Switch 12" tires in place of 8"?

TinBoats.net

Help Support TinBoats.net:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

garysai

New member
Joined
Jan 19, 2021
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Location
Concord, NC
Just bought my first boat and trailer. Haven't had one in 40 years, so I'm basically relearning everything. The boat's a 14' tracker mod vee hull aluminum on a TrailStar trailer. The trailer has 8" wheels which I'm not so sure how well they'll do for prolonged hauling. My question is, is it possible to change out the wheels to 12" ones? The current wheels are 5 lug. I don't know about the hub diameter.
I was wondering if anyone has done such a change, or has any insight?
Thanks!
 
Sure, if you've got room in the fenders.

May want to extend the tongue as well, you'll have to back in farther to get the boat to float off, trailer will be higher.
 
I would suggest getting name brand trailer tires. I kept reading reviews on the noname stuff where people were having blowouts within 200 miles on new tires so don't skimp on the tires. There are a different sizes in 12" tires and I went to the taller tires when my old ones started to crack.
 
I changed out my 8” for 12”.

It’s only a 2” difference in trailer height, not a big deal really for launching, but it can help tremendously for trailering.

Gets your skeg up a couple more inches and the larger tires perform better on rough back roads and sandy soils.
 
A 4.8 x 8 trailer tires is around 16" tall and a 5.3 x 12 tire is around 22" tall so it really depends on what size tire you go with on how much taller it will be. The taller the tire size, the lower the rpm it will be spinning at on the highway which is better for your bearings. You also get more ground clearance if you're looking for it but that might be a negative on some flatter ramps if your boat sits too high.
 
I've heard of guys putting the axle above the springs to lower the trailer height. Kinda risky so if you do this use high quality hardware.
 

Latest posts

Top