HF and 55mph?

[LashleyT]

I know we have discussed this before, about the max speed of a Harbor Freight trail of 55mph. From what I remember repack the wheel bearings with synthetic grease and speeds greater than 55 is Ok. Any other thoughts?

Thanks - Tom

[absolutsnwbrdr]

There are too many variable for us to guarantee that you'll be fine, but.... There are a bunch of teardrops out there built on HF trailers, and many of us have had no problems cruising along at 70+. If something were to fail at higher speeds, it would most likely be the tires, and not the bearings, provided that you did a good job of packing the bearings with a good quality bearing grease. So if you are going to tow at higher speeds than suggested, do so at your own risk, and just make sure your tires are not showing any signs of aging and dry rotting. And feel your hubs periodically to be sure that they arent overheating.

[rowerwet]

I might recommend some bearing buddies
I put some on my TD on my recent trip as I had one hub getting warm while towing, $16 at the local auto parts store, and well worth it. They may be harder to find for the metric hubs on a HF....
lightly loaded the tires are most likely not going to fail, if properly inflated, the bearings are doing the real work.
if not properly inflated.... you can get an "apple core"

[Deryk the Pirate]

Well, under my lil vardo 2 is a HF trailer... better axle and hubs though. The first 2400 miles or so I was usually driving around 65-75mph. This wasn't a problem at all for my Rav4.

Well the weekend before the 4th of july it was 101' outside and when i arrived at my friends house for the weekend festivities i noticed a rut in his lawn from the road to my passenger side trailer tire. the tire burst and wrapped around the rim...had no idea how far i was driving like that... the other tire, the treads were mostly gone. A friend saw it and told me thats why they have the 55mph rateing on them. So since then Ive been driving around 58-60 if the outside temp isnt so high. The trailer weighs about 1700lbs.

My next vardo is going to have 15" tires so I can drive faster again.

deryk

[canned o minimum]

1700 lbs is bit STEEP fer them little tires ! Load rating on MY HF tires is 780lbs MAX... Tires are subject to disintigration after a few years...no matter what the wear...BE CAREFUL with old tires !

[Deryk the Pirate]

my 12" tires are rated 990lbs each... Im thinkin since I havent used my ac unit, I might pull it out and drop my weight 50lbs.

[Rolly]

A friend who tows a lot and NEVER has tire problems claims trailer tires are good for 3 years.It does matter how good the tread looks he replaces his trailer tires. He will not accept a tire that is more that 6months old by the date code. YMMV.

Rolly

[Deryk the Pirate]

Where is this date code?

[Wild Bill]

On the side of any tire is a DOT (Dept of Transportation) and a number that follows. ex. DOT. 3309 means the tire was made on the 33rd week of 2009. I am hearing that some shops will not mount "new" or used tires that are over 5 years old. Rubber gets old fast and leaving the tires outside in the sun and on the ground accelerates the decay of the rubber. Running the tires at max load rating is not a good idea. The bounce factor and age all leads to the picture shown. Many times when a tire shreds it destroys the wheel well around it. Adding that smaller tires rotate faster adds to the G force in the rubber. All my trailers have 14 or 15 inch tires on them rated way over the limit I expect them to carry. Not being a fan of Made in China, everything that is made there is poor quality compared to made in America. As they say you get what you pay for and sometimes even less. Good luck. Bill