1700lb HF trailer - safe to upgrade to 13" wheels/tires?

[belay70]

Im building my tear on the HF 4x8 trailer rated at 1700 lbs. Comes with 12 inch tires, and wondering if:

1. A guy can find 13" wheels that will take a pass car tire and that will fit the hub

2. If I can do so safely, without putting too much undue strain on the axle and hub/bearings?

[les45]

I have the 1700 lb 5X8 NT trailer which is very similar. I upgraded to 13" passenger car tires on white spokers with no problem. Theoretically, there is no difference in load on the bearings or axle. One advantage is that the 13" wheels turn fewer rpm's than the 12" wheels at the same vehicle speed. I used the white spoker trailer wheels in order to keep a zero offset and maintain the same load balance on the bearings. Upgrading to the larger passenger car tires definitely makes a big difference in the ride; much smoother and less bounce. If you do a search in this section, you will find a lot of discussion on this subject.

PS - welcome to the Forum. You will find this a great place to get information as you go through your build. There is always someone to answer most any question you may have on any subject.

[TPMcGinty]

Im building my tear on the HF 4x8 trailer rated at 1700 lbs. Comes with 12 inch tires, and wondering if:

1. A guy can find 13" wheels that will take a pass car tire and that will fit the hub

2. If I can do so safely, without putting too much undue strain on the axle and hub/bearings?

Like Les45 I have a Northern Tool trailer that I changed over to 13 inch wheels and passenger tires. The stock 12 inch tires that came with the trailer didn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling. I got the wheels on E-bay. Summit Racing also has a nice selection of wheels.

[Ron Dickey]

I have the 1700 lb 5X8 NT trailer which is very similar. I upgraded to 13" passenger car tires on white spokers with no problem. Theoretically, there is no difference in load on the bearings or axle. One advantage is that the 13" wheels turn fewer rpm's than the 12" wheels at the same vehicle speed. I used the white spoker trailer wheels in order to keep a zero offset and maintain the same load balance on the bearings. Upgrading to the larger passenger car tires definitely makes a big difference in the ride; much smoother and less bounce. If you do a search in this section, you will find a lot of discussion on this subject.

PS - welcome to the Forum. You will find this a great place to get information as you go through your build. There is always someone to answer most any question you may have on any subject.

How much does that change the weight of the trailer when pulling up a long grade? and do you have the same size trailer on your pulling unit.

Ron

[les45]

How much does that change the weight of the trailer when pulling up a long grade? and do you have the same size trailer on your pulling unit.

Ron

I've researched tire and wheel weights in online ads and it is hard to get a good answer. I would estimate that the 13" assemblies don't weigh more than 5 lbs each over the 12" assemblies. The added weight would be negligible when towing uphill. Not sure what you mean by the second question. If you are talking about tires, I have 16" tires on my TV.

[belay70]

Well, I just completed a 5-week long working trip with the little camper trailer on the stock HF wheels/tires and it pulled beautifully. I have much less of a reason to replace the stock wheels now. I was afraid it would bounce around like Id heard, but it acted very nicely on the road. I inflated the tires to around 45psi, despite the sidewall indication of 80 psi. Perhaps between that and the total weight of the trailer, which Im estimating to be around 800 lbs, it was a good combo for road manners. The only bad thing I noticed, and this may not have been related to teh tires/wheels at all, but it did fishtail slightly, when going down long hills in western kansas (yes, we have hills) with a strong tail wind. I just braked slightly and that stopped it. An additional kudos to the stock tires/wheels, they were ideal for taking the CT down onto a sandy beach and maneuvering there. If any of you have been to Lake McConaughy in Nebraska, you know the beach I mean. Fine white sand like you were in the virgin islands. Anyway, it gave the Jeep no problem there at all. Which brings to mind the other observation here - my mileage didnt fluctuate at all. The 2012 Jeep Wrangler I pulled it with regularly gets 20mpg. I reset the computer, even figured it by hand a few times, but it never moved more than 1mpg either way, even with lots of strong spring wind in western kansas.

Not sure about messing with a system that works just fine now. But alloys would look much better. Im curious about them still. Anyone go larger than 13" - like 14 or 15"??

[les45]

Not sure about messing with a system that works just fine now. But alloys would look much better. Im curious about them still. Anyone go larger than 13" - like 14 or 15"??

As you see in the pics above, Tim McG went with alloys on his 13 inchers and they look really good. You can go on up to 14 or 15's as long as you keep the profile narrow enough to avoid rubbing your frame. Another thing to consider, judging by your pic, is that the bigger tires will require a bigger fender sitting higher and wider and it will start getting pretty close to your doors. Looks like you still have some room to play with though. Also, if you use passenger car wheels, they will probably have a lot of offset whereas a trailer wheel has zero offset. That can cause an imbalance in your bearing loads and could cause increased bearing wear over time. It all boils down to a matter of taste (and $$$).