dexter axle and wheel clearance

[rtp123]

Hi all:

I picked up my Dexter Torflex #9 axle assembly yesterday. Today, I mounted the wheels on the axle and the axle rubbed on the back of the wheels.

The axle has 22.5 degree down start angle. The wheel s are 14 x 6 size with a negative 3 offset. Any ideas on how to fix this is surley appreciated. Thanks.

[shoeman]

By negative 3 offset do you mean the mounting surface on the wheel is "outboard of the rim centerline"(as Redneck Trailer puts it)?? I think the only cure for that is wheel spacers. If the arm just touches then it will not take much.
If this is not how your wheels are....then I have no clue!

What wheels are these??

[rtp123]

Thanks Shoeman; the wheels were purchaesed at Discount Tire Company. They are designed as a trailer wheel and made by Unique.

Perhaps, I need to find a shallower wheel. I have also sent an email to Dexter Axle as well. I can go to a negative 6C offset with the same wheel but I don't know if that is going to remedy the problem.

[rtp123]

Thanks Shoeman; the wheels were purchased at Discount Tire Company. They are designed as a trailer wheel and made by Unique.

Perhaps, I need to find a shallower wheel. I have also sent an email to Dexter Axle as well. I can go to a negative 6C offset with the same wheel but I don't know if that is going to remedy the problem.

[rtp123]

Thanks Shoeman; the wheels were purchased at Discount Tire Company. They are designed as a trailer wheel and made by Unique.

Perhaps, I need to find a shallower wheel. I have also sent an email to Dexter Axle as well. I can go to a negative 6C offset with the same wheel but I don't know if that is going to remedy the problem.

[rtp123]

Thanks Shoeman; the wheels were purchased at Discount Tire Company. They are designed as a trailer wheel and made by Unique.

Perhaps, I need to find a shallower wheel. I have also sent an email to Dexter Axle as well. I can go to a negative 6C offset with the same wheel but I don't know if that is going to remedy the problem.

[G-force]

The more offset, the closer the rim is to the trailer, and thus the tortion arm. I doubt you will be able to use any 14 rim with more then 1" of offset. 3" is a hell of an offset, your going to need a big spacer, more likley an adaptor plate since you probaly wont be able to fine 4+ inch long studs to use a simple spacer. They may be trailer wheels, but for standard leaf spring axles, not tortion axles. My rims are 15 x5 with 0 offset and its about 1.25 inches away from the tortion arm. Your other option would be to go up to some big 20" rims so the arm is inside

[rtp123]

Thanks, G-Force; So, if I went with a different wheel, such as a 15" x 5"with a 0 offset, then it would not rub the torsion arm?

[G-force]

Correct. Aything with a 0 offset and up to a 6" width will fit. I have a 15x5 rim with 0 offset and a st205-75D15 trailer tire and it clears the arm of my #9 axl by a little over an inch.

[rtp123]

Again, thanks for the info;
I can take the wheels back to Discount Tire and trade them out for another set of wheels.

[brian_bp]

Trading the wheels sounds like a good plan to me. If automotive wheels are used for compatibility with the tow vehicle, then spacers are appropriate; if the wheels are unique to the trailer, then I think that they should actually fit the trailer axle.

Common trailer axles use the same hubs whether they are the rubber-mounted trailing arm independent design ("rubber torsion axles", such as the Torflex), or beam axles on leaf springs. A Dexter Torflex #9 uses the same hubs - and thus needs the same wheel offset to properly place the load on the bearings - as a Dexter D20 leaf-spring axle. 1/2" to zero offset is the normal range for these hubs, and those in the next capacity range lower and higher. I doubt that any wheel with 3" offset would really be intended for any trailer, and 3" would be very high for any type of vehicle, so it's unlikely to be a 3" offset.

[brian_bp]

... the wheels were purchased at Discount Tire Company. They are designed as a trailer wheel and made by Unique.

I thought that was strange, because none of the Unique styles listed by Discount Tire when I checked their site were specifically for trailers. All but one looked like "generic" truck/trailer wheels, which would have a reasonable (for a trailer) offset; it seems like they supplied a wheel from the only model ("Aftermarket Steel") which would have a large offset... and 3" is a huge offset.

I tried again with a Phoenix zip code (Unique wheels from Discount for Phoenix), and found one "trailer" wheel: the 8-spoke. Since they don't have a picture, and don't list offset in their description, it's hard to tell what this wheel is... and the web site says there is no 14x6 of that style and the common (for Dexter) 5-on-4.5" pattern available. I still don't see a "trailer" wheel as likely to have a large offset (mounting face outboard of wheel centre plane), but what's the hub? (I just guessed it might be 5-on-4.5").

While looking, I noticed some characters scattered at the end of the wheel sizes... and it seems that they are listing offset in millimetres, which is now the standard for cars. For example, modern cars often have offsets of 35 to 45 mm, and this will show up as "35" or "45" in the listings. It looks like they are using positive for hub outboard of wheel and thus negative for hub inboard... and thus the "negative 3" offset is 3 mm (1/8") inboard... which should leave adequate clearance unless the wheel is too wide. Stock wheels would have zero or any small positive (up to 1/2" or 13 mm) offset. I still had no idea what "B" or "C" would indicated.

The only reason to need a negative offset would be to accommodate the extra wheel width beyond the common widths which fit, by essentially adding the extra width on the outside only... I think a trailer axle of this capacity would normally have a wheel 5" wide or even narrower.

Finally, I followed the Discount Tire link to Understanding the Wheel Size, and found the letters on the end ("B"=black, "C"=chrome, etc) are for the finish (not the offset).