wheel size?

[Ron Dickey]

Is there a big advantage of 8 inch over 12 inch?

The 8 are alot cheeper and that is what came off the boat trailer.

[asianflava]

Most people say that the larger tire, with the larger circumference, turns slower which prevents the bearings from overheating. There have been several testimonials that say 8in tires are ok. I am using 14in wheel with automotive tires.

[Gage]

Your trailer will bonce more with the smaller tire/wheel also.

Have a good day.

[Kurt (Indiana)]

Most people say that the larger tire, with the larger circumference, turns slower which prevents the bearings from overheating.

I always wonder about the wheel bearing issue. True the smaller tires will cause the bearing to turn more revs, but how many miles do you go before you grease up. I've run my cars well over 50,000 mi without greasing the bearings and I'm curious as to why the bearing on the trailer will be any more of a problem. I remember Roly's post on his Minden trip traveling at 70-75 mph, he didn't notice any over heating of the (12") wheel bearings ( just some tire wear issues). If I'm thinking right, my wheel bearings on the trailer carry half of the trailer weight (500lbs), but the car wheel bearings carry about 1/4 of the weight of the car (750lbs). They might be a little bigger on the car, but why all the worry about the tralier bearings. What am I missing? Any problems with bearings over heating?
I've put on about 10,000 mi on the teardrop (with 15" wheels) and don't see any need to re-grease. Four or five years from now I might grease up and I have "EZ-Lub Dexters in case I do. So I'm ready. What do you guys think about this?

[JunkMan]

One thing I have noticed with the 8" tires is that they seem to throw their caps/thread more often than a larger tire. I have had several 8" tires fail over the years, but only a couple of 14" tires, and the 14" tires are usually on trailers that are much heavier. I don't use 12" tires on any of my trailers, so can't comment on them.

[SteveH]

My opinion is both Jeff and Kurt are right...it's not the bearings, it's the tires. Because of what Rocky stated, the smaller diameter, they run a lot faster and speed causes them to get hotter, and heat kills the tires. Because of the tire's small size, they don't have the reserve weight capacity witch also makes them run hotter.

[aajjrs]

Where is the point of excessiveness and what may we expect from the following plan? We are planning an offroad tear to be towed behind our 06 Tacoma. We procured 6 Tacoma factory 16”aluminum wheels mounted with P265/70R 16 BFG tires. Two wheels for the tear and the other four are for summer and long distant travel “street” tires. The trailer will be a modified 4” OD AL boat trailer with leaf springs and possibly shocks mentioned in an earlier thread. Guessing the total weight will be in the 1200-1600 range. I believe the larger wheel and tire combo are beneficial to aid in offroad approach and departure angles and some of the places we go require crossing rather deep streams/river and we don’t like sleeping on a water bed when camping. However, upon building we plan on traveling to other places that don’t require the additional clearances. What are the expected affects of this wheel/tire/trailer combo while in transit to the offroad loacations i.e. highway travel?

[SteveH]

Personally, I think they would work just fine. My trailer uses 15" wheels/tires, have no problems, and I know a lot of the original teardrops were fitted with 16" wheels and tires, and they had no problems on the road.