Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

I'm a new guy. Just joined this forum. I'm doing my second build and have a question on wheel off set.
I'm doing a 4" drop axle. The floor will go past my frame approx 3.5". I think I will have 6" to play with. so my off set wheel and tire together should be 4.5" to 5" no more. 1" to 1.5" of clearance to my walls.
I found wheels on line that say they are trailer wheels. 14"x5.5 offset .50 IN Pilot diam. 2.62 .
Will they work? I don't remember the offset of my last wheels. I don't want the wheels to stick out more that 1" to 1.5" from the walls (tight fit).

Any thoughts are welcome.
Daniel.

Trailer wheels almost always have "0" offset.... So you just figure wheel width and divide it by two and add a bit for tire bulge and "clearance"...

If you are using a "car" wheel offsets are all over the place so choose wheel and tire combination first then go for axle width after selection...

Dale

Daniel most trailer wheels have what they call zero offset. What this means is half the wheel width is inside the hub, and half outside. With this in mind are these wheels 11" wide? Auto wheels will have a offset given, but either positive or negative (positive I believe is more common, like a front wheel drive). Lug pattern should also be considered (if it has not already).

I hope this helps del

note; Generally the formula for axle width is body width (inside the wheel wells) plus, wheel to body clearance (x2), and plus wheel offset (x2)(if you do not get wider tires than your wheel).

...check the pilot hole size needed for your hub as well...many trailer hubs are over 3"s................................

O.K. am I to understand that with a 0 offset. If the wheel is a 14x6 that means from the inside of the lug nut holes in towards the trailer it should be 3" . And then from the lug nut holes out it will also be 3".

So then if that is correct then the wheels I'm looking at are 14"x5.5 with a .50 INSET. I would consider the .50 in and the wheel would be 3.25" from the inside of the lug holes to the end of the inside wheel and 2.25"" from center to outside.

3.25" plus tire bulge.

Am I thinking correctly??????????????????

Daniel

zen wrote:Am I thinking correctly?

Yes, it sounds like you've got it all worked out, except that wheel width isn't that useful, since it's tyre (sorry, tire) width that matters - as the tyre will be much wider than the wheel.

For a 14x5.5 wheel, the suitable trailer tyre would be a 205/75R14 at 8.0" mounted width, so then:
hub face to inner sidewall = half tyre width + wheel inset
= (1/2 x 8.0) + 0.5
= 4.5"

Here is Goodyear's trailer tyre data page if you want to look up other sizes.

Andrew

I got it. Thanks to all of you. This is why I love this forum . Everyone is so helpful. Andrew I printed out the tire application specs. Thanks.

So if I figured it out right, the wheels I want will fit perfect. They are just stock looking wheels that I can put moons on.
I know boring, and done hundreds of times but I like the look.

You guys are great.
Daniel

The wheels I'm looking at will work but the pilot or center hole is 2.62.
I am getting a Dexter type 4" drop 3500 axle it comes with a bearing buddy on it. Will the center hole be wide enough??

Dan

zen wrote:The wheels I'm looking at will work but the pilot or center hole is 2.62.
I am getting a Dexter type 4" drop 3500 axle it comes with a bearing buddy on it. Will the center hole be wide enough??

Dan

Why do you think they make grinders???

zen wrote:The wheels I'm looking at will work but the pilot or center hole is 2.62.
I am getting a Dexter type 4" drop 3500 axle it comes with a bearing buddy on it. Will the center hole be wide enough??

Dan

...I would check with Dexter on that but I bet it is larger......................

If your centerbore is close, you can have the wheel machined to fit - I did that to put a set of BBS alloy wheels from a 1991 RX-7 convertible on my 2002 Protege 5



You can see where the additional material was cut away



That's the front side

I polished the wheels and then clearocated them



I'm using a set of these wheels on a trailer also - They are fairly high offset wheels (40mm) so using a 2 inch machined aluminum spacer, the trailer hub is covered with the spacer and only the grease cap sticks through the center of the wheel and the grease cap is a good deal smaller than the centerbore of the wheels

Don

Thanks everyone. The wheels I am looking at are nothing more than steel black painted wheels. They are 35.00 each new and I thought it was a good price.
I think I want to go with smoothies, red with baby moons. Anyone know where I can get them at a reasonable price.
Daniel

Ordered them today. From Pete Paulsen Custom and What a nice and helpful guy he is, Thanks Pete