Trailer Wheel re-paint or replace?

[diver 1]

One of the wheels on my Rollercoaster trailer has seen better days and is getting pretty corroded.

Firstly does anyone have a second hand wheel I could buy off them (tyre unimportant as I can use mine)

If not has anyone ever bothered grit blasting and re-painting these wheels? Is it worth the effort?

[Johnscubanut]

165x13 inch rim £29.95 from Towsure. Is it worth blasting or repainting if very rusty?

[Mollers]

Originally Posted by Johnscubanut

165x13 inch rim £29.95 from Towsure. Is it worth blasting or repainting if very rusty?

+£10 for tyre swap and balance.

My pal charges £40 for a blast and powder coat.

I'd probably go for a new rim.

[mick]

Originally Posted by diver 1

One of the wheels on my Rollercoaster trailer has seen better days and is getting pretty corroded. Firstly does anyone have a second hand wheel I could buy off them (tyre unimportant as I can use mine) If not has anyone ever bothered grit blasting and re-painting these wheels? Is it worth the effort?

If you go to Indespension dealer near you ask them if they have any rims in the scrap the tyres will be buggered but the rim can be good I got 4 foc

[diver 1]

Cheers Mick, will give that option a try. Didn't realise quite how cheap the rims were. I'm worried that eventually the wheel nuts will just break through the rim where there's a bit of section loss already due to corrosion. Either that or the tyres will start to weep air through the corrosion around the rims and the tyres will get too soft and get damaged. Best to get these things right while the weather is rubbish and there is no desire to go out and dive!

[paintman]

Try a local caravan or trailer dealer. Often cheaper than online as there is no p&p. For what they cost, compared with the amount of time to properly refurb a wheel I'd buy a new one.
With a steel wheel more likely to get the wheel rusting through, the rim area is well protected by the tyre bead & is often as new - personal experience with 2 wheels.
Alloys tend to corrode past the bead & allow air to escape. Again, personal experience.

[diver 1]

Yeah of course, makes sense. Either way one of the wheels is a mess, not really worth keeping even as the spare so will change out the rim for a new one. Cheers all.

[treerat]

I found that a wheel and tyre assembly from here - Trailer Wheels

Was cheaper than a tyre or a wheel on its own

[Nasher]

It does depend on which wheels you have fitted and if you have good enough tyres to reuse.

If you have a common size wheel it's usually cheaper to buy a new rim and tyre then keep the old tyre as a spare, but if you have a less common rim they can be expensive enough that refurbing the old ones makes sense - if you can do some of the work yourself.

The cheapest I can find a bare Rim for my indespension trailer in 14" 5 stud on 6" PCD is @£50. Or with a tyre £100.

On the other hand smaller rims with the standard 4" (Mini/Imp) PCD are usually really cheap on line.

Take a look at TrailerTek - Good guys.

Trailer Rim
and
Trailer Wheels

Nasher.

[Jeff]

Originally Posted by diver 1

One of the wheels on my Rollercoaster trailer has seen better days and is getting pretty corroded.

Firstly does anyone have a second hand wheel I could buy off them (tyre unimportant as I can use mine)

If not has anyone ever bothered grit blasting and re-painting these wheels? Is it worth the effort?

What size rim are you looking for : I have 2 14"x 5.5J ET30; one with a new unused 8 ply tyre
You can have the tyre-less one for free if it suits ( I will be in Plymouth on 25th Jan)

Jeff

[Nick Hearne]

I have used wire wheel in a drill gun to get the rust off and painted with Hammerite on 3 different trailers now works well if you can be bothered, as a new rim will be rusty after a year or two of dunking in the sea!
I have not taken the tyre off to do it either just clean off all loose rust.

[diver 1]

Cheers Jeff, but I'm after a 4.5J 13"

One wheel is much worse than the other two and they all have additional holes drilled for flushing brakes, so maybe not 100% standard. I've swapped it out to be a spare and will hammer the worst of the corrosion layers off and paint it for now.

Thanks for the advice

[gasman]

Hi. Have you thought about getting them galvanised? I had mine sand blasted then galved,then painted. Better than new wheels now!! you should get them galved for about £20, I would have thought . I did the tractor wheels 4 years ago, 4 seasons of salt treatment they are still mint.
Ian

[Crusher]

How old is the tyre your thinking of reusing?
Often trailer tyres that don't do many miles need replacing long before the tread wears out!
Just something else to think about.... For my money I'd replace tyre and rim..

[Festinghouse]

good idea about galvanising, but does the heat not distort the wheel?

[gasman]

[QUOTE=Festinghouse;593747]good idea about galvanising, but does the heat not distort the wheel?

I was also told this ,but I haven't noticed any.

[whisper]

if you have rust bubbles like this on the rim (the bit that holds in the air) then you need to replace it.

[Nick Hearne]

Originally Posted by gasman

Hi. Have you thought about getting them galvanised? I had mine sand blasted then galved,then painted. Better than new wheels now!! you should get them galved for about £20, I would have thought . I did the tractor wheels 4 years ago, 4 seasons of salt treatment they are still mint.
Ian

I thought you are not supposed to paint over the top of anything Galvanized??

[gasman]

[QUOTE=Nick Hearne;593824]I thought you are not supposed to paint over the top of anything Galvanized??

Hi Nick. I used an etch primer before painting. no paint has come off yet! Ian

[captnjack]

Originally Posted by Festinghouse

good idea about galvanising, but does the heat not distort the wheel?

We can buy them pre-galvanized over here and they seem fine. I'm guessing whatever limited distortions occur are ironed out when the tire's balanced.

Painted rims are typically only used on freshwater trailers since they look like hell pretty fast.