HF wheels

[TD Beej]

Anyone have trouble with hf wheels. I bought a 2007 trailer used and cleaned up and painted the wheels and found thre balance is awful and one wheel isn't centered properly. The spare I bought from HF and it seems better in every regard so am thinking of buying another and chucking the bad wheel. Any thoughts or suggestions.

Thanks, Beej

[Woodbutcher]

No problem with mine...

[parnold]

I have two HF trailers, and had no problems with either one's wheels.

[TD Beej]

Before even cleaning up and painting the wheels i took it on a 1200 mile trip to the redwoods and back and it was very stable. From towing it empty I knew something was off but figured it was just the balance and when I packed the fresh grease into the hubs it seemed to confirm this. It was not until I got the wheels balanced after painting that I realized something was up. So it is one of those things that if you don't specically look it may not be noticed.

I am wondering if I should not just find car wheels to fit and get the higher quality wheels/tires and be done with it.

Thanks!

[Woodbutcher]

Are you sure the problem is not the tire? Have you tried jacking the wheel off the ground and spin it by hand to look at how it rotates? Or take the wheel/tire to a tire shop and have them spin balance them. If the wheel is the problem it should show up there. Should you decide to replace them with larger wheel pay attention to the new wheels back spacing so they do not rub on the trailer. Good luck and keep us posted on what you find.

[TD Beej]

Oh the tires are screwy too but the one wheel is definitely off center, or out of round. A spin with a reference next to the edge of the rim shows it clearly does not keep a even radius.

[TD Beej]

I figured out what happened to the wheel, the lug holes were ovaled. Wild guess is that when the wheel was put on someone did not put the lug nuts on tight enough so when they put the trailer down to tighten the nuts fully (85-90ft/lbs) the wheel was no longer properly positioned and crushed the mild steal. The fresh paint on the wheels hit the defects in the holes.

Be careful mounting and tightening the wheels to get them precisely positioned.

Thanks, Beej