Hey Great site you guys have here! Ive been reading posts for a while and thought its time to ask a ? I was just given a I think its 20ft.house trailer dual axle 14 inch tires on wierd rims(not a normal looking hub lug nuts are around the outside of the rim. All the walls and roof are gone they guy I got it off of was gonna make it a trailer for his quads that he has since sold now no need for trailer. Im going to rewire it,new lights,new decking some kind of rail around it and gates in back. Has anyone else done anything like this and if so could you maybe post some pics and about the rims am i stuck with those or can you change out the hubs(maybe ther is a reason they are that way)I dont know? Also is there a way to tell what kind of load rating this trailer would be rated at?(it did have a full size bed,kitchen,stove,onboard water tank,etc.) Any help would be appreciated!!
About those wheels... Was this a camper type of trailer or more like a mobile home kind of thing? This could be an important difference. If im remembering right, trailer house axles are not made to hold up to normal trailer-type use. I was told by a local RV repair shop this is true of newer ones, but if its old enough (not sure exactly how old) then there is no difference between a normal trailer axle and a trailer house axle. Also, around here at least, the DOT frowns on using these axles. Of course, many people still do it, and everythings legal til you get caught right?rotfl Also, were they 14" or 14.5"? The wheels Ive seen like you describe were 14.5s. Maybe someone else here knows more about this than me, but hopefully this helps.
We have some 14.5" wheels just like those on our flatbed. The trailer is an '05, so it just depends on the axles.
Im pretty sure it was a camper type of trailer! I tore the floor off tonight to get a better look at it . The axel tubes are slightly bowed in the middle is that because its empty? The hubs are not in line of this axle tube they are higher and the axle is on top of the leaf springs? Does any of this make a difference? I will check the tire again but i think it is 14 inch! Thanx
The axles are supposed to be bowed up in the middle.. That is good. the rims sound like mobile home axles.. do they have 5 bolts that attach towards the outside of the rim, not in the center liek most car rims?? also axle is supposed to be ontop of leafs.. that is how 99% of most trailer leafs are set up. can you take pics and post them??
I've seen that axle type on some older RV trailers. besides it showing age and probably looking bad they are functional. Check the tires though, they might be old and rotting. If you replace them make sure the correct tire for the rim is put on, don't just replace with the same size as the old tire since it might have been wrong before. I've seen conversions like you are planning work great, but it can be a lot of work which is $$ if you can't do it yourself.
1st time here, just thought I would add some to this topic. A good way to tell the difference between the Mobilehome & Travel trailer axles is the way the wheels attach to the hubs. The mobilehome wheel will attach to the hub with bolt and wedge type clamps (5). The older style travel trailer wheels that I have seen are bolted to the hub like a regular wheel, just a very wide bolt pattern. I had a home built trailer that used the mobile home axles for several years, they were very sturdy. I was told they had a capacity rating of around 4000# - 5000#. I used the trailer to haul two large BBQ smokers, I estimate the total weight to have been around 8000 lbs. Downside to the set-up was no brakes. The mobile home wheel/tires are a 14.5" size. I also agree that I dont think that the DOT's really approve of thier re-use. Tom
The rims are bolted up around the outside of the rim using 4 studs. But what i need to know is can i change the wheel and hub to fit a more easily accessible rim and tire combination(like using a chevy or ford bolt pattern)? one more thing is there a certain place the axles should be placed because i am going to shorten this trailer(deck space now is 19ft long and I would like to make it 12ft)so i need to move both axles forward? Thanx
You need to place the axles so that 55% of the load sits in front of the axle centerlines, and 45% sits to the rear of the axle centerlines. This will give you a 10% tongue weight. If this is for a general utility type of trailer that will carry various loads then I would put the centerline between the two axles at 6'8" from the front of the trailer, and 5'4" from the rear of the trailer. Meaning, one axle will go in front of theis centerline and the other one will go behind. This is using your 12 bed length. If you change the bed length this measurement will be off.
Kustom71, it looks as though you have the older travel trailer style set-up. Just a guess but I would think the capacity is at least 3500#. You may be able to better identify the capacity by the size of the spindles and bearings used. You can probably find replacement hubs with regular bolt patterns for the existing spindles. You may be able to cross reference some exchange parts with the diameter and length of the bearing surface on the existing spindles.
Thanx for the help! I ordered new frame mounts from northern already so as soon as they get here i will get to work... Thanx again!!!
