I'm looking to replace the wheels on my trailer with something a little flashier. They are 6 x 5.5 lug, so that opens up a ton of possibilities from Toyota, Chevy, Ford, early Jeep, etc.
I'm a bit concerned about weight though. Most 6-lug trucks are 1/2 or 3/4 ton and my trailer is 10k GVW.
The wheels I'm looking at right now are 1988 Jeep Wagoneer wheels like these below. How can I tell what weight they'll take?
don't they usually say on them somewhere, like on the inside of the rim or on the back of the spokes?
you could also look up the GVWR of the vehicle they came from..
oem wheels are usually overrated for their intended use- and i'm sure pretty much every truck wheel out there is rated for 2500 pounds per wheel. the door sticker on my 87 1/2 ton GMC truck says it's rated for 11,000something pounds GVWR, and i know the newer trucks have a higher rating than that.
Except for Honda wheels. Don't try running Prelude wheels on a second gen Odyssey.
Per Schroeder wrote:Except for Honda wheels. Don't try running Prelude wheels on a second gen Odyssey.
Sounds like you speak from experience.
Just an FYI: newer (+04?) Ford F150/Expedition are 6x135 (<-not 6x5.5)
Weight capacity not balance
is the discussion.
iceracer wrote:Weight capacity not balance
yes.. yes it is..
My problem stems from the fact that my trailer has 6-lug axles and is rated for 10k. I can't think of a single vehicle on the road with six lugs that has a GVW even close to that.
The highest GVW I found with 6x5.5 lugs is 7200 lbs. But... does that mean they only engineered the wheels to take that much weight, or are the wheels overkill?
curtis73 wrote:My problem stems from the fact that my trailer has 6-lug axles and is rated for 10k. I can't think of a single vehicle on the road with six lugs that has a GVW even close to that.
The highest GVW I found with 6x5.5 lugs is 7200 lbs. But... does that mean they only engineered the wheels to take that much weight, or are the wheels overkill?
7200 pounds? that's 2300 pounds less than what my truck weighed when i took a decent sized load of scrap iron in a couple of summers ago.. it weighs 5300 pounds empty with one of the gas tanks only 1/4 full..
like i said in my last post, the doorjam sticker on my 87 GMC 1/2 ton 4X4 has a GVWR of over 11,000 pounds.. i was shocked- but that's what it says. that is one application that has 6 lug wheels, but i don't know if they are a different bolt pattern than what you are after. also keep in mind that the trucks are designed so most of the weight is over the rear wheels when fully loaded, so the wheels are going to have to be overbuilt a little bit to compensate for that, too.
novaderrik wrote:the doorjam sticker on my 87 GMC 1/2 ton 4X4 has a GVWR of over 11,000 pounds..
Um... no? 6-lug 1/2 ton GM trucks in 87 were 6200-6800 GVW. Not even the biggest GM 1-ton dually was 11k. Heck, my 99 1-ton Ford superduty is only 9600 GVW.
Sure you're not looking at GCVW?
curtis73 wrote:novaderrik wrote:the doorjam sticker on my 87 GMC 1/2 ton 4X4 has a GVWR of over 11,000 pounds..
Um... no? 6-lug 1/2 ton GM trucks in 87 were 6200-6800 GVW. Not even the biggest GM 1-ton dually was 11k. Heck, my 99 1-ton Ford superduty is only 9600 GVW.
Sure you're not looking at GCVW?
that's possible.. but i can't see them only having a 1500- 1800 pound cargo capacity on top of the 5000 pound curb weight..
Heck the GVWR of my 91 F350 Crew Cab dually was only 10,000 lbs, you had to be looking at the combined GCVW. 1500-1800 lbs is possible for cargo weight on a half-ton, especially for an 87.
As for wheels, check out Crager Soft 8s or similar, they come in the bolt pattern you have. The 17x9 ones I had were rated at 3000 lbs each, so with 4 wheels that would come to 12,000 lbs total, 6K for each axle.
My opinion is that Gross Vehicle Weight Ratings are pretty much meaningless. They basically put a vehicle in a certain regulation position but have little bearing on their real capacities. For instance, my dodge has a GVWR of 8800, and it weighs 7200 empty.
Having said that, GCVW and axle, tire, and wheel weight ratings definitely mean something. In my experience I have broken a wheel that was rated for 3000 pounds hauling 3200 pounds on it. I have also had cords separate on tires that had seen near their limit combined with extreme heat.
How is the weight really spread around on your trailer? are you going to have a heavier side to side or front to back that puts you over that number? Something to think about. J
