn't stop. From leaking/burst water pipes, to gear link, wheel bearing failure etc...

Insulation tape, hose clamp and more insulation tape over a mildy burst pipe managed to get me home albeit a few stops to refill water along the way.

From that point onwards anything that I taught might help in different situations were added to the cars toolbox (keeps growing lol).