15 in. rim does not fit

[iducher]

have a 2006 flagstaff 30 foot 5th wheel with chrome type rims that has a centre cap that covers the bolts. I bought the trailer used and it came with the normal white spare tire rim, they are both 15 inch rims but the white rim will not fit the trailer. Do the chrome rims have a slight different hole pattern , any info will be appreciated thanks Irv

[TURBS]

sounds like they just installed the wrong bolt patterned wheel as a spare.
take it to your local dealer and see if he will swap it for the correct one .

[iducher]

I thought that all trailers had a dexter axle, therefore all rims should fit, this unit has the torsion bar suspension, am I thinking wrong, anyone know Irv

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by iducher

I thought that all trailers had a dexter axle, therefore all rims should fit, this unit has the torsion bar suspension, am I thinking wrong, anyone know Irv

not necessarily true . there are several axle manufactures and bolt patterns are not unique to the axle but more so to the capacity and hub .
A dexter axle with a 2500 lb rating and a 15 inch wheel and a dexter axle with a 3500 lb rating and a 15 in wheel will have a different size hub and therefor different bolt pattern.

chrome or steel does not matter what so ever .

you just need to get your bolt pattern and get another wheel.

if your camper does not have leaf springs then yes its a torsion axle .

[wmtire]

Do you know off-hand if your trailer (not the spare) has 5 or 6 lug wheels?

[iducher]

5 lug

[iducher]

both have 5 lug

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by iducher

both have 5 lug

OK. let me draw something up, then scan it. I'll show you how I train my guys on bolt hole pattern measuring.

[wmtire]

Alright, I attached a very crude drawing, that I made as I sit here helping my 8 year old do his homework, You can probably find a lot better on the internet, but hopefully you'll understand the point.

I tell my guys to think of bolt hole patterns as round clock faces and 60 minutes. You can divide the number of bolt holes into the sixty minutes, and that's actually where your studs will be in a wheel/hub

A bolt hole diameter is measured across the diameter of a circle that would go thru the middle of each stud. You can see this circle in my attached drawing.

A four hole wheel would have the studs every 15 minutes apart.... at the 12 (or 0 ) mark, the 15 minute mark, the 30 minute mark, and the 45 minute mark. 60 divided by 4 = 15

A five hole wheel would have the studs every 12 minutes apart..... at the 12 (or 0 ), the 12 minute, the 24 minute, the 36 minute, and the 48 minute marks. 60 divided by 5 = 12

A six hole wheel would have the studs every 10 minutes apart....... at the 12 (or 0 ), the 10 minute mark, the 20 minute mark, the 30 minute mark, the 40 minute mark, and the 50 minute mark. 60 divided by 6 = 10

A 8 hole wheel would have the studs every 7.5 minutes apart.....at the 12 (or 0 ) mark, the 7.5 minute mark, the 15 minute mark, the 22.5 minute mark, the 30 minute mark, the 37.5 minute mark, the 45 minute mark, and the 52.5 minute mark. 60 divided by 8 = 7.5

As you read, all the even number hole wheels have two studs directly across from each....ie the 12 (or 0 ) mark and the 30 minute mark. You measure the bolt hole diameter this way, by measuring from the center of one hole (or stud) then directly across to the center of the hole on the opposite side. This gives you the measurement.

HOWEVER, on odd number hole wheels, like a 5 bolt (or that stupid 7 bolt Ford truck wheel), you can't measure across it, because you don't have 2 holes/studs directly across from each other. If you measure from the 12 (or 0 ) mark, there is not another hole at the 30 mark, but instead it is either at the 24 or 36 minute mark.

The way you measure odd bolt wheels, in order to get a correct diameter, is measure from the outside of one hole...to the center of one of the holes closely opposite the first one. An example would be to measure from the outside of the 0 minute mark to the center of either the 24 or 36 minute mark.

When you do it this way, the half hole distance you gained by measuring from the outside of the hole, is the difference that you are missing by there not being a hole directly 180 degrees across to get the diameter like you did in even numbers.

I'm sure our math engineers here can give the geometric formula for it, but I'm trying to keep it a little simpler.

Ok, attached is my very crude drawing showing a 5, 6, and 8 bolt wheel....and how to measure across to get the bolt pattern diameter.

In a 15 inch wheel, your common ones are going to be 4.5, 4.75, 5, and 5.5 inch diameters.

Once you have the bolt hole diameter correct (let's just say it was the 4 1/2 inch one), the way you order/buy wheels is by saying you need a 15 inch, 5 hole, then the bolt hole diameter (ie 4.5)

or you can say you need a 15 inch 5 on 4 1/2 trailer wheel.

[wmtire]

I know it's hard to use a tape measure to measure bolt circle diameters, when the wheel is still mounted on the trailer, because of the hub sticking out.We use a hard plastic wheel bolt circle template, that actually will slide over the hub to show you all the four main measurements I talked about in the previous post. I have actually seen some of these plastic ones at Harbor Freight before.

I looked online and saw one you can print out, if you want to go to the trouble of cutting it out and such. You can then just slide it over your hub and see what bolt pattern lines up, so you will know for sure what you need.

http://www.easternmarine.com/media/d...olt_Circle.pdf

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by wmtire

I know it's hard to use a tape measure to measure bolt circle diameters, when the wheel is still mounted on the trailer, because of the hub sticking out.We use a hard plastic wheel bolt circle template, that actually will slide over the hub to show you all the four main measurements I talked about in the previous post. I have actually seen some of these plastic ones at Harbor Freight before.

I looked online and saw one you can print out, if you want to go to the trouble of cutting it out and such. You can then just slide it over your hub and see what bolt pattern lines up, so you will know for sure what you need.

http://www.easternmarine.com/media/d...olt_Circle.pdf

On even number of studs, instead of measuring center to center, measure from inside one stud to outside of the opposite stud. Much easier and more accurate.