Min trailer load capacity

[Riverman]

What is the minimum trailer load capacity to haul an A25 and does anyone have any leads on such a trailer anywhere between Ottawa,ON and NYC?

Tx

Robert

[DesertAlbin736]

I would say at least tandem axle with 15 inch load range E tires, & 6,000 lbs GCWR. Depending on the actual weight of the trailer you'll be at or close to 6,000 lbs (2,722 kg) all up weight.

[WillieC]

Agreed. Add a bit for fudge factor.

[Burton]

As to loads and ratings, there is a huge difference in tires as to brands, too. Some of them made in China have the nickname, “China bombs”. After spending hours in research, there is no brand anywhere that has a spotless record. However, some are clearly better than others. Some say car tires hold up better than trailer tires, but trailer tires are supposed to have thicker sidewalls. We just put all new top of the line trailer tires on our trailer, with a new spare as well. When I got the old ones off it showed just how bad one was— almost can’t believe it didn’t blow. It’s easy to ignore the trailer.

[DesertAlbin736]

I've used Hartland ST225R15 load range E made in China tires on my trailer & not had a failure. That with the caveat that one of the torsion bar swing axles on my trailer is slightly out of alignment & prematurely eats tires over long road trips. Only way to correct it is to replace the axle. In any case I replace tires at least every 6 years regardless of mileage or tread, mostly because they spend much of the year sitting in 100+ deg dry desert heat.

[WillieC]

Goodyear Endurance, loadrange E is available only in 15" or larger. 14" only get LR D.

[Burton]

We did the Goodyears this year. Related subject—wheel bearings. My neighbor was with Timken bearings for years, taught me that proper torque was critical for grease circulation to work right.

[tribologist]

Gregory Norman just dumped a dying trailer up in that area and bought a new (used) one. For a one shot trip it might be worth fixing up?

I have a CAD model of the A25 if you need help fitting the trailer to it. You can find some posts here if you search.

[DesertAlbin736]

We did the Goodyears this year. Related subject—wheel bearings. My neighbor was with Timken bearings for years, taught me that proper torque was critical for grease circulation to work right.

And that torque value is what?

[tribologist]

Torque and grease circulation…. ???? The neighbor is right in only one thing, Timken it is! He invented tge TRB and should be honored! . Not that one can state they are better but you can be 100% they are consistent, good and interchangeable and does not cost more than PRC stuff. They make them here in the states. The seals are well made too. I only use Timken seals and bearings on the trailer. You can combine them with SKF speedi-sleeves, well sealed dust caps and have a near bullet proof bearing system. (Unless .. see below)

On the torque setting. 25 ft-lb while rotating to seat them, then loosen one to two flats. You should feel a little play. Should be from 1-5 thousands axial play. If you can feel it you have enough clearance. Running without clearance is bad. Running with preload is crazy. The contact angle is such that the axial growth of the drum dominate the increase in diameter so if you send heat in from the drum you reduce the clearance.

I pull my hubs each year. This spring i had a tiny bit water in one of them from a leaky dust cap. I was lazy and did not reapply evinrude gasket sealant when adjusting the position of the drum with a shim behind the inner bearing last summer. (Was scraping axially between shoes and drum.) i need to buy new axles for it. They look quite sad behind the seals.

The above is the opinions of a PhD in bearing lubrication….professional tribologist that is.. Timken have a youtube video on how to service trailer hubs too. Abom79 did a nice one recently also.

[LopezMike]

My Easyload trailer came from the factory with oil bath bearings. I can tell immediately if there is any water intrusion by looking at the plastic window in the end of the hub. Quick and easy to drain and refill along the road. Only need an allen wrench, a scrap of aluminum foil to keep the draining oil off of the tire and any sort of tray or such to catch the waste oil. I usually use 90w but they seem to be happy with pretty much anything in a pinch.

I suspect converting would expensive unless you could find replacement caps with a plastic window and seal them in place with silicon caulk. And drill the hubs for the fill port. 1/8" N.P.T plug. About 3/8" dia.

They seem to work for the big trucks. I'm happy.

Mike

[tribologist]

My Easyload trailer came from the factory with oil bath bearings. I can tell immediately if there is any water intrusion by looking at the plastic window in the end of the hub. Quick and easy to drain and refill along the road. Only need an allen wrench, a scrap of aluminum foil to keep the draining oil off of the tire and any sort of tray or such to catch the waste oil. I usually use 90w but they seem to be happy with pretty much anything in a pinch.

I suspect converting would expensive unless you could find replacement caps with a plastic window and seal them in place with silicon caulk. And drill the hubs for the fill port. 1/8" N.P.T plug. About 3/8" dia.

They seem to work for the big trucks. I'm happy.

Mike

The oil filled ones are nice. I wish the hubs had a thread for the cap or some other more secure way of holding them. The failure mode for them is if the cap gets damaged and they end up getting all the oil washed out and they run dry. I bet someone can run a few hundred miles on them after the oil leaked out but at some point it is going to go bad..

[SalishAire]

I've been waiting to see how our new to us (used) trailer worked before posting. We've now got enough miles on it and the final revision (we hope) made for cross continent travel. SUMMARY: its towing well and seems to be properly balanced with all 4 axels braking as we like them too (we have loooong downgrades in front of us as we need to cross a few mountain ranges to get to the west coast - my theory the more I can spread the braking effort between engine braking, truck brakes, and trailer brakes the less likely I am to have a problem). The aluminum trailer is rated with a carrying capacity of 2340 KG or 5200 lbs. We have 14 in trailer rated radial tires but upgraded to weight range D. They are rated for 65 PSI (the trailer calls for weight range C with 50 PSI) and we fill them to 60 PSI (I don't know and don't care about the brand). Changes we've made to the trailer : 1) adapting the bunks for the A25 (they will be completely reworked when we are home and I have my full workshop but they should be good for now); 2) moved the axels forward to compensate for the center of gravity of the boat; 3) swapped the original C rated tires for our D rated tires that were pretty new; 4) added disk brakes to the aft axel (the front axel already had disk brakes); 5) swapped the nearly new electric over hydraulic brake controller from our old trailer onto the new one (it came with a surge brake controller).

[DesertAlbin736]

Bon voyage & safe "DA" travels. Your rig is much like ours & all up weight should be around +/- 6,000 lbs. I would have gone with 15" load range E but you should be ok. I like each tire to be able to handle half the sprung weight of the rig less tongue weight in case of loss of one tire on either side.

[Burton]

Torque and grease circulation…. ???? The neighbor is right in only one thing, Timken it is! He invented tge TRB and should be honored! . Not that one can state they are better but you can be 100% they are consistent, good and interchangeable and does not cost more than PRC stuff. They make them here in the states. The seals are well made too. I only use Timken seals and bearings on the trailer. You can combine them with SKF speedi-sleeves, well sealed dust caps and have a near bullet proof bearing system. (Unless .. see below)

On the torque setting. 25 ft-lb while rotating to seat them, then loosen one to two flats. You should feel a little play. Should be from 1-5 thousands axial play. If you can feel it you have enough clearance. Running without clearance is bad. Running with preload is crazy. The contact angle is such that the axial growth of the drum dominate the increase in diameter so if you send heat in from the drum you reduce the clearance.

I pull my hubs each year. This spring i had a tiny bit water in one of them from a leaky dust cap. I was lazy and did not reapply evinrude gasket sealant when adjusting the position of the drum with a shim behind the inner bearing last summer. (Was scraping axially between shoes and drum.) i need to buy new axles for it. They look quite sad behind the seals.

The above is the opinions of a PhD in bearing lubrication….professional tribologist that is.. Timken have a youtube video on how to service trailer hubs too. Abom79 did a nice one recently also.

Good to get the info! My neighbor was not an engineer with Timken--I don't know what he did for them. He wasn't saying to preload them, but to torque them correctly first and then back them off. (I never knew how much to snug them up before backing them off a bit.) Anyway, he said the rollers in the bearings are slightly barrel shaped and need the proper torque for them to flatten or something. True?

How do the above-mentioned SKF speedi sleeves compare to the standard and common spring pressure fed lube systems I have on our boat trailer? My utility trailer has a different kind, but similar system that I can inject grease into a zerk fitting in the center of the axle. We only haul the boat about four miles to the launch, but I'd rather be safe than sorry on the bearings.