It may be tempting to order inexpensive trailer wheels online. But beware! You could be wasting time, money, and possibly jeopardize your safety. This is a lesson we just learned from some cheap trailer wheels we found on Amazon.
In my recent article, Stopping RV Weight Fears With Axle Upgrades, we replaced our axles, rims, and tires on The Tin Can. We ordered 5 of the eCustom rims from Amazon. The wheels looked to be fairly good. They looked just like the other steel rims you see on trailers. The rims were also rated for the same weight of our tires we bought. Which is 2,830 lbs. Little did we know there were going to be problems with these wheels.
The First Of The Failures
We were in the middle of a return trip to Sioux Falls, SD and made a slight detour to Tulsa, OK to see some friends. We stopped at a fast food joint to get some tacos and noticed one of the tires was low. So we limped to the next block where our friends, Bill and Lisa, were boondocking and decided to look at it closer the next morning. It was late and we had been driving all day.
Discount Tire To The Rescue
The next morning we got up to a completely flat tire. I took the wheel off and Bill drove me to the local Discount Tire. When I removed the wheel I saw what looked to be a puncture hole in the tread. I figured it was just going to be a quick patch and we would be on our way. No such luck! The guy called be back to the shop and showed me that air was leaking from the rim itself. Dang! The wheel had a crack near the weld. That’s cheap trailer wheel number 1. Fortunately they had a rim and I was good to go.
Fast Forward About A Week
We were now on our way to south GA and stopped again to grab a bite to eat. There again, was a low tire! I’ve got to invest in a tire pressure monitor! So back to a Discount Tire we go. We really like Discount Tire! I take the wheel in to them and there again the rim is leaking at the weld. That’s cheap trailer wheel number 2.
The Cheap Trailer Wheels Have Got To Go
We now quickly decided that we were not going to wait for cheap trailer wheels number 3, 4 or even 5 to fail. I asked the guy at Discount how many rims they had in stock and he said they had five. So I told him I would take 4 and replace all the rest of them. The new Discount wheels have a 1 year finish and lifetime warranty on quality. At around $20 more than the cheap wheels it gives us a lot more peace of mind.
Returning The Cheap Wheels
I called Amazon after both of these instances and they have been very easy to deal with. I am returning all the wheels for a refund. At least now if I have a wheel issue I just have to find a Discount Tire and get it replaced. But let’s hope that doesn’t happen.
Those Old Sayings Are Sometimes True
Like the old saying “you get what you pay for”. It was true in this case. I got cheap rims that were prone to failure. And also after looking at some Amazon reviews this looks like a common failure with this manufacturer. The failed rims were made in China by Jingu. So my advice is pay a little more and at least get your wheels somewhere that can easily replace them if something goes wrong. This part of having to ship wheels back to Amazon is not very fun.
I hope no one else has any problems like we just did with our wheels. And a TPMS is a good investment that we need to make. Y’all stay safe out there!
Please Like and Share us on social media! Also, subscribe to our email list to stay up to date on new posts! Please leave a comment telling us what you think.
I have an american made HaulRite Boat Trailer and two welds have failed already. I didn’t get what I paid for, and there is no way to drive to Missouri from Texas each time it needs fixed. I just weld it myself. Moral of the story is the welds are only as good as the welder.