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Old 09-26-2014, 05:12 PM   #1
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1962 26' Overlander
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Crooked wheels

Hi,

I have 14.5" wheels on my 1961 International Overlander. I need new tires. Replacing 14.5" Bias Ply with new 14.5" Bias Ply seems archaic. I ordered 4 new 15" wheels from eTrailer:

Dexstar Steel Mini Mod Trailer Wheel - 15" x 6" Rim - 6 on 5-1/2 - Silver Powder Coat Dexstar Tires and Wheels AM20539

Took them to my tire guy and he says none of the 4 are straight. I ask him what to do, and he shrugs. He doesn't deal in wheels. (At least not trailer wheels.) He refers me to a local trailer place who is of no help, but refers me to the tire guy right next door to them. This guy looks at my four wheels, says he's seen better but he's seen worse, wants to know if I want to mount them up. He indicates 2 of mine are rougher than the other 2, so I call eTrailer and swap out 2 for new ones and keep the straighter two. A week elapses and I go back to my original tire guy (my long-term tire guy), I now have 6 trailer wheels - he declares all of them not straight enough to mount.

At this point I need a second opinion, so I find a well rated tire place nearby, he looks at my wheels, agrees that they're not straight enough to use. He tells me what basically everyone else has said, trailer wheels are shoddily made and all kinda bendy. They're made for landscaping trailers that you can rattle to ****, not Airstreams. I ask him if I should use truck wheels, and he says they don't have the weight rating. I ask him what I should do, and I get the universal shrug.

eTrailer has some wheels that are twice the price of these steel wheels... will they be any better? I feel eTrailer will get tired of paying shipping both ways once I order enough wheels from them. I don't know what else to do.

Suggestions?
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Old 09-26-2014, 05:39 PM   #2
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Check with your rim guy and see if he is testing the rims 'hub' or 'lug' centric. Our trailers use the lug nuts to keep things centered where many others use the center of the hub holding the center of the rim to keep things centered.

If the center hole in the rim is out of whack it really doesn't matter too much. Mount a bare rim on one of your hubs and then check the run-out.
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Old 09-26-2014, 05:44 PM   #3
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Didn't check the hub. Spun the wheel on a balancer, you could watch the rims waver in and out as the wheel went round and round.
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Old 09-26-2014, 05:48 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by photomikey View Post
Didn't check the hub. Spun the wheel on a balancer, you could watch the rims waver in and out as the wheel went round and round.
Every balancer that I have seen is 'hub centric', it uses the center hole in the rim to hold it. I'm speculating but it is possible that the rim manufacturer knows these will be used on a trailer and didn't bother with tight tolerances when they made the rims' center hole.

Long shot...
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Old 09-26-2014, 05:52 PM   #5
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Thumbs up Wheels

Quote:
Originally Posted by HiHoAgRV View Post
Check with your rim guy and see if he is testing the rims 'hub' or 'lug' centric. Our trailers use the lug nuts to keep things centered where many others use the center of the hub holding the center of the rim to keep things centered.

If the center hole in the rim is out of whack it really doesn't matter too much. Mount a bare rim on one of your hubs and then check the run-out.

Good advise.
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Old 09-26-2014, 09:08 PM   #6
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So the unilateral advice from you guys is ignore the advice of my tire guy, mount the tires anyway, and assume that even though the hub is way out of round, by the lugs it's actually round?
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Old 09-26-2014, 09:27 PM   #7
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Quote:
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So the unilateral advice from you guys is ignore the advice of my tire guy, mount the tires anyway, and assume that even though the hub is way out of round, by the lugs it's actually round?
Nope, not at all.

Quote:
Originally Posted by HiHoAgRV View Post
...Mount a bare rim on one of your hubs and then check the run-out.
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Old 09-27-2014, 07:20 PM   #8
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Mounted them on the 'stream and took videos of each to get the groupthink on whether these are straight or not:

Wheel 1:
Front:

Side:


Wheel 2:
Front:

Side:
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Old 09-27-2014, 07:54 PM   #9
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Call vintage trailer supply and get some good rims.
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Old 09-27-2014, 08:13 PM   #10
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You could call Andy at Inland RV in California. He is in California and knows your trailer inside out. Those rims you got are scrap!! Send them back for a full refund.
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Old 09-27-2014, 08:24 PM   #11
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I looked at their web site, and did not find an answer.

Those new wheels, MUST have a rating of at least 2600 pounds each.

Andy
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Old 09-27-2014, 09:31 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Inland RV Center, In View Post
I looked at their web site, and did not find an answer.

Those new wheels, MUST have a rating of at least 2600 pounds each.

Andy
Capacity: 2,830 lbs at 80 psi.
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Old 09-28-2014, 08:39 AM   #13
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First off, taking wheels from a mail order source to your tire dealer is like taking a steak to a restaurant and asking them to cook it medium rare and then bitching when it's not correctly cooked.

That said, I would return all of the etrailer wheels and then order wheels from the tire dealer so that he (the dealer) is your advocate for getting the correct wheels. I can appreciate the ability of getting stuff on line that may be difficult to get locally, but wheels can be ordered through any independent or chain tire store.
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Old 09-29-2014, 06:37 PM   #14
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Geez, those thing are JUNK! That run-out is so bad that they would only be usable on a trailer... ;0)
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Old 09-29-2014, 06:44 PM   #15
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They are only straight according to Chinese standards. Those are pretty bad.

Perry
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Old 09-30-2014, 03:55 AM   #16
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Can anybody verify that the wheels from VTS or Inland would be any better? The ones on the VTS website look identical to the ones I bought. I assume he's not forging them in the VTS back office, they order them from whatever China supplier eTrailer got these from as well. I can't imagine they're much better.

If I don't go with generic steel trailer wheels, I have no idea what to order - and I am open to suggestions.
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Old 09-30-2014, 05:54 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by photomikey View Post
Can anybody verify that the wheels from VTS or Inland would be any better? The ones on the VTS website look identical to the ones I bought. I assume he's not forging them in the VTS back office, they order them from whatever China supplier eTrailer got these from as well. I can't imagine they're much better.

If I don't go with generic steel trailer wheels, I have no idea what to order - and I am open to suggestions.
We use Dexter wheels, that are made in the USA.

Andy
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Old 09-30-2014, 03:29 PM   #18
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The wheels I have are Dexstar wheels.
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Old 09-30-2014, 03:41 PM   #19
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Dexstar lists a two year warranty against material and workmanship defects. This is pretty obviously a defect in workmanship. Notify them and get your money back. Or, if strainer will refund your money, get it back from them, and buy a better rim... I've got the white spoked rims on my trailer, and have no problem at all with them. I'll have to go check and see who the manufacturer is.

-Red
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Old 09-30-2014, 04:48 PM   #20
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Crooked

Interesting. I have installed quite a few sets of Dexstar wheels (made in USA), and have never had a runout issue. These are the ones I have used before. I have never used the type that you are having problems with.

A friend of mine thinks these are the ticket.

Good luck!
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