I am going to take pics of the setup. Would rather not tear the thing apart to find numbers and it looks like there are only a few styles for these smaller trailers. Hopefully someone here will recognize it. Then I will just put all new on for good measure as it looks like this stuff is cheap enough to do that.
For the small sl trailers, the axles are either 1” or 3/4, I forget which. The seal in the back can be different. 3000# trailers can use a tapered axle.
No. That’s a 2 ply tire with a one ply breaker.
But that’s not important as the strength of a ply can vary considerably. What is important is the Load Range. You have a 5.30-12 Load Range C.
5.30 means the tire is 5.3" wide with a 95% aspect ratio. The dash means it is a bias ply tire and 12 is, of course, the rim diameter. BTW, the tire is 21.7" overall diameter.
The tire should say the max load is 1,050# at 80 psi!
I think you said you were traveling on gravel roads - and that means not only is the ride rough, but there is a chance for a puncture. If you can get a tire that uses less pressure that helps in both departments.
Turns out there is a ST145R12 LR D. Its max load is 1220# at 65 psi! (higher load / lower pressure!)
It’s 5.7" wide (0.4" wider - 1/4" per side), with an overall diameter of 21.7" (0.4" smaller) an 82% aspect ratio. Unfortunately it is a radial and radials have a reduced life span (5 years or so!) before they fail - and when they fail, they throw the belt causing all kinds of damage.
Hope this is helpful.
I am definitely going to check and maybe just replace the bearings. It seems the grease came out of the bearing buddy by bypassing the piston so under the cap is just full of grease now. I know the previous owner and I guess they had issues with this. Probably best to replace the bearing buddy and the bearings. I see many off brands of the bearing buddy including at Harbor Freight. They are not that much cheaper so figure I will just go with the original.
The current bearings and smooth and there is no play so figure this isn’t super urgent but will get it taken care of. Apparently his dad broke something that didn’t need fixing. My guess is he just blew out the bearing buddies by putting in too much grease. For now the bearings are working fine though.
That is what bearing buddies are for! If you need to do some work before you use them that would be advised,
Can you give specifications of tires you now have on the trailer.
That is sizes and if radial, and maxload and speedcode and if ST .
You think C-load/ 6 PR , those have referencepressure ( behind AT given ) of 50 psi in US system( uses loadrange system), 55 psi in EUR system( uses plyrating system)
Then , if you can find it the GAWR and GVWR of trailer , and I assume single axle TT.
In opening post size 12 inch given ,
I won’t have the max load on these tires by any means but you think something like this would be the best bet vs. a radial? Amazon.com: 5.30-12 Kenda K353 Loadstar Trailer Tire : Automotive
I am realizing that most trailer tires are bias ply which is interesting. I see that this system is better for certain applications and I guess trailers are one of them. It looks like for what and how I plan to tow, they are better. Puncture resistance is one of their stronger points.
This is a small trailer and won’t carry a ton of weight. I am not as much worried about weight but resistance to sharp rocks and all. The current tires are load range C. The spares are on rims and really old. I think they were just the original tires on the trailer. One is a load range B and the other C. I plan to trash those tires and put new tires on those rims, then use the current tires as spares.
First, the max load should be written on the sidewall - but we already know it’s a Load Range C so we know the max load is 1050#.
I don’t think you have a lot of choices, but Kenda is not a bad one for a trailer tire.
I am definitely going to check and maybe just replace the bearings. It seems the grease came out of the bearing buddy by bypassing the piston so under the cap is just full of grease now. I know the previous owner and I guess they had issues with this. Probably best to replace the bearing buddy and the bearings. I see many off brands of the bearing buddy including at Harbor Freight. They are not that much cheaper so figure I will just go with the original.
I am going to get new tires on order here in a bit, have them installed on the current spare tire rims, and make the current tires spares. I will do the bearings at the same time I change the tires out.
I just ordered two of these. I figure this will be less likely to slice or puncture with the extra plies. I was moving the current spares around today which are like 20 years old or so and they look terrible. The tread isn’t all that bad but there is cracking in the tread and sidewalls. I swear this got worse after I inflated them to spec. I don’t even want them as spares at this point and the new ones will be delivered tomorrow, then I will have them mounted and I will deal with the bearings at the same time I change the tires out. The current ones look OK with no obvious cracking and will make good spares.
I’ve never used the bearing buddies, just packed the bearings with no problems. Seems to me though the buddies were designed more for boat trailers and keeping the water out of the bearings. The other question is though when I have tried to re- use the caps, the fit seems to be too loose and the caps come off on the road. How do the buddies provide tight fit? I guess I’d just not use them myself.
Bearing buddies help, but they have to force grease past the outer bearing to reach the inner bearing. My when I junked a boat trailer, put the bearing buddies un the utility trailer. Of course the utility trailer hubs are never submerged in water. My new boat trailer has drilled spindles, these pump the grease into the spindle behind the inner bearings so, in theory at least, when you get clean grease out of the outside end of the hub both bearings get fresh grease.
Too much grease. Why not repack the wheel bearings every 5 years and forget about the submersible accessory. How often did you repack the wheel bearings in your S10? Before each trip?
I bought a new pop-up a couple years ago and decided to repack the wheel bearings. This is the first time I’ve ever seen this setup. I’ve heard about it, but never seen one.
Don’t have to pull the wheels - just use a grease gun.
He plans to buy the greaseable bearing caps, a makeshift approach to servicing the wheel bearings. Don’t people clean and inspect the bearings every 5 to 10 years? The inner grease seal will probably get blown out before long.
There are grease serviceable spindles available, grease is delivered between the inner and outer bearing through a passage in the center of the spindle.
Not available for a $200 disposable cargo trailer, but why would more grease be needed?
Because Grease is the word, is the word, is the word, is the word … 
I guess the above post is supposed to mean something but I have no idea what.
…Frankie Valli
I thought it was surfer bird. The bird is the word etc.