8 inch trailer wheels

[lakeview]

Hope this is in the right area.
The question is whether those little 8" wheels that come with the smaller trailers are durable. At highway speeds they would turn so much faster than a 12" or a 14" trailer wheel. Should i switch out my little wheels for bigger wheels or is this even worth thinking about?

Not that my bike is a trailer queen, but one has to pick up finds and projects, eh?

 

[aaronrkelly]

I've pulled a trailer with those small wheels for tens of thousands of miles with zero issues. Required no more maintenance then my bigger trailer with 15" wheels. Drug it down the highway at dang near triple digits forever.....checked bearing with a infared thermometer and no warmer then the big trailer was.

 

[Gene]

the wheels aren't the issue, it's the bearings that are the problem. Once you start spinning them up to 65mph, is where they start to generate a lot of heat and the grease starts to separate.

 

[Screaming Meemie]

I have a pretty light trailer that I've only used on the highway in a pinch (to pick up my bike from the PO, incidentally), & it's got 12 inch wheels. It held up after a 80-mile trip at speeds up to 65 with an xs in it, but the hubs surrounding the bearings were too hot to make me ever want to do it again. Just one instance. I've got one of those hitch carriers now & it works great with a 95 suburban.

 

[DIRTY DOG]

remove the bearings and clean them and repac. with good wheel bearing grease not chassis grease,and re do every 3,000 miles or once a year.bearing buddys help.we pulled one for years (small boat trailer) with no problems.

 

[XSLeo]

Hot bearings = poor maintenance.
Just like anything mechanical a trailer needs proper maintenance.
Leo