I bought a trailer a while back thats a very strong 20 ft deckover with the older mobile home axles, it is also a triple axle. It has the 7x14.5 tires that are very hard to find but can be bought online for 70-80$ a piece plus shipping. I thought about converting these to a conventional hub/wheel size to make things safer and easier to come by. Has anyone else done this? Thanks

 

i have a bumper pull that uses 14.5 wheels like that but they are real axles that drop 4". around here i can get tire and rim for $50, but most moble homes are made just 30 miles north here.

 

I have several trailers with mobile home axles, I normally get tires through my tire suppliers, I run the 8x14.5 as they are 14 ply tires and can handle the crazy loads I put on them. when I need a tire in a hurry I just got to the mobile home lots and buy a tire from them.
as far as converting your axles I am not aware of any other hub that will fit those spindles. so to go to a hub with bolts you would need to change the axles. to get a comparable axle/tire load carrying ability you will need an axle with 8 lug wheels and load range f or g tires.

 

I tried to find the 7x14.5 from a local mobile home dealer and they said they dont carry them, i think the 8x14.5 seems to be a lot easier to get. I really need to tear into the hubs to see exactly what size they are in order to see if there is a hub that will transfer and if its even worth it. It would be nice to change them to a 8x14.5 but i dont think thats easy to do either.

 

I would check the dot regs might be illegal. Biggest reason is that if you were involved in an accident even if you did not cause it you could have big problems.

 

A couple of years ago while elk hunting I hit a huge rut at a cattle guard with my quad trailer. Bent the axle,rim and blew out the tire. Although I had a spare tire we had to limp the trailer home after that. When I went to replace the rim I learned that a six bolt pattern rim for a trailer is not easy to come by. I have decided that when I get around to changing out the axle I will change over to a five bolt pattern hub. Had I had a five bolt pattern, I could have picked up another rim/tire at a WM in the area.

It sure would have made it easier had I been able to make the repairs in the field and picked up a spare for the ride home.

 

Could this be of any assistance to the O/P?

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/51791320...ile-home-axles

Pop

 

they are fully interchangeable in fact I am running a mix on one of my trailers right now.

 

here is the best prices I have found on new axles, they might have parts that will fit tour axles.
\ABC Trailer Parts - Trailer Axles - Trailer Axle Kits
also mobile home axles were made a long time ago with the 5 lug ford bolt pattern and can still be found.

 

Well i think as long as a verify the axle ratings by measuring the bearings i should be able to swap a new hub. But im still not sure which direction i want to go yet. I would like to fiind some slighty used mobile home tires and just go with them for now but buying 6 brand new tires dont sound real fun right now

 

That's the problem I have right now except the drum broke a part. They are old mobil home axles and use model 412 drums. They can't be had. Bearing are like 1 inch outer and 1 1/4 inter. They want over two hundred dollars to just build a drum, its the brake axle. Seems the axles listed seem pretty cheap if they are complete. Mine has a four inch drop also.

 

Am I reading you correctly?
You want brakes and drums to convert your axle to a multi-lug vehicle-type wheel?
Have you already tried dexteraxle.com

http://dexteraxle.com/hub_kits_5_2k_6k

http://dexteraxle.com/hub_kits_7k_8k

 

Yes that is what i am debating. The dexter prices seem a little higher than the other 2 sites i was looking on. I realize i would probably pay more to convert them especially being that its a 3 axle trailer but it would make it easier for parts and maybe more reliable. Right now (depending on how big my axles are rated for are measuring) Im thinking of just trying to stay with the 7x14.5 or maybe convert to a 8x14.5 if i can find the tire prices that are half decent

 

Do you have any pictures that you can post so I can follow along? I am not too sure what is being asked and answered and I would like to, if it's isn't too hard to get good pics of what you are working on. If it is too much trouble, no biggie.

 

I can get a couple but not till the weekend. I think i am going to get some mearsurments this weekend as well