So…Lets start with the comments I get first. “Love the wheels” “Man those rims are awesome” Why the wide wheels?
Actually this type of wheel is a big part of the Road Dog trailers performance. What we found with the wider wheels is better weight displacement. Better weight displacement combined with our independent torsion suspension is what makes a Road Dog so special. This combination also is what allows our trailers to achieve such a low center of gravity. Which in turn allows these trailers to perform the way they do.
Wider wheels have other advantages too. They tend to roll over the smaller divots, cracks, rail road tracks etc… in the road instead of following them. This helps keep the trailer towing straight and true in rough conditions. The wider wheels encompass a lot of the road hazards that a thinner tire cannot.
Another advantage to the wider wheels is the wear and tear factor. We have customers with over 40000 (yes, that is Forty Thousand) miles on their original set of tires and still going. In 4 years we have yet to sell a replacement tire due to wear.
Load range is another factor with these wheels. They are load range B. That puts them at a rating of over 600 lbs each. So now you can see a wheel like this on a touring trailer is more than enough to withstand anything you can throw at it.
Some have brought up the question of hydroplaning with a wider wheel and if that was a concern. Trailers are a little different than a powered vehicle. Lets start by saying a trailer has no rotational torque being applied to the wheels. This means they are being pulled forward not powered forward like a car or motorcycle. When a car or motorcycle’s wheels are creating a rotational torque forward hydroplaning occurs when that thin sheet of water comes in between the tire and the road. A wheel with power behind it can start to spin or drift because of the torque.
Trailers on the other hand have no rotational or lateral forces acting upon it to move it in any other direction than straight behind the towing vehicle. If you ride your motorcycle according to road conditions and give yourself a little more room to stop, a hydroplaning trailer is something you do not have to worry about.
Summer is almost here….so get off the computer and get out there and ride!
See you on the Road!
Road Dog Blog 