Finding vintage trailer wheels can be challenging. With a little math and a lot of research, you can find the right fit for your camper. More than likely, the wheels on your camper were also used on vehicles during the time period your camper was built. This means, your wheels are sitting in a salvage yard waiting for you to find them.
You Need 4 Key Measurements to Find the Correct Wheel:
- Wheel Diameter and Width
- Lug Bolt Pattern
- Hub Diameter
- Back Spacing
Etrailer does a great job of explaining how to take measurements for each step. Watch this video to see how to correctly measure.
When you reference these numbers later in your research, it will look something like the photo below. The numbers I have written out show the wheel we need for our 1963 Shasta Compact.
FINDING A VEHICLE WITH MATCHING WHEELS
Plug your numbers into Google. This will bring up a lot of broad results so you need to look for a vehicle cross reference listing like this site. It will give the year/make/model of the vehicles that have the lug count and bolt pattern measurement. This chart will also list the key measurements needed to help pin point the correct wheel.
Once you have a vehicle that meets the initial criteria, you can now search for that. In our case (pay attention 1963 Shasta Compact owners), the 1964-1974 Ford Falcon could be a match. The next internet search I did was “1964 Ford Falcon Wheel Bolt Pattern.” This will bring up this web site in the search results. It will help confirm the vehicle year, make, and model.
Locating the wheel:
- Search Ebay or Etrailer.
- Call local salvage yards. You can give them the measurements, but they may be more likely to know if they have a specific car on the lot.
