Can I Upgrade the 4.80-12 Wheels and Tires on a Northern Tool Ironton Trailer

Question:

Good morning. I have a Northern Tool Ironton 4ft. x 8ft. steel folding utility trailer with 1170-Lb. load capacity. It is a 4 lug. Would a 13inch wheel and tire fit on it and if so do you guys carry a wheel that fits this bolt pattern? Not sure what the bolt pattern is. My end goal is to have a tire thats safe to drive on the highway. Also, Is there any adapters that allow me to change from the 4 lug bolt pattern to 5 or even 6 lug? Thanks in advance.

asked by: Leonardo S

Expert Reply:

I'll start out by saying that we don't have specific specs on a Northern Tool Ironton trailer but I was able to locate a photo and because of the fenders, I don't believe you'll be able to go up to a larger wheel and tire; your current 4.80-12 tire is roughly 20.63" in diameter. The smallest available 13 inch tire is an ST175/80-13 like the one that comes on the Loadstar ST175/80D13 Bias Trailer Tire with 13" Galvanized Wheel - 4 on 4 - Load Range C # AM3S130, which is 24" tall. You typically will want at least 3" between the top of the tire and the fender and you'll likely run into issues with the contacting of the fenders, especially when the suspension engages.

If your concern is the speed rating on your current tires, there is the Taskmaster 4.80R12 Radial Trailer Tire - Load Range C # TT48012C, which is a radial tire with a 990-lbs per tire capacity (1980-lbs total) and a speed rating of M (81-mph). This would be a good choice that will allow you to keep your current tire size and not have to worry about clearance issues.

When it comes to the hubs, I don't ever recommend using a wheel adapter on a trailer because trailer wheels are typically lug centric, meaning the lugs bear the load of the weight of the trailer. Putting wheel spacers on is going to put more stress on them than there should be, so that's usually not a good choice. If you wanted to completely change the hubs, you would need to remove your current hubs and pull the bearings; the bearing numbers stamped on the back of the bearing would be required to determine if there are hubs with a different bolt pattern that will fit on your spindles.

If you would like to explore changing the hubs and can provide the numbers on the bearings that you find I can look to see if there is a hub that will fit and allow you to switch to a 5 bolt patter; it's unlikely there is a 6 lug hub that will fit on a smaller trailer axle like yours though.

I've also linked our entire selection of 12 inch tires and combos available in case you'd like to check those out as well.

expert reply by: Erik B