I figured I would let everyone know what I am doing to my trailer in hopes to possibly help someone with theirs.
Here is a picture of my trailer (from last year)
It has a spare wheel on it in that picture so it looks fine. Its not fine. I got a flat on the other side and thats where the problem starts. If you get a flat on the side of the road you want to be able to easily remove the wheel to install your spare. Mine were rusted all up and thats where the fun began.
Wheels that came off
Why I had a problem
Lug nuts rusted on so tight that removing them destroyed the hubs.
Had to get hubs from Triton Trailers (Hard part was figuring out what hubs I needed, had to mail back the one I ordered to get 2 of the right ones) New hub
Tritons (dexter) EZlube axle
This trailer takes 18.5 x 8.5 x 8 wheels. Quality farm and fleet couldn't get the rims, and they only had one tire. A Carlisle Trail. So I called triton. $80 each (tire/rim combo) and they have them in stock. I got online. Found these
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=001&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=110177751665&rd=1
$46 dollars each (tire/rim combo) and cost me $36 shipping for the pair. If someone is viewing this long after I post it and the ebay link doesn't work, I got them from the morrow tire seller.
http://www.morrowtire.com/
He tells me the tires are 6 ply Deestones and are better than the Carlisle. Carlisle outsourced their tires to China and are now crappy quality for that tire. Deestones aren't american either but they are great quality. He told me you pretty much can't get small tires like this made in USA (thats very sad and hopefully not sign of whats to come for the future). I wanted made in USA.
Tires/Rims arrive
When you buy antisieze, buy the big container. It comes with a brush! I put that stuff all over the studs and where the rim will contact the surface. The antisieze is in the picture below the hub
One side all installed an packed with grease. I got a new bearing cap and rubber stopper also (EZ lube design). The lug nuts are 1/2-20 and measure 1.4" long. I had a hard time finding them. They cover the entire stud (to keep rust off the stud). I checked 4 places, finally autozone had them at $2.50 each (had to go to 2 autozones as they usually don't stock 10 of them I guess). Triton wanted $4 each ($40 total).
One side done
Tonight I am doing the other side.
The actuator lifter on the front is a pain also. Mine broke. I ordered one from the dealer and it didn't connect right. Here is the instruction sheet that came with it
Here is my trailer (ignore the new shock thats in the picture
For the popular XT/XTD trailers they had 2 designs for this. One design put the shock under the trailer, one put it outside the trailer. So, I have to send mine back and get the correct one. So when you order be sure to tell them what one you have.
Retail costs -
Tire/Rim - $80 each - $160 total
Bearings/Hubs - $85 each - $170 total
Full length lug nuts - $2.50 each - $25 total
Gas lift kit - $83
Total costs - $438
The hub assemblys have to come from triton. The ones at quality farm and fleet DO NOT fit. I tried all of them. Different design. Triton sources its setup from Dexter. I was unable to find a dexter retailer.
The tires/rims as I said you can get from that other source. So that brings the cost of a project like this to
Tire/Rim - $130 shipped for the pair
Everything else is the same
Brings the cost to - $408
When I get the right gas shock here for the lift kit I will get details on it so if anyone else has to order this they can source it elsewhere and hopefully get away from the $83 price tag.
Hopefully this helps someone because it has been a pain in the rear for me. I will add pictures to this post in the next day or to as to the proper way to install the bearing assembly (castle nut and tang washer).
(I put this in general for now, I will move it to the how to section within a week or so, I will also change the pictures to be hosted on SF so they never go away)
