[Menard_LaPue]

I am looking to put the skinniest tires I can find on a trailer for my quad that I am making. It only has to hold 300 pounds, for my mother-in-law, a gas can and 5 gallons of round-up. (That's a joke). Also, the trailer frame is a modified Yamaha Blaster, so I am stuck with 4x156mm wheel holes, with studs no less, and the spindle is tapered so it takes different size inner and outer bearings, meaning that I have to stick to Yamaha or Polaris rims or get a cross-over made.

I have not seen any ATV rims less than 5 inches. I was thinking of donut tires from a Miata or something similar (115 mm width), but the bolt pattern cross-overs are getting expensive ($150), and part of the point of making a trailer is to keep the costs down and get the design right.

Does anyone have any ideas how to get a skinny tire on a skinny ATV rim? Anyone know of rims less than 5"? Or any other way to do this that I might be missing? I am not opposed to buying cross-overs, I just want to be sure I make the right choice so I don't have to try several designs. Plus I just don't want to because I am a cheap-skate.

Thanks,

 

[mac102004]

Cut the rim and weld it back together


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mrbb]

MAN< how far does she plan to TOW this trailer, reason I as is WHY do you need to MAKE one, when you can buy one odds are for less than it will cost you to make it

a CHEAP lawn mower like trailer at lowes and suck can be had on sale for about 50 bucks and will hold 300+ lbs just fine, have air filled tires, to help take some of the bounce out of things
I imagine used there even cheaper?
many lawn mower companys GIVE Them away when you BUY a riding mower, so would think , they should be found on like E bay or craigslist rather easy

JUST buying two tires will cost you almost as much as the whole trailer pre built will run you!
Just saying

I actually have one and have had maybe 600+ lbs in mine or more, and did fine about the property, simple pin to hitch it up, has a dump bed and a removable tailgate too?

as for your original question, what about maybe a emergency spare tire out of a very compact car, and getting them at a salvage yard?
cannot say what the bolt pattern will be, but an idea maybe for cheap tire wheels??

 

[mac102004]

1) 12x5 4+1 4/156 4x156 4on156 OE polaris ALUMINUM ATV RIM WHEEL with CENTER CAP | eBay

2 DOUGLAS 10x5 ATV Wheel 3+2 4x156 Yamaha YFZ 450 Warrior | eBay

Looks like there are a few 10x5 and 12x5 wheels out there already....

 

[Menard_LaPue]

Well I do have one of those lawnmower black trailers to haul bricks and manure around the yard. It works great. But I am looking to make something that can actually be pulled many miles - so I am thinking bearings and suspension. Plus a more versatile bed. Sometimes I just need 3 gas cans and 3 water cans, plus the gamma scintallometer, the mass spectrometer, some staking posts, and the like. Other times I might be needing a rocket launcher or something like that.

Using the small car doughnut wheels is a great option, except for actually attaching them to the quad. Wrong bolt pattern, but doable with money. Easiest thing to do is put on a skinny ATV wheel. Unfortunately, all the wheels I see are fat and wide. Five inch rims are still wide, but the tires that go on are twice as big again. Does anyone have a suggestion for a skinny tire on an ATV? I do like the idea to rip two rims and weld them back together. A little beyond my capability, but doable.

 

[redtherocket]

I'd just use the rims and tires you have Menard.


I understand why you would want them skinny, but for cost effectiveness, I'd stick with what you got..


Those high pressure doughnut car tires will be to rough, I've made a trailer from those before..


In my experience, low pressure atv tires are great for hauling instruments like listed..


I'd like to see the trailer when your done... Sounds nifty.

 

[SamUK]

The easiest way I can think of would be to make new centres for the wheels you have. The new centre doesn't even have to be round, you could make an octagon that fitted the gap and just weld the 4 edges that meet the actual rim, that would be plenty strong enough.
I'd start with a square, find all my centres, drill the new stud pattern and hub hole, then set about making the square into and octagon to fit the rim.
Tack it in place, bolt to the hub, get a dial gauge in place and spin to see if the wheel is true. Tap and spin until it is true and then weld opposite sides, probably an inch of weld at a time so as the heat doesn't pull the wheel and and warp (buckle) the wheel.

Not sure if you have the means to do this but that would be my approach to the job, or as mentioned you could halve a rim and reweld. I have welded rims together in the past though and trying to get your weld airtight is a lot more difficult than it sounds, maybe TIG welding would be a better solution, I used MIG as I couldn't TIG at the time.

 

[redtherocket]

^^^^


Its all in the prep!


I could even flux core a rim back together..


I actually spot welded one of my ATC rims with fluxcore..


Poor old girl.... :crying


I hate being scabby.

 

[mrbb]

not sure on these, but the bolt pattern MIGHT be close??

4.80/4.00-8 Four ply rated Tire with 4 Lug Rim

have you thought about just using a wheel spacer to change bolt pattern maybe too?

or just to be able to use a wider wheel?

also Harbor freight sells some CHEAP trailer too, street legal one for about 170 bucks? 4ft x4 ft
would have to build your own sides and decking however!

as I said, NOTHING wrong with making your own, but after you spend all the time and money buying tires that will work, might have been cheaper /easier to just buy a cheap pre built trailer?

there simple tow behind has a 850 lb payload and is alike a 140 bucks, , find a 20% off coupon and buy when On sale(all the time) and your taking a pretty cheap trailer that will hold way past what you want NO??

 

[SamUK]

^^^^


Its all in the prep!


I could even flux core a rim back together..


I actually spot welded one of my ATC rims with fluxcore..


Poor old girl.... :crying


I hate being scabby.

I quite agree, the rim I did was in pretty poor condition and I didn't exactly take my time. Having said that it did take a few weeks to go down so was only a minor imperfection.

 

[SamUK]

What is fluxcore? This is going to be one of those where we mean the same thing but use a different word isn't it haha..

 

[rodp]

Mig welding is notorious for defects, I seem to remember when I did my coding they said there was something like 92 common imperfections in mig. Cored wire (gasless) is more prone to defects than gas shrouded. A lot less in stick but harder to do.

And I still prefer gas welding ................ 'cause I'm old

 

[SamUK]

I thought so Dad.. This is why I mentioned TIG above, less defects and you can usually see where the defect will appear. Don't think my TIG welding would match your Gas welding just yet though, your a dab hand at that ;-)

 

[rodp]

Is that a polite way of saying I'm an OLD hand at that. lol

 

[SamUK]

Is that a polite way of saying I'm an OLD hand at that. lol

Well.. I was trying to say your very good at it without your head swelling :laugh: :laugh:

 

[Menard_LaPue]

<<I am looking to put the skinniest tires I can find on a trailer for my quad that I am making>>

I appreciate the very good suggestions, and it is now apparent that there is not already a tall and skinny atv tire just ready to buy. My new #1 idea is to modify motorcycle wheels to fit my Yamaha tapered spindle. The axle is 3/4" ID on the inside, and .6 ID on the outside, so probably by machining some shims or getting lucky on bearing sizes I can get a fit, as it looks like motorcycle hubs are skinny enough. The load rating of a motorcycle front wheel at 100 mph is probably more than a 300# trailer at 25 mph on a bumpy road.

1) HF trailer and/or cheapo tires is an obvious alternative choice, and a good one. However, I hope to get better ground clearance with taller tires.

2) Ripping out the centers, such as putting the Yamaha 4x156 bolt pattern into the Miata donut rims is a great idea. I get the tire profile I want and donuts are reasonably cheap. The comment about high pressure and comfort is key, as I had not thought about the 60 psi comfort factor.

3) The e-bay available aluminum rims have some merit, if I stay with atv wheels, because I suppose they are lighter. Plus this is just an easier option.

4) Cross-overs from 4x156 mm studs to 4x110 mm would work, but are expensive at $160 because they are custom built due to the weird sizes. Interestingly, if I also had 110x4 to 100x4 cross-overs also, and chose my tires correctly (24" diameter), then the trailer tires could serve as spares for the quad too. Having more tire options far from home is always good. If I got a flat I could just unload the mother-in-law and haul the trailer empty on the flat tire.

 

[mrbb]

kep this in mind, when your on Skinny tires, your going to need to run a LOT more air pressure to hold things up
and that HARD tire will be WAY more prone to damage off road
plus most skinny tires are well,, just low on plys to them, making them a rather weaker tire, NOT so bad when going slow, on lawns and such, but off road and sharp edges, and maybe little tire between tire and wheel
there going to get flats faster and be prone to damage even wheel damage

did you look at the tires I posted with wheels at Harbor freight, NO idea what the hole's are at
but they would be a 20+ inch tall tire and be wheel and tire packaged for a decent price maybe

IF NOT< correct bolt hole pattern
what about just buying some trailer spindles and for going the atv side period, spindles are NOT that costly you know?? and can solve a bunch of modifying parts?

also keep in mind that a small light weight trailer on FIRM tires OFF road, will be bouncing UP off the ground alot with ANY speed to towing it

Heck I seen many with suspension on HI way them small 4x8 trailers skipping down the road after hitting pot holes and such from speeds of 25 mph range and up??
and that BOUNCE will be jerking the crap out of a 600 lb atv when it leaves the ground and LANDS

ATV tires will add some GIVE to things

but keep this in mind, I tow a few off road like trailers behind my ATV, ALL at SLOW Speeds due to the tail wag they can give an ATV
even seen a guy at camp break off his trailer mount off rear of atv heavy trailer speed and trailer left the ground and that sudden JERK to straighten things out, and snap, damage was done!

 

[Menard_LaPue]

mrbb, your suggestion to change spindles is excellent and one that I have to consider. Not sure why I didn't think of it earlier, except I was being mentally lazy...) It solves a lot of problems if I can do that, and offers great choices for tires and wheels. If I can re-spindle to a Honda type, then I have spares for my quad too...

Next question - which Honda has spindles with 0.375" (probably 10 mm) studs holding them to the A-arms?