Fenders are on--but the aggravation continues

[Ira]

I guess for something like this, 1/4" should be okay, or even less?

And since the subject of wheel balance was mentioned, has anyone here ever actually had their wheels balanced in the first place? I doubt they came from China perfectly balanced.

[Melvin]

By the way, does anyone know the size of those bolts, and anyone with these 12 inch wheels, does it measure exactly 12" from edge to edge?

The 12" measurement is the bead seat diameter:

[Ira]

Mel, I appreciate the diagram, but I don't understand!

Bead seat?

[Darren]

Ira, by eye and tape measure, it's hard to measure with the wheel on the trailer, it looks like the lip you would want the "hub cap" to fit into is 13". The outer edge of the wheel is close to 13 1/4".

[Ira]

Victor, you have 12" wheels on yours? And you got a 13" measurement?

So let's say I go with your 13" measurement and the ship wheels are 12". If I paint the REAL wheels to make them less obtrusive and not white, that means the spokes on the ships wheel will be short about 1/2" all around, which is no big deal.

Am I following you correctly here?

And thanks for checking this for me!!!!

[rainjer]

Ira, I would not reccomend attaching the ships wheels to you trailer wheels. Being wood & made of several pices of wood they most likely would throw you tire way out of balance. If you go running down the freeway with a out of balance tire ,that ships wheel would come apart in no time throwing pieces everywhere.

What about just painting the white rim brown or copper?

[jdarkoregon]

I guess I'll jump in here, but you won't like my suggestion.

Either get bigger wheels & tires, (you figure out how to NOT wear them when you go in the house) OR, remove the fenders, take them in to the table saw and cut them to a width that will work with your tires. The crab might look nice if it was only a Half a crab, Heck, you can say that you only saved half and the half you ate tasted great.

Your fenders are beautiful, but the way they stick out so much, I would be afraid they would be sheared off the first time I got to near something.


I'd go for the tires, It might be next year till I got em, but I think the trailer would look great with wider tires.

[Darren]

Ira - For a 12" wheel you are actually getting a 12" tire, the wheel has to be larger for the tire to mount.

Why not do it like madjack said, it would be easily removable so you could put the ships wheels on after you arrive at the camping site and not have to worry about getting the wheel balance way off or the wheel coming apart and destroying your really nice fenders.

[Ira]

Wider tries are out for now because I'm NOT spending any money on this. (As it is, I risk death from the spouse if I order the Hot Water On Demand like I'm itching to do.)

Victor, that's the plan--tap those holes and make the covers easily removeable.

99% of the time, I'm going local to county parks and such anyway--not even getting on the highway, so I can't see the balance thing being a major issue. If I do a long trip, I'll remove them, like you suggest.

Also, I'm not 100% sold on using ship wheels yet. Maybe it will be a real LIGHT solution, like a thin piece of luan cut to a crab shape.

I've also played with the idea in my head of hanging like a cheap hula-skirt material there at the bottom that totally covers the wheel and just blows with the wind. If it gets ruined, cheap enough to replace.

[Ira]

Wait--I think I just thought of another solution, if there was a way to pull it off design-wise, but I don't think so. (ANDREW!?)

Removable face plates attached to the sides of the fenders for the sole purpose of hiding the whimpy wheels.

Even an idiot like ME can do THAT!

It might also give me an excuse to buy my first router--something small that I can sneak into the house and hide from my wife.

[rainjer]

I you are just wanting them for when you are parked, you could put some velcro in the wheel & on the cover to attach them. Then the could always be right side up.

[asianflava]

Removable face plates attached to the sides of the fenders for the sole purpose of hiding the whimpy wheels.

Even an idiot like ME can do THAT!

The whimpy wheels will still show. I think that you should cut the fenders down to make them narrower. I think my wheels look whimpy under my fenders but I'll just have to live with it....or buy narrower fenders.