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help me make my mind up, trailer wheels
JoelP - 27/11/05 at 04:32 PM

right then. Ive got everything i need for my trailer except wheels. Ive spotted some nice 10" mini alloys on ebay, £35 delivered, to which i can add 6 or 8 ply tyres are required. Or i can get a pair of 'crap' wheels from a trailer store, 8" ones with tyres for £30+ delivery.

8" wheels are more suitable if i modify it to a 4 wheeler in future, to get them closer, but the mini wheels will almost match the locost ones

Anyone have relevant thoughts? ive got about 4 hours til they end on ebay.

The points of issue are, how unsuitable are 10" wheels on a trailer, and how daft is it to run with only 2 wheels?

Your help is appreciated.


rayward - 27/11/05 at 04:46 PM

HI,

you need to check the height of you trailer hitch and towball on your towcar, idea being to keep the trailer as level(well slightly nose down) as possible.

this is even more important on a 4 wheel trailer.

the 10" wheels may give you the extra height you need for example.

Ray


rusty nuts - 27/11/05 at 04:49 PM

Check out the cost of 10in 6 or 8 ply tyres first .


owelly - 27/11/05 at 05:12 PM

Don't have the nose down!!
This in effect, makes the front axle take more load which takes load off the rear axle and will make the trailer snake!
14.5 inches to the centre of the towball socket with the trailer loaded and level!!


JoelP - 27/11/05 at 05:14 PM

tow hitch centres 13" off the ground. An 8" wheel with maybe 4 inches of tyre will be 8" off the ground, plus another 2 from the suspension arm. hence tow bar is 3 inches higher than chassis at wheel point, and chassis is about 6 inches higher at the front than the back, which would be 7" off the ground. 7" isnt much so im thinking 10" alloys might be better.

The towbar on the 406 is only 13" off the ground even with a boot full of tools (with the back seats down!)

Maybe the weight of the trailer would drop it another inch.

But on the other hand, trying to get the car out of a trailer thats 10" off the ground might be tricky...

the tyres are about £20 for 10", and £10 for 8" according to towsure.

further thoughts welcome!

owelly, for now its a 2 wheel trailer so the problem of weight distribution between axles isnt a problem. When its finished i can fine tune the wheel size to keep it right.

[Edited on 27/11/05 by JoelP]


Avoneer - 27/11/05 at 05:42 PM

Is this gonna be road legal?

If so, and if it helps with the decision in a tanjented kind of way, I'd love to borrow it a few times like for SVA etc, so you'll make some income from renting it!

Pat...


JoelP - 27/11/05 at 05:44 PM

im not sure exactly what you have to do to make it road legal, but it certainly will get used on the road! twill only be good for sub 550kgs cars. Fine for becs im sure. The 50x3mm square tubing weighs about 1kg per foot, so it will be about a 100kg chassis.

[Edited on 27/11/05 by JoelP]


Mark Allanson - 27/11/05 at 07:26 PM

Consider how fast an 8" wheel will turn at 60mph, go for the largest diameter you can fit, I wouldn't consider anything less than 13"


Triton - 27/11/05 at 08:39 PM

trailers should have specific tyres not normal stuff


k33ts - 27/11/05 at 09:54 PM

your car towbar sounds very low should be somewhere near 15" 16".
you should consider having brakes on trailer as youll be getting close to not being legal dependent on what your towing.
single axle trailer should tow slightly nose down with about 40 to 50 kg on hitch for good stabilaty (measure with bathroom scales on block of wood when loaded with car)
go for biggest wheels at least 13" with 8 plys remember your towing all that hard work about.


Mark Allanson - 27/11/05 at 10:11 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Triton
trailers should have specific tyres not normal stuff



Only posh legal ones, Cornish ones are exempt!


JoelP - 27/11/05 at 10:19 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Triton
trailers should have specific tyres not normal stuff


i assumed 4/6/8 ply tyres were trailer ones, just remembered that my van has 6 ply tyres. Dont fret, i'll get them from a proper place.

tow bar will be low due to the amount of tackle in the car, literally 3-400kgs of stuff. Its got the seats down and its stacked to the roof with transformers etc. Well, only one transformer in fact, but you get my drift

i didnt bid enough on those wheels anyway, so i might just by shite ones

[Edited on 27/11/05 by JoelP]


Syd Bridge - 28/11/05 at 05:14 PM

Mini alloys may be OK, but whatever you do, don't go near the early Mini 10" steel wheels. I've got a mountain of them, bent all to easily, from the youngsters grasstracker.

Syd.