1964 Aristocrat Travel Trailer: New "Shoes" (trailer tires)...Not exactly a trip to Nordstrom's!

Ok, to get you all up to speed with any progress that has been made on my vintage camper, I feel I must start with the wheels. Priority one was to get tires so that if I needed to tow her out of my driveway in a jiffy, I might have a fighting chance. Actually, the first priority was to transfer title at the DMV which proved to be as relaxing as oral surgery without the benefit of anesthesia, AND proved again that the "free" camper was quickly becoming "not exactly free" (more on that later). And because I feel that my DMV adventure is unfortunately not totally resolved (I'd like to qualify for PTI plates for the travel trailer), I will leave that for a subsequent post.

Finding tires was also a challenge though as the rusted lug nuts were not wanting to budge. I found some advice on line that recommended a product called PB Blaster. This will easily be the best $5 you spend renovating a rusty camper! When I researched this product on line, the post said something to the effect of, "spray the stuff on...go inside and have a beer...and when you are done, the rusted component will be free". If I was solving this word problem correctly, 4 lug nuts times 2 tires equals a LOT of beer for 1 afternoon. So, in the end, I decided that I did not have to follow his protocol to a tee, or at least substitute with some iced tea, and the results were just as good (maybe just not as fun)! This product works great!

The next question was...what is your bolt pattern? My what?! Here is a link that helps explain this for those who are initially confused by this term as I was. http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/techpage.jsp?techid=92 Turns out my bolt pattern on my 13' Aristocrat Lo Liner is 4 x 4.5. Big O Tires told me I needed trailer tires and sent me to see "The Wizard" at Six Roblees Trailer Supply in Oakland, CA (see Repacking the Bearings in subsequent post for more info). I was told www.cokertire.com is a good resource for nice looking vintage, white wall tires, but I wasn't prepared to spend that kind of money yet (remember this travel trailer was supposed to be mostly "free").

Below are images of the original tires, the rims restored with Rustoleum primer, followed by Rustoleum black gloss rattle can. Of course this is a project you want to do outdoors, wearing a mask, and sanding lightly between coats.

Tip of the day: PB Blaster is a great product to free up rusted components on a camper (lug nuts, trailer hitch, screws, etc). Easily found at Home Depot and most hardware stores.