Eberle trailer wheel rims

[Bob]

Hi

I own an Eberle clamshell trailer. I have no spare wheel, and am
in search of one. I have visited at least four local tire shops where
I live (in Canada) with no luck. I know the trailers are of European
manufacture, and the bolt pattern may be metric. Canada uses the
metric system, but apparently rim suppliers here do not.

I purchased one rim, which I was assured would fit, but when I tried
it, the bolt pattern was too narrow by the smallest of margins.

Does anyone know of a source for such rims?

Thanks

Bob Leger - 'BL'

[Eric Greenwell]

In article >,
says...
> Hi
>
> I own an Eberle clamshell trailer. I have no spare wheel, and am
> in search of one. I have visited at least four local tire shops where
> I live (in Canada) with no luck. I know the trailers are of European
> manufacture, and the bolt pattern may be metric. Canada uses the
> metric system, but apparently rim suppliers here do not.
>
> I purchased one rim, which I was assured would fit, but when I tried
> it, the bolt pattern was too narrow by the smallest of margins.
>
> Does anyone know of a source for such rims?

Maybe if you tried a wheel from a Cobra or other European trailer,
you'd find a match. Or wander through a junkyard, looking at all the
European cars (maybe start with the German ones).
--
!Replace DECIMAL.POINT in my e-mail address with just a . to reply
directly

Eric Greenwell
Richland, WA (USA)

[Bob Kuykendall]

Earlier, Bob Leger wrote:

> ...I have no spare wheel, and am
> in search of one...

I've messed about with stuff like this a couple times.
I once made a set of custom wheels for my Triumph spitfire
by welding over the holes in a set of Chevy Vega wheels
and boring new holes on a milling machine. And I once
cut the centers out of a set of Volvo wheels and had
them welded into mondo-wide rims. Based on my experiences:

First, you need to determine what the bolt pattern
is on your current wheels. You can get close using
a regular old ruler or dial caliper. This diagram shows
how to measure the bolt circle:

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/boltpatt.htm

Note that you're measuring the circle that passes through
the centers of the holes. For odd numbers, that can
be a bit tricky.

One thing you can do is take one of your wheels off,
and take it to your nearest tire store; like maybe
a Canadian Tire outlet. They will usually have a set
of gauges that they can use to figure out what bolt
pattern the wheel has.

Once you know the bolt pattern, you can use the Internet
to find all the cars that use that bolt pattern. Then
you can go junkyarding for a set of equivalent wheels.
This list will get you started:

http://www.mrt-wheels.com/boltpatternref.html

Some things to pay attention to:

* Diameter - Stick with whatever diameter the original
wheels were.

* Width - Use the same width, or perhaps only slightly
wider, than the originals.

* Backspacing or offset - Be careful that you get wheels
that have similar backspacing as the originals. Otherwise
you might have clearance problems with the trailer
chassis or fenders.

See this diagram for wheel nomenclature:

http://www.eaglewheels.com/wheelsection.htm

I hope that helps.

Thanks, and best regards to all

Bob K.
http://www.hpaircraft.com/hp-24

[Jibpilot]

>Does anyone know of a source for such rims?

Bob,

The wheels on most Eberle trail are the same as the Opal Kadet, If you should
see "Kadet" stamped on you rims some where.

Gunnar from Boulder

[Ulrich Neumann]

"Bob" > wrote in message >...
> Hi
>
> I own an Eberle clamshell trailer. I have no spare wheel, and am
> in search of one. I have visited at least four local tire shops where
> I live (in Canada) with no luck. I know the trailers are of European
> manufacture, and the bolt pattern may be metric. Canada uses the
> metric system, but apparently rim suppliers here do not.
>
> I purchased one rim, which I was assured would fit, but when I tried
> it, the bolt pattern was too narrow by the smallest of margins.
>
> Does anyone know of a source for such rims?
>
> Thanks
>
> Bob Leger - 'BL'

Hello Bob,

check the rims on your trailer. There should be a number stamped in
somewhere visible on the outside; something like 6J x 14 or 6J x 15.
These numbers tell a retailer the rim size and the off-set. I cannot
imagine that Eberle used a "custom" made size for their trailers. Did
you check at JC Whitney? They have a method of measuring the bolt
pattern; even for odd numbers of bolts.

Good luck,

Ulrich Neumann
Libelle 'GM'

[Wallace Berry]

> check the rims on your trailer. There should be a number stamped in
> somewhere visible on the outside; something like 6J x 14 or 6J x 15.
> These numbers tell a retailer the rim size and the off-set. I cannot
> imagine that Eberle used a "custom" made size for their trailers. Did
> you check at JC Whitney? They have a method of measuring the bolt
> pattern; even for odd numbers of bolts.
>
> Good luck,
>
> Ulrich Neumann
> Libelle 'GM'

The trailer I have for my Libelle is a "Spengler" trailer. Its a real
oddball. I had a wheel damaged when a tire blew out. Took me three
months to find a wheel that fit. None of the usual methods for finding
the correct size were of much help and there were no helpful
distinguishing marks on the rim. The closest match I could find on the
internet or in reference manuals was a military VW sort of like the VW
Thing. Not easy to find. Another possibility was the '67 beetle which
apparently used different size wheels from other beetles. Not easy to
find either. Finally, someone suggested I try some late 1960's VW van
wheels. Eureka! They fit, although the offset was deep enough to require
some spacers. I would be willing to bet that those Opel wheels that
another poster suggested would fit!

So, if you can find some late 60's VW van wheels, try them.

[Bob Kuykendall]

Earlier, (Jibpilot) wrote:

> The wheels on most Eberle trail are the
> same as the Op[e]l Kadet, If you should
> see "Kadet" stamped on you rims some where.

If that's true, the bolt pattern should be 4 on 100mm (3.93"). My
suggestion would be to go to that list I posted, pick out all the
rear-wheel-drive cars on it, and get wheels from one of those. The
front-wheel-drive cars will probably have more offset (or backspacing,
depending on how you measure) than you want.

Let us know how this works out.

Thanks again, and best regards

Bob K.
http://www.hpaircraft.com

[raymond herr]

Bob,
Off the subject, do you have an approximate empty weight of your trailer?
Ray

Hi

I own an Eberle clamshell trailer. I have no spare wheel, and am
in search of one. I have visited at least four local tire shops where
I live (in Canada) with no luck. I know the trailers are of European
manufacture, and the bolt pattern may be metric. Canada uses the
metric system, but apparently rim suppliers here do not.

I purchased one rim, which I was assured would fit, but when I tried
it, the bolt pattern was too narrow by the smallest of margins.

Does anyone know of a source for such rims?

Thanks

Bob Leger - 'BL'