Trailer tire or Festy tire?

[DriverOne]

I'm building a Harbor Freight 40x48" kit trailer, and I will be upgrading the wheels from 8" to 12" as soon as possible. The weight limit of the trailer is just under half a ton, and 12" trailer tires are around the same price as a pair of Yokohama Y372's in 145 R12. Should I use the Yokohama tires? I have 4 that might not work on the Festiva anymore but could be used on a small trailer.

[Huli]

Re: Trailer tire or Festy tire?

As long as the load rating is the same you good to go.

[Oren09]

The load rating on my 165R12s is 908 pounds. As long as the 145s aren't rated much lower, you'd probably be ok.
On my tires it says the load rating right before the max inflation pressure, right around the inner edge of the sidewall.

[Movin]

Car tires have a softer side wall and cars have softer suspension. This means that car tires cannot support their load rating on a trailer. Reduce the load by 10% or so to compensate. The soft side walls of car tires will allow a tall loaded trailer to sway more. Slow down with them.

[DriverOne]

Re: Trailer tire or Festy tire?

Thanks for all the info! I may use the car tires until I find some trailer tires. I know I want at least 6-ply.

[Pu241]

Movin's info is correct, but realistically DriverOne, you are going to have a hard time getting 500+ lbs on the 40"x48" trailer.
I have one, and it is very useful, but the area you have to work with makes putting more than 2 B3's and a half dozen festiva hubs, which I ran up to another member, difficult. I wouldn't worry about the 8" tires vs the 12" in regards to load.
However, you do get some extra road clearance with the 12" tires, which might be useful.

[TominMO]

Also, the 12" tires will spin the wheel bearings more slowly.

[DriverOne]

Re: Trailer tire or Festy tire?

Both good points. I assume the largest item I would ever carry on the trailer would be a pallet of flooring, of which I will have to calculate the weight before transport. The distance will be no more than 9 miles, however. Tom, am I correct in assuming there is a 40% reduction in bearing rotation just by switching to 12" wheels?

[Movin]

The 8 inch HF tires hold there load rating good, never had a bearing failure in 10 years or so of towing them. A temps of 80 F and 3 hour jaunts through the desert they are only good for 85mph. That is where they go weird.

8 inch tires and little red trailers are level behind a festy and height wise a 700 lb
wood stove boxed in a 4 ft cube fits the slip stream nicely. My taller trailers grab more wind.

My 12 inch tires have never had a problem but I cannot get more than 70 mph towing that trailer.

[Bathtub Tom]

Fitting 12" wheels in place of 8" on the trailer will lift the trailer and mean it tows 'nose down' because the height of the tow ball on the towing vehicle is fixed. This could adversely affect the towing dynamics of the trailer.

Do you really want that to happen?

[DriverOne]

Re: Trailer tire or Festy tire?

BathtubTom, my car rides 2" high in the rear. If I switch to 12" tires, I have the option to do what's called an axle flip, which drops the height of the trailer by putting the axle above the springs instead of below, which in my case would level the trailer.

[DriverOne]

Re: Trailer tire or Festy tire?

Since this thread is just a messing around kinda thread, what about 8" ATV rims? I actually found wide 8" tires for trailers (weight rating in excess of 1500#), and I'm starting to like the idea of a ridiculously modified trailer.

I've removed the generic, bulky lights and I'll be bolting a set of 17" slim-line LED STT's to the rear beam to light the whole rear end. Each corner will have slim-line, medium-profile LED clearance lights in lieu of the again gaudy modular setup that comes standard. Just because this thing is a cheap trailer doesn't mean it has to look the part. I figure I'll break it down to the nitty-gritty and have the parts blasted to remove the old paint and building rust, then temporarily reassemble the trailer to square off the frame before welding it solid to prevent the frame from coming apart. A couple coats of primer, and a respray in Kia Racing Red to match the Festiva. Add a 40x48" section of Line-X'ed tread plate to the top, as well as the fenders. I want this trailer to last! I imagine I'll need to reinforce the fenders if they're going to have Line-X on them.

[Movin]

Do us a conceptional pic or drawing!

[Bert]

Both good points. I assume the largest item I would ever carry on the trailer would be a pallet of flooring, of which I will have to calculate the weight before transport. The distance will be no more than 9 miles, however. Tom, am I correct in assuming there is a 40% reduction in bearing rotation just by switching to 12" wheels?

A 40" x 48" trailer with hardwood flooring piled two foot high is gonna be in the 1000 lb load range if it's packed/stacked tightly.

[DriverOne]

Re: Trailer tire or Festy tire?

I'll see what I can do!