Wheel Selection How-To
Custom Wheels:Custom Trailer Wheels are designed, manufactured and tested to provide service and performance that is the standard of the industry. Extensive 'torture' testing is performed to ensure they meet or exceed OEM standards while remaining economical to use.
Wheel Selection:When shopping the various wheels on the market here are some things to consider in making the final decision.
- The load carrying capacity of a trailer is limited to the lowest rated component of the wheels, tires, hubs and axles.
- Specific load capacities are for conventional trailers used on normal highways with balanced loads.
- Nonstandard axle configurations, unbalanced forward and/or rear loading or overloads can cause premature failing of the key components.
When purchasing wheels it is not only important to match the number of lugs but also the distance of the lugs from the opposing side. Hubs normally designate the number of lugs on the diameter in inches. If this information is not available then determine this information as follows: For wheels with an even number of lugs, measure from center to center between 2 opposing lugs. For example an 8 on 6 1/2" means that the distance between 2 opposing lugs is 6 1/2 inches for any opposing pair of lugs. For wheels with an odd number of lugs, you measure from one lug to a point halfway between the 2 opposing lugs (which would be where the lug would be if it had an even number of lugs).
An offset is put on a wheel to distribute the center of the load on a wheel to the center of the bearings in the hub. Offset is the distance the mounting face of the disc and rim centerline. Inset: Refers to the distance when the mounting face is to the outside of the rim centerline. Outset: Refers to the distance when the mounting face is to the inside (trailer side) of the rim centerline.
