Looking at new wheels for the 5th. Most wheel descriptions on line do not include offset information. I looked at what was printed on my current rims and it give diameter and width, but no offset. I assume that trailer wheels are always 0 (zero) offset, is this true?

 

No, you can get them in as many variations as you do for trucks. Just manually measure what you have now.

 

Yes trailer wheel requirements for 3500 lb axles up to 7k axles are zero offset. You can purchase wheels with different offset numbers but don't mount them in a trailer tire position.

Most trailer axle hubs mounting face are set up between the inner and outer bearings. The wrong offset wheel can ruin a trailer axle bearing in short order. A lesson I learned a long time ago .......... the hard way. I mounted a set of 16" X 8 lug 80 psi rated chevy wheels I had that were laying around on a GN flatdeck .......even after my tire dealer said not to. Well that was years back when I thought I was smarter than he was . A bearing went out between Clayton and Springer , NM at 1 am in a cold Feb morning. Luckily the trailer wasn't loaded. I pulled the wheel off and chained the axle and limped into Clayton. Other axles on the trailer had blue bearing races and rollers.
See
http://trailerpart.com
or
http://easternmarine.com

 

Thanks for the responses. I think I will drop the spare and check the offset.

 

A good place to buy tires and wheels is www.trailertiresandwheels.com. I just placed an order for 5 aluminum wheels (16x7) and Goodyear G614 tires (235/85R16) for my toy hauler from them. The total cost was $2000 which included mounting, balancing, and shipping. The best price I could find locally for just the G614s was $1900.

 

Thanks for the responses. How do you measure offset?

I pulled the spare off and laid it in the parking lot. I measured from the ground to the bottom side of the axle hole. Then flipped the tire over and measured again, results were 4.25 inches and 4.5 inches. 1/4 inch offset?

 

Unless you deflated or removed the tire so the rim was sitting flat on the surface you could be off 1/8" and your offset is really zero which it should be.

 

98% of spoke and modular steel wheels are 0" offset. Conventional (standard truck wheels) are generally positive half inch offset. Aluminums very but are also generally 0" offset. The trailer industry prefers 0" and some +.5" offsets. You might find some home built trailers with different offsets, but it is nearly impossible to find them a replacement unless they know what vehicle the wheels came off of.

 

Thanks. The wheels are off of a 2003 Carriage Cameo with Dexter axles. Sounds like zero off set, I'll try to get a piece of wood that will fit perfectly on the steel rim and not touch the tire to see if I can measure the offset that way.

 

X2 on what mjbarr99 says, Scott is great to deal with and just about impossible to beat prices.

 

Not speaking for them, but maybe we could give Southwest Wheel Company a shot at pricing when we need something seeing as how they're a DTR sponsor!