Festrailer

[TominMO]

Nice pics!

[DriverOne]

I can pack the Rincon, 20ft tent and everything
for a comfortable camp with hot shower, LED
christmas lights, stoves, saws, carpets.. every thing for a couple weeks!!

That, is, awesome! I'd love to see pics of the interior of your setup!

[DriverOne]

I'm in the process of adding tie-down rails to the trailer that have more strenth than the trailer currently offers. I found slotted railing used for conduit pipe support that will do the job. Some paint, a few bolts, and the capabilities increase. Plus the thing needs cooler wheels, so a set of stock Festy tires on these should do the trick.

[DriverOne]

I've decided to try and make the stock Festiva wheels fit the trailer if at all possible. The unfortunate issue is that when I tried my luck at finding some adapters that would work, the only thing I found was a 1" thick unit (which is exactly what I need) that would have cost me $200 to 'upgrade' to Festiva wheels. I planned to match the trailer wheels to the Festiva's for a few obvious reasons, the biggest of which being looks (trim rings and caps, anyone?). Since I spent $150 on the trailer, I'm not trying to turn it into a $500 unit.

What options might I have?

[Safety Guy]

Could you redrill the trailer hubs or drums for the 4 X 114.3mm bolt pattern after you cut off the original studs? Then reinstall new studs on the new pattern?

Remember to check centerbore clearance and wheel offset first to make sure it will work.

If that doesn't work, try seeking out other hub sizes that might fit your trailer. Maybe you can find one to work.

I went and looked at your first pics. That axle is just a bar with end plates. Unbolt it and see if you could put on different end plates to take stock Festiva or Aspire brake backing plates with spindles. Leave the brake shoe guts out and seal it up best you can. See if that will work on the cheap!

Karl

[DriverOne]

Karl, I'll get out to the trailer again soon with some pics, and take measurements. Your idea intrigues me!

[Movin]

Safety Guy;495717]Could you redrill the trailer hubs or drums for the 4 X 114.3mm bolt pattern after you cut off the original studs? Then reinstall new studs on the new pattern?

Remember to check centerbore clearance and wheel offset first to make sure it will work.

If that doesn't work, try seeking out other hub sizes that might fit your trailer. Maybe you can find one to work.

I went and looked at your first pics. That axle is just a bar with end plates. Unbolt it and see if you could put on different end plates to take stock Festiva or Aspire brake backing plates with spindles. Leave the brake shoe guts out and seal it up best you can. See if that will work on the cheap!

It would work!! Just need the template you can put on here so we can print them!! Karls EZ cheapskatz template!! Print an drill!

[DriverOne]

Karls EZ cheapskatz template

Now available at Lowe's and Home Depot.

[91mcnasty]

Karl is a very smart cookie!!!!!!

[Safety Guy]

My template is only $59.99 plus tax, shipping and unknown handling charges piled on.

Or, it's FREE on either side of any stock Festiva rear axle!

Just remove spindle and measure the spindle bolt pattern with your own ruler, caliper set and/or hairy knuckles!

Karl

[DriverOne]

My template is only $59.99 plus tax, shipping and unknown handling charges piled on.

Karl

Karl, it is imperative that I know how much the unknown handling charges are, so I can choose which arm and leg I need the most!

The hub seems to be easily removable, and I should even be able to drill holes to make it a 'dual pattern' hub. The wheel pattern is 4x110, so it shouldn't be a problem at all to drill holes that are essentially 2mm farther out from center. If the studs aren't as thick as the lugs I'd use to bolt the Festiva wheels to the hubs, I may be able to remove the studs, drill the holes larger (farther away from center, of course), and tap them in Festy thread.

To make up for offset, I can cut the axle in the middle and extend both sides out by welding a piece of square stock in the center. If that doesn't work, I'll just replace the entire axle with the square stock and reuse the OE spindle and hub assemblies. Either way, that'll give me the ability to get the offset just right.

At that point my biggest concern would be center bore like you said. If the center bore isn't large enough, that would pretty much put a halt to the whole idea. Well, I just discovered that the center bore of the trailer hubs may be 52mm (51.99mm) by good ol' Google. The Enkei BAT2 rims that I've got barely fit my Festiva, and I have an extra one in the house, so I measured the center bore and came up with 53mm. Looks like it's a winner! I'll verify next time I'm at Area Festy 1.

I won't be needing center caps if I pick up a set of these:


Looks like it's time to post a [WTB] for some trim rings

[crazyrog17]

What if you did make your own square tube axle with 1/4" end plates welded on. Drill holes with the same pattern as a Festiva's rear spindles to bolt on each side and use the whole set up sans inner brake components!

[Safety Guy]

Before you make your own adaptor plates for Festiva or Aspire spindles, better research trailer alignment "theory" to see if you need a bit of toe in or whatever. Otherwise you may find your new tires either don't track well or wear too fast.

Just a thought--I know nothing about this issue. You may simply need to make sure they're perfectly squared up with no odd angles at all. Just better check it out first.

Karl

[lil red rocket]

If u use festy or aspire spindles I would keep the brake parts in the drums and use the e-brake in the same way ad u would use wheel chicks, imo