The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Trailer vs Automotive wheels

So I've seen a few posts about wheel/tire help over the past few weeks, and often linked are "trailer wheels" listed as specific to trailer use only.


I know there are many other aftermarket suppliers that have old school looking wheels such as Wheel Vintques and US Wheel among many others that have automotive based wheels at 1.5-2x the cost of the aforementioned trailer wheels, so for those on a budget build the trailer tires are quite appealing to the eye.


I assume these are listed as trailer use only for a reason, but what do the experts say out there??

I had not seen any restriction on trailer wheels, but do know that trailer tires are typically marked as "trailer use only".

Given that the trailer wheel construction is probably identical to how car and truck wheels are made, it doesn't make much sense from and engineering standpoint that there would be a restriction to trailer use only.
This DOT standard says it applies to wheels for "multipurpose passenger vehicles, trucks, buses, trailers, and motor-cycles", so it appears that there isn't a separate standard for trailer wheels.

It's a "C.Y.A." maneuver for the wheel manufacturers. Somebody, somewhere probably installed trailer wheels on a car and then got into a wreck. Then the people he hit (or their estate) took the wheel manufacturer to the cleaners for a big damage settlement. When a fire hydrant watering competition gets declared between bean counters and engineers, the bean counters win every time!
Jerry

You may be right Jerry, but the standard I linked doesn't differentiate between those types of vehicles, and the trailer wheel products on etrailer for instance, seem to say "Meets DOT Standards", and I didn't find more than one of those.
Don't you mean the lawyers win, not the bean counters? Although the bean counters come in second, with the engineers trailing far behind everyone else.

Here are links to information about vehicle tires/wheels compared to trailer tires/wheels.

The first link might be the most correct information? (info on wheels, and it includes info on tires)

Tim's link (autopadre.com) is misleading in one or more instances.
Offset is a function of the vehicle design, but makes no significant difference in the strength of the wheel. Anyone who would put a zero offset wheel (trailer or otherwise) on a vehicle designed for high offset wheels is an idiot. (And I've seen a few of those driving around). Original Stovebolt wheels are zero offset, to that reason is out the window.
Bolt pattern is also a non issue. If it fits, then it should be as strong as the wheel designed for the original application. Again, bolting a wheel with the wrong bolt pattern on should be a non-issue, being reasonably impossible. Although again, there's probably some idiot out there who would try.
They mention higher vertical loads for trailer wheel/tire applications. But if a trailer wheel is rated for higher vertical loads, wouldn't it stand to reason that it would withstand the lower vertical loads on a powered vehicle?

Thanks for the explanations/review/corrections of that first article, Kevin

I have been lucky to have original wheels that are in good condition (on my 1/2 ton trucks and on my 2-ton COE).

Does anyone ever wonder why cars don't have vent windows in the front doors anymore? That can be traced back to just such a scenario, where a driver died after wrecking a car with huge rust holes in the floorboard (and the exhaust system) while driving with his vent windows opened a little and all the other windows closed. The suction created by the vents pulled in enough carbon monoxide to make the driver pass out and wreck. His family sued General Motors and won a huge settlement, regardless of the condition of the car. The CEO of GM declared that from that day forward, no GM car would have vent windows. Other manufacturers followed suit. That's how ridiculous things can get when an ambulance chaser gives a jury a good sob story! The accountants operate on the "once burned- - - -twice shy" concept.
Jerry

I've had a couple utility trailers that the trailer wheels that came on them were so out of round and had so much run out they couldn't be balanced. The tire shop told me they see a lot of utility trailer wheels that way.

Vent windows........

Cost down and Where Have All the Vent Windows Gone? It boils down to two things: With air conditioning a standard feature more and more, the cooling effect of the vent window (“quarter glass,” actually) was no longer needed. The slight drag created by an open vent made the auto less aerodynamic, and decreased fuel efficiency.

As far wheels........there are plenty of auto and truck OEM and aftermarket steel wheels that are less than perfect for radial and axial runout.
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Same with OEM and Aftermarket steel wheels with cracks and other failures.
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maybe i should stay out of this conversation but......

Back in my teen hot rod racing days I ran some trailer tires on my 56 Chevy and loved the trailer tires when they were just about worn slick......I called them my "cheater slicks" and they were 6 ply. A couple sets of them served me well back then.

....then a few years later the topic came up and I learned, at that time, the tire manufacturers were going to quit making tires in "car sizes". I think at that time the trailer tires were in 1/2 sizes so they didn't fit a production car rim.

Its been 57 years since those days so maybe my mind is a little confused?!!!?