Upgrading axles

[Westcoasting]

I have a 22' arctic fox and I want to upgrade the axles to go from 15" tires to 16" tires. Any advice or guidance on how to proceed is greatly appreciated. My current wheels are 5 x 4.5 x15".

[Westcoasting]

Lynnmor wrote:
Since you want to do the job and be done with it, I think that there is more to be done to have a reliable set up. BTW, I use the Wrangler HT's. You might want to read my thread here: #84 spindle

Thanks for that I will check things out carefully when I do the swap.

[Westcoasting]

Drtrash wrote:
I flipped my for more vertical clearance and was told 16" would be too tight. Seems like a lot of work and expense, higher load tire and conservative driving should be a better solution. I would like to drive faster but that never seems to end well

Yes it is a lot of work and expense but had three years of stress with low quality tires. I wish it was from high speed or low pressure etc, but the trailer tires they sell are no good.

[Westcoasting]

fairfaxjim wrote:
Since you have 4.5" X 5 lug wheels now, you have 3,500 lb. axles. That should mean you have 2 3/8" OD axle tubes, #84 spindles, 10" X 2 1/4" Brakes mounted on 4 bolt square axle flanges. Verify that is what you have.

If you only want to go to 16" wheels, the Dexter Hub-Drum kit:

(K08-250-90) For 3.5K axle, 6-5.50 BC, studded, 1.718 grease seal, standard grease cap.
Kit contains:
•(6) Cone Nuts 60-degree 006-080-00)
•(1) Hub & Drum - Cupped and Studded (008-250-05)
•(1) Grease Seal (010-004-00)
•(1) Grease Cap (021-003-00)
•(1) Bearing Cone Outer L44649 (031-031-02)
•(1) Bearing Cone Inner L68149 (031-033-02)
•(1) Instruction Sheet

is what you need for each wheel (change the part number to K08-250-91 if you want the EZ-lube grease cap)

Both of these Dexter and their house brand version are available on etrailer.com here: etrailer 3,500 lb 6 X 5.5 hub kits

It is a simple matter of exchanging the hubs and wheels.

Thank you so much for posting all that info, my unit is exactly as you describe.

[Westcoasting]

Terryallan wrote:
Only question I have. Do you have room between the tires to go a sixe larger? Mine are pretty close together now. closer together would create more heat, and might increase the chance of failure.

I have 3 1/2" in between tires right now.

[Lynnmor]

Since you want to do the job and be done with it, I think that there is more to be done to have a reliable set up. BTW, I use the Wrangler HT's. You might want to read my thread here: #84 spindle

[Drtrash]

I flipped my for more vertical clearance and was told 16" would be too tight. Seems like a lot of work and expense, higher load tire and conservative driving should be a better solution. I would like to drive faster but that never seems to end well

[fairfaxjim]

Since you have 4.5" X 5 lug wheels now, you have 3,500 lb. axles. That should mean you have 2 3/8" OD axle tubes, #84 spindles, 10" X 2 1/4" Brakes mounted on 4 bolt square axle flanges. Verify that is what you have.

If you only want to go to 16" wheels, the Dexter Hub-Drum kit:

(K08-250-90) For 3.5K axle, 6-5.50 BC, studded, 1.718 grease seal, standard grease cap.
Kit contains:
•(6) Cone Nuts 60-degree 006-080-00)
•(1) Hub & Drum - Cupped and Studded (008-250-05)
•(1) Grease Seal (010-004-00)
•(1) Grease Cap (021-003-00)
•(1) Bearing Cone Outer L44649 (031-031-02)
•(1) Bearing Cone Inner L68149 (031-033-02)
•(1) Instruction Sheet

is what you need for each wheel (change the part number to K08-250-91 if you want the EZ-lube grease cap)

Both of these Dexter and their house brand version are available on etrailer.com here: etrailer 3,500 lb 6 X 5.5 hub kits

It is a simple matter of exchanging the hubs and wheels.

[Westcoasting]

Huntindog wrote:

Westcoasting wrote:
I will check that out, thank you!

Dexter says 1" between the tires.
Since you presently have 15s, it is a pretty safe bet that you have the room.
The TT that I first put 16s on started life with 14s. That was real close, but it worked out fine.

Sounds good I will check it out tomorrow. Whatever it takes to get truck tires on this rig and hope to end my years of trailer tire blowouts. My wrangler HT's have been fine for the last year but I just want to upgrade for good and be done with it.

[Huntindog]

Westcoasting wrote:
I will check that out, thank you!

Dexter says 1" between the tires.
Since you presently have 15s, it is a pretty safe bet that you have the room.
The TT that I first put 16s on started life with 14s. That was real close, but it worked out fine.

[Westcoasting]

I will check that out, thank you!

[Terryallan]

Only question I have. Do you have room between the tires to go a sixe larger? Mine are pretty close together now. closer together would create more heat, and might increase the chance of failure.

[Huntindog]

Westcoasting wrote:

gmw photos wrote:
if you have adequate axles ( my bet is it has 3500 pound axles ) and are simply wanting to go to a tire that has adequate load capacity and a higher speed rating, then an example would be to switch to goodyear cargo g26. In a 225-15, they have 2470 lb. capacity. So that is nearly 10,000 pounds of load capacity under a trailer with what, about 6000 pounds sitting on the axles, all loaded to go ( isn't your trailer about 7000 GVWR ) ??

I have seen those tires online but I can't source them in Canada so I've decided to go with an axle flip and 16" tires. Right now I'm running Goodyear wrangler ht with no issues. Do a lot of off road camping so the extra clearance will be nice.

Good choice. Once you go to 16s you won't ever regret it.

[Westcoasting]

gmw photos wrote:
if you have adequate axles ( my bet is it has 3500 pound axles ) and are simply wanting to go to a tire that has adequate load capacity and a higher speed rating, then an example would be to switch to goodyear cargo g26. In a 225-15, they have 2470 lb. capacity. So that is nearly 10,000 pounds of load capacity under a trailer with what, about 6000 pounds sitting on the axles, all loaded to go ( isn't your trailer about 7000 GVWR ) ??

I have seen those tires online but I can't source them in Canada so I've decided to go with an axle flip and 16" tires. Right now I'm running Goodyear wrangler ht with no issues. Do a lot of off road camping so the extra clearance will be nice.

[gmw_photos]

if you have adequate axles ( my bet is it has 3500 pound axles ) and are simply wanting to go to a tire that has adequate load capacity and a higher speed rating, then an example would be to switch to goodyear cargo g26. In a 225-15, they have 2470 lb. capacity. So that is nearly 10,000 pounds of load capacity under a trailer with what, about 6000 pounds sitting on the axles, all loaded to go ( isn't your trailer about 7000 GVWR ) ??