Alloy wheels

A forum for discussing issues relating to trailers and towing MacGregor sailboats.
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stuendan
Chief Steward
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Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2013 1:49 am
Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
Location: Melbourne, Victoria

Alloy wheels

Post by stuendan »

Hi all,

Anyone put alloy wheels on the standard Mac Al trailer?

Getting sick of looking at rusty wheels - even after removing them, wite brushing back to bare metal, priming and painting, after six months and even washing them down after every lauch and retrieve, still not pretty.

I guess I need to know the stud pattern - is it Ford? If so, what model/type/No. should I be looking for?

Cheers from Aus
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Tomfoolery
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Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
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Re: Alloy wheels

Post by Tomfoolery »

I've always liked the look of a boat trailer with aluminium wheels, but I've got too many other targets to throw money at, so that's as far as I've taken it.

But, when I first got this boat, I bought new tires on galvanized wheels (etrailer.com, but that doesn't help you), and it has a similar look. Sort of a poor man's fancy wheels. At least until the zinc dulls, but I'm in fresh water, and that will take a while.

I have this pic someone posted, which I keep for the handy dimensions (in metric, yet :D ), and because it's a sharp looking setup.

Image

And then there's the poor man's version. 8)

Image

:D
jimbo
Engineer
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Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2012 3:27 am
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Location: SE Australia

Re: Alloy wheels

Post by jimbo »

stuendan wrote:Hi all,

Anyone put alloy wheels on the standard Mac Al trailer?

Getting sick of looking at rusty wheels - even after removing them, wite brushing back to bare metal, priming and painting, after six months and even washing them down after every lauch and retrieve, still not pretty.

I guess I need to know the stud pattern - is it Ford? If so, what model/type/No. should I be looking for?

Cheers from Aus
Only thing to watch for is the load rating of the rims. Hard enough getting 1000+ kg tyres. (best I found were 1250kg but had to jump up in aspect ratio)
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kadet
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Re: Alloy wheels

Post by kadet »

Just put these on my :macm: alloy trailer they look nice :). Yes they are Ford 15x6

http://www.huntsmanproducts.com.au/mag- ... -1966.html
stuendan
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Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
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Re: Alloy wheels

Post by stuendan »

Thanks Kadet - they look pretty cool!
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Mac26Mpaul
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Re: Alloy wheels

Post by Mac26Mpaul »

How are they going? Looks like a good deal although I'm a bit worried about the 1950kg limit they will give...
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Tomfoolery
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Re: Alloy wheels

Post by Tomfoolery »

Mac26Mpaul wrote:How are they going? Looks like a good deal although I'm a bit worried about the 1950kg limit they will give...
Don't forget 10% tongue load or more, for 2145 kg [4719 lb for us Luddites :wink: ] trailer gross.

But having said that, I'm not a fan of running tires up near their rated capacity. Makes me glad I have two axles with 1590 kg [1750 lb] rating each, with tires to match.
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sailboatmike
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Re: Alloy wheels

Post by sailboatmike »

We dont get any discount for tongue weight here in Victoria, Im pretty sure would be the same in all states of Australia, I would love that it would give me an extra 150Kg to play with
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Tomfoolery
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Re: Alloy wheels

Post by Tomfoolery »

I just meant as far as axle load goes, meaning for a given gross trailer weight, only 90% of that should be on the wheels.

The registered weight still rules here, which is taken from the nameplate, if it has one, so putting 50% of it on the tongue won't allow a heavier boat, unfortunately. :D :wink:

Also unfortunately, mine is nameplated for 3500 lb [1591 kg], as are all original X trailers, but there's no way it's under 4000 lb [1818 kg], made worse still with the addition of the second axle, which probably weighs another couple hundred pounds [hundred or so kilograms] all-in. :|
Interim
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Re: Alloy wheels

Post by Interim »

I lost a wheel on the highway last weekend. The tire had a 4" rip in the sidewall, and the threads were not stripped.

The mechanic's theory is that I had aluminum wheels on steel hubs. Although I had the lugs tightened down hard (with a cheater bar), he says that softer rim will start slipping forward and back around the lugs, and eventually start working the nuts loose. Off they came, and the hub cut the tire as it fell to the road.

If true, that would be a warning against puttling aluminum wheels on steel hubs. Seems odd, though.

--john
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seahouse
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Re: Alloy wheels

Post by seahouse »

Yeah. Does seem odd. REALLY odd. :D

And how common are aluminum hubs? Never heard of them on a trailer or "average" vehicle. Every alloy wheel I've seen, and any on my vehicles bolted onto a steel hub.

I would suggest that the use of a torque wrench (the only way to do this properly, BTW) to tighten the stud nuts to correct torque value will prevent this from happening again. It's more important to use one on alloy than steel wheels; there is less "forgiveness".

I would hope that your mechanic used one when he installed your new wheel. If he didn't, to be frank, he has flunked out of basic mechanics 101 and you can pretty well discount anything else he told you. :D

:wink: - B.
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Tomfoolery
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Re: Alloy wheels

Post by Tomfoolery »

Were they the correct nuts?
Interim
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Re: Alloy wheels

Post by Interim »

I thought it was odd too. But it was the leading theory at the time. My preferred theory was that they had put on a defective tire, which blew out. But the wheel should have stayed on in that case. The nuts obviously worked themselves off, because the outer threads were in good shape. (The inner half of the threads were bad, which would mean only half of each nut was holding anything.)

I torque wrench wheels on my vehicles. I've left shops before where they use an impact wrench. But on the trailer, with no disc rotor, I just cranked them on. I read an article yesterday that said over-torquing lug nuts is as bad as under torquing them, becuase you will distort the threads. This may be another factor.

Regardless, I now have new hubs, lugs, wheels, and tires. I'm a little embarrased because I could have done all of this myself, but that's water under the transom now and I am eager to get the boat in the water.

--john
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