New to me trailer rims hmmmm ???

[jhnlennon]

Oh and jake 2 piece rims are actually pretty much illegal and tire shops will not mess with them due to the fact that so many people has died from 2 piece rims when they basically explode on you

I dont think they are illegal, just pretty much obsolete. Alotta farm stuff and industrial stuff still has it around and i still see a few floating around on big rigs also, I used to do a ton of split rim stuff at the tire shop I worked at.

I prefer them as they are a piece of cake to do. Just gotta take the necessary precautions when working around them. Hell i never even used a tire cage to air them up, just used locking air chuck and stand off to the side a ways, NEVER IN FRONT OR OVER the tire.

And to the original poster, those are mobile home axles, very heavy duty and I dont think you can get a trailer tire with a higher load rating than those. They used to be dirt cheap and were common to see on home built trailers. Price of them has went up though, used to be able to get a pair for 75 bucks with tires and breaks on one axle with springs. Now I think they are over 400 a set.

 

[jhnlennon]

Yeah I'm thinking of the rims that have the lock ring. Not sure if they are just called "Lock ring style" or what but a farm i helped haul for had a grain truck that had the lock ring style rims. Also yeah no tire shop will even touch split rims....even with a ten foot pull.

Tire shop I worked at did them on a daily basis, we specialized in ag and industrial stuff. They really arent that bad, just make sure you completely clean the mating surfaces of the rim and lock ring, and make sure the ring isnt distorted and FULLY SEATED when airing up. I probly did thousands of them without a prob

 

[phazertwo]

I have then on my trailer and they work great if you get them torqued down right. However that is a HUGE PIA!!! My trailer will be getting new 5k axles in the next year.

I got new tires at big o, mounted but not balanced.

Napa sells a great bearing kit for these axles for like $20. Some google searching should get you the info you need.

PZ

 

[Alex S]

wow thanks for the wealth of info

its my 1st trailer so im pretty green.

How about brake parts are they standardized?

 

[jwalterus]

Aint nothin split about them. they use them on house trailers. Heavy duty

yup, mobile home rims, probably got a set of 6000# axles on the thing, those are what I have on my pickup box trailer for hauling dirt and gravel

only thing that sucks is going to the mobile home places for a tire, they get you for $80/per used around here

Tire shop I worked at did them on a daily basis, we specialized in ag and industrial stuff. They really arent that bad, just make sure you completely clean the mating surfaces of the rim and lock ring, and make sure the ring isnt distorted and FULLY SEATED when airing up. I probly did thousands of them without a prob

correct on that

split rims = great for roadside repairs, my fun truck wears the stock ones whenever I leave town with it, all I carry is a spare tube and a foldable bias-ply tire, no extra rim (I grew up with them on the camper and boat changing them myself)

the only drawback is it'll cost you $40-60 each to have a tire shop mount and balance a tire on them

 

[redmondjp]

wow thanks for the wealth of info

its my 1st trailer so im pretty green.

How about brake parts are they standardized?

Google "mobile home axle brake parts" and start reading! Here's one site that I found:

http://www.hugheswheelandaxle.com/ReplacementParts.htm

My brother has a two-axle trailer with these same axles with electric brakes. He has rebuilt the brakes and had no problem finding parts. The above site isn't the best, I think you can find others with more information. The wheels are sometimes known as "California Wheels" and that will come up in the search as well.

 

[G. Mann]

Jake,,, the pic you posted is a perfect example of two things.... First one is the rim is what's called a "split rim" which has a locking ring that's a separate piece. Tire shops are now required by law to have a safety cage to install this lock ring and assemble a rim/tire/lockring.... most do not and most do not wish to carry the VERY HIGH insurance rider to even have one on the premises.

Second part in your pic is the Dayton style rim mounting system which uses a large hub and "clips" that bolt down to hold the rim in place. This system is different than the center lug nut style on our trucks.

The trailer rims in the original post on this thread use a non split rim... but use the Dayton style hub.. It's an OK system , will run true enough with just a little care, and will carry loads of weight.. the 14.5 tires you have will be 14 ply trailer tires so they are wayyyyy stiff and carry loads of weight... Keep them till you can see tire cord and they will still work kinda tough. I have a work trailer with this style of hub.. it works fine.. highway speeds [OK 60 mph loaded] and they run true.

 

[OLDBULL8]

Look on the side of the tire and see if it says MOBILE HOME USE ONLY, they may be illegal for anything else. I've got six of them and three axles under my double wide plus the tongues. Every mobile home has them underneath. They are really tough tho, a friend built a trailer out of 10 ga. steel, weighs 2400, just one axle and he hauled six barrels of oil in it, a barrel weighs 550 lbs each. 3300 lbs. Gross weight= 5700

 

[trapper]

come to Georgia and ask any tire shop around here to work on your 2 piece and they will laugh you out of the shops

 

[jhnlennon]

come to Georgia and ask any tire shop around here to work on your 2 piece and they will laugh you out of the shops

Like i said, alota farm and industrial stuff still uses lock ring rims, someones gotta do it, most AUTOMOTIVE tire shops dont know how to do anything except press the peddle on the tire machine. If done correctly there is nothing wrong with a lock ring style rim.

.

 

[WilltheThrill]

These rims and tires are ugly but very tough. Ive had a trailer for the last 7-8 years that I have beat the hell out of. The previous owner hauled hay, I hauled scrap and anything else that will fit on it. But for the most part weekly it hauls 1000 gal of water from the well to the house at my dads place. its only a 3 mile round trip, however the trip takes place on an old nasty rough dirt road. These tries and rims are tough, the only problems I have had is if there is not enough air in the tires, but they have to be really low to cause any real issue. Even as the tread is dry rotting off and coming apart, if they hold air they are good to go.

 

[Diesel_brad]

Those are some tough rim/wheel set ups.

The easiest way to get them centered on the wheels is to

-Snugly bolt them on.
-Put a block of wood next to the tire on the ground.
-Spin the tire by hand. You want the tire to spin straight with out hitting the wood.
-If it does touch the wood, take a dead blow hammer and tap the rim in in thw spot where the tire contacted the wood.
-just keep repeating the process until the tire spins straight.
- then tighten in a criss cross patten on the studs till the rim is tight (not full bore on each stud, a little at a time)and recheck staightness. Only takes about 1 min per wheel

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

In answer to the original poster :


Those pictured wheels are 14.5" tubeless.

Most likely, the rims and axles are TEMPORARY USE mobile-home stuff, available dirt-cheap around any used mobile-home dealer.


HOWEVER, many heavy-duty LO-BOY trailers, especially those with BOGIE axles, still use the 14.5 wheel/tire in a heavy duty LT or ST rating.

While these lo-boy tires will fit and work on the mobile-home wheels, they are an entirely different animal and will handle much more weight than the mobile-home wheel is capable of.

A mobile-home tire will be stamped "mobile-home use only".


It is common to see lo-boy tires on mobile-home wheels/axles, usually due to that being the only EXPENSIVE option available wherever the trailer owner might have been stranded with a flat tire.


Most of the farmers around here have learned to get their tires/wheels, already mounted and ready to go, for about fifteen-bucks apiece used, at the used mobile-home dealers; they have mountains of them.


A mobile-home tire will not stay aired up tubeless for very long; air them up before every use and often in between, else they will sit flat and ruin.



What worries me even more than your most-likely mobile-home axles/tires is that obviously mobile-home frame.

They are very flimsy, very thin, and will rust away in short order.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

Like i said, alota farm and industrial stuff still uses lock ring rims, someones gotta do it, most AUTOMOTIVE tire shops dont know how to do anything except press the peddle on the tire machine. If done correctly there is nothing wrong with a lock ring style rim.

.

I have to respectfully disagree.


Sadly, I know exactly how to service lock-ring wheels.

Multi-piece lock-ring wheels have been illegal on American-made trucks since January 1978.

They were killers when brand-shiny-new and many an armless or headless man can attest to their deadliness.


Now, it is 2011.

All of those forty-year-old-plus split-ring wheels are rusty as an old grubbing-hoe.

The grooves where the lock-ring seats are rusted away.

The edges of the lock-rings where they seat in the grooves are rusted away.

The rings are all warped and twisted out of shape from countless removals and installations.

The wheels themselves are often egg-shaped from years of over-loading.


There is a loophole in the 1978 law that allows industrial equipment, mosty fork-lifts, to still use those deadly wheels; plus, the law does not apply to imported trucks/trailers, only American-made .


Anyone who doubts how deadly a multi-piece, lock-ring type, wheel is should take a good look at the "safety" cage at our shop, where countless wheels have exploded.

More have blown apart outside while being bolted on than have exploded in the cage.


I send every one that comes on the lot over to the competition; they can have them.

 

[jhnlennon]

I have to respectfully disagree.


Sadly, I know exactly how to service lock-ring wheels.

Multi-piece lock-ring wheels have been illegal on American-made trucks since January 1978.

They were killers when brand-shiny-new and many an armless or headless man can attest to their deadliness.


Now, it is 2011.

All of those forty-year-old-plus split-ring wheels are rusty as an old grubbing-hoe.

The grooves where the lock-ring seats are rusted away.

The edges of the lock-rings where they seat in the grooves are rusted away.

The rings are all warped and twisted out of shape from countless removals and installations.

The wheels themselves are often egg-shaped from years of over-loading.


There is a loophole in the 1978 law that allows industrial equipment, mosty fork-lifts, to still use those deadly wheels; plus, the law does not apply to imported trucks/trailers, only American-made .


Anyone who doubts how deadly a multi-piece, lock-ring type, wheel is should take a good look at the "safety" cage at our shop, where countless wheels have exploded.

More have blown apart outside while being bolted on than have exploded in the cage.


I send every one that comes on the lot over to the competition; they can have them.

I did many of them without an issue. Yes there were ones that could not be used anymore because of corrosion issues, or a bent or mal-formed lock ring. Those you pitch in the junk.

The reason they still run them on industrial equipment is because there is absolutely no other way to get some of those tires on. They have inches thick side walls on them and there is no way your gonna pry them over a rim especially in the field. I still see them on big rigs from time to time also and thought it was a breeze to do them.

Common sense goes along way, like ******* the rookie out as he is standing over the rim holding the air chuck on as he is air'in one up. I WAS FAR MORE AFRAID of mounting the retreads on big rigs as I have seen so many blow the side walls out and have a personal near death experiance with one of those....