Upgrading tires on Northern Tool trailer

[Tomterrific]

I believe the main factor to tire safety is tire pressure. I run the max pressure listed on the sidewall of my 5.30 x 12 tires. At 70 to 75 mph the tires never get hot because the sidewall does not flex.

Tt

[gudmund]

don't know if they are available any longer but my first two Geo Metro came with 145/80-12 tires (87 Chev Sprint & 92 Geo Metro - have had a total of 7 of these 'drivers') Have heard they are hard to find now days, being '94 was the last year they had 12inch wheels & tires on them - from '95 & on, they came with the larger 13inch wheel/tire I spoke of earlier.

[friz]

I bought these tires and wheels from e-trailer. Bolt right up.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[nevadatear]

My husband made our frame, but used the same wheels and tires as you have. The first thing he did was change out the bearings (he's a machinist, he only uses timken or sks bearings and seals). The next year we traded out the 12" for 13" wheels and tires. He did need to put in spacers, which was not a big deal at all. We love the look with the chrome wheels now. serious upgrade!
new old . More pics in my gallery.

[noseoil]

I started with the 13" Goodyear Marathon tires, then started hearing about problems with them. Changed them out to better tires from Discount Tire, as they started coming apart & fortunately found the tread separation before a run back to Arizona in the heat. Look up problems with the Marathon series on RV's & trailers.

If you stay with the HF type of axle & don't change it for a better one, keep a spare set of wheel bearings handy for road trips. They are an odd-size metric bearing & aren't always available in local automotive shops, so it helps to keep a spare set around.

[DrewsBrews]

I feel 12" tires get a bad rap, but I have yet to really hear actual bad experience any more so than any other tire. Ive put HF 12"s through all sorts of abuse on my utility trailer, thousands of miles including a Cincy-Denver-Cincy road trip hauling 2 motorcycles, and the only problem I've ever had was my fault... Overloaded the trailer and didnt flip the fender bolts so they dug into the tire.

I'll agree they dont look quite as good as a big tire, but they are quite capable if you maintain proper psi for the load. Im planning to use 12" radials for my 5x10 build.

[friz]

I feel 12" tires get a bad rap, but I have yet to really hear actual bad experience any more so than any other tire. Ive put HF 12"s through all sorts of abuse on my utility trailer, thousands of miles including a Cincy-Denver-Cincy road trip hauling 2 motorcycles, and the only problem I've ever had was my fault... Overloaded the trailer and didnt flip the fender bolts so they dug into the tire.

I'll agree they dont look quite as good as a big tire, but they are quite capable if you maintain proper psi for the load. Im planning to use 12" radials for my 5x10 build.

I ran the tread off the 12 inch tires that came with my NT trailer and kept them for spares. I also have the stock bearings in my trailer. Hubs run cool at interstate speeds. That said, my loaded weight is around 700 lbs.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[Reubal]

Great thread. I'm starting a NT 5x8 aluminum build soon (just waiting on delivery of the trailer) and have been planning on swapping for 14" w/ spacers for a couple reasons. Mainly I just want a better quality tire, so if I'm spending the money, I figured I would go bigger for less RPM wear as well as a little additional ground clearance. Plus I haven't really been able to find any decent quality 12" tires, just potential china bombs.

I'll keep following this thread to see what comes of it.

[TimC]

etrailer is always a good source. Check recstuff.com as well. They had super deals on my aluminum 13" wheels and radials when I was looking a while ago.