Aftermarket Trailer Rims

I was thinking of getting new rims for my single axle boat trailer...not because they're necessary, but we don't have a lake place so we have to trailer it and a single axles worth of 15" or 16" are pretty inexpensive, especially if I use stock size so I don't have to buy new tires. I was thinking of either sticking with exact same size rim that was stock (15") or possibly just upgrading an inch for looks, but nothing that's going to take new fenders or lower profile rimes. Also, I was intending to just pick them up through etrailer or somewhere similar since they have some nice looking options for relatively inexpensive.
Question I have is I currently have the standard silver rims that came on all those trailers back then with a bearing hub...Can I replace these with rims that don't have the hub? I have attached pics of the stock rims & a couple that I've seen that would fit my style...one of them has a cap, the other doesn't appear to come with one. I'm assuming the one that doesn't, the red piece on my stock rims would stick through & look dumb or am I missing something? Can you buy just a cap to cover that or is that something that will come with the rim & I just missed it in the pictures?

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You don't want to make it too hard to get to the grease fitting on your hub. But to answer your question, if you don't buy center caps with your new rims, then yes your hub will show. You could paint it black to match the new rims, or order center caps to cover them. Just make sure they will fit over your current hub. Some center caps snap on from the outside, and some are made to slide in from the back. The second one will make it harder to get to your grease fitting.

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HFarr is spot on and just to clarify your Hub is not going anywhere it is not part of the rim but rather part of your axle assembly. You can do as he said and either paint it or but the center caps to cover it. I could be wrong but I feel like most trailer rims these days just have the snap in or bolt on center caps for ease of maintenance.

Most modern Boatmate trailers use the vault system that doesn’t require adding grease.


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Originally Posted by larry_arizona

Most modern Boatmate trailers use the vault system that doesn’t require adding grease.


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I'm guessing that's a newer thing though right, not back in 05? It looks to me like my trailer has traditional bearing hubs.

Perhaps you can add vault system or drill hole in wheel center cap to all access to grease zerk


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As Larry mentioned, drill a hole like most RV wheels have in their center caps. They are roughly 1" - 1-1/2” or so then use a black rubber plug to cover the hole up. Keep in mind fender clearance if jumping up to a 16" wheel and make sure you can get a high enough load capacity low pro tire to handle your single axle load.


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Originally Posted by Rilez

I'm guessing that's a newer thing though right, not back in 05? It looks to me like my trailer has traditional bearing hubs.

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Yea, I think the mid-2000 Boatmate trailers had something call the "gold series" oil bath bearings. If you have your tag/trailer number, you could contact Boatmate to get specifics on the axle.

As mentioned, be careful when switching wheels. New and old boats need to have proper clearance with fenders. Even on my 2018 I cannot install the upgraded wheels w/o different fenders. Not a big deal, but it gets pricey. The std wheels have more weight capacity vs the bigger/low profile ones. Since I trailer my boat, I'm good with that.

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Originally Posted by MJHSupra

Yea, I think the mid-2000 Boatmate trailers had something call the "gold series" oil bath bearings. If you have your tag/trailer number, you could contact Boatmate to get specifics on the axle.

As mentioned, be careful when switching wheels. New and old boats need to have proper clearance with fenders. Even on my 2018 I cannot install the upgraded wheels w/o different fenders. Not a big deal, but it gets pricey. The std wheels have more weight capacity vs the bigger/low profile ones. Since I trailer my boat, I'm good with that.

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The fenders is a good thing to keep in mind, but it's just a clearance thing right? I'm thinking either sticking with 15" or upgrading only to 16"...if I upgraded, my assumption was to ensure I don't have to get new fenders, I'd just need to get slightly lower profile tires...obviously I'd have to check the load capabilities of the tires, but just to ensure I'm not missing anything...I'm assuming the rim + tire just needs to "fit" within the fender & allow a little space for suspension bounce down the road, is that accurate or is there more to it that I'm not considering?

The current tires seem really out of proportion on the large size based on the rim. Just looks odd to me. I'm assuming that's because of load capacity, but I'm also guessing some real cheap tires were put on.

Someone online mentioned they feel locking nuts are of the utmost importance on a boat trailer when going after market since it would be easy for a thief to put your trailer on blocks & take the rims while you're out on the lake...I'm not typically a fan of locking nuts as it adds one more thing that could go wrong if a tire blew on a trip. One of my wife's previous vehicles had them & the one time I balanced & rotated the tires, I couldn't find the key & had to pay someone to cut it off. I've never had anything worth stealing in the parking lot before, but I'm not sure I really see that as a problem...for any of you that trailer & have the newer setups with all the fanciness, is this really something I need to do?

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Originally Posted by Rilez

Someone online mentioned they feel locking nuts are of the utmost importance on a boat trailer when going after market since it would be easy for a thief to put your trailer on blocks & take the rims while you're out on the lake...I'm not typically a fan of locking nuts as it adds one more thing that could go wrong if a tire blew on a trip. One of my wife's previous vehicles had them & the one time I balanced & rotated the tires, I couldn't find the key & had to pay someone to cut it off. I've never had anything worth stealing in the parking lot before, but I'm not sure I really see that as a problem...for any of you that trailer & have the newer setups with all the fanciness, is this really something I need to do?

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Do you plan on boating in the hood?

But seriously, never used wheel locks for any good wheels, plus they are easy to bypass so mostly useless.


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Originally Posted by larry_arizona

Do you plan on boating in the hood?

But seriously, never used wheel locks for any good wheels, plus they are easy to bypass so mostly useless.


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Ya, that seemed pretty extreme to me too, but I figured I'd throw it out there to you guys in case there's something I was missing. That guy also suggested everyone with nice trailers & rims lock their trailers to your hitch while in the parking lot so someone doesn't come and just walk away with it...This is the first 'nice' boat that I've gone to the lake with, but it's nothing I would've considered needing previously for sure. Plus I've always felt that other boaters go out of there way to be helpful & kind. Although I questioned it slightly because I've unhooked the trailer before to switch it over to a different vehicle when someone has left early or something similar so I guess it technically would be pretty easy to steal if someone really wanted to. And I suppose it's not the other boaters that would be the worry, I suppose if someone was going to steal it it would be some punk driving by on the road more likely than someone else in the parking lot. The world we live in these days that that's even a consideration...disappointing.

Most launches are attended around here, would be pretty obvious a theft was occurring.

Plus wheel locks are ugly.


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I replaced my wheels on my Mojo trailer. Hub caps weren't deep enough so I didn't put them on. It was cheaper to buy wheels with tires already installed from etrailer or other places. I went from 14's to 15's so I could increase the load rating. I could have went 16's but you have to watch the backspacing. 205/75r14 vs 215/70r15 vs 225/65r16 isn't much but you don't want to rub on the trailer frame. 4.5" backspacing fits well.

we have camped for days on end back in idaho at ramps that are not managed, not camera'ed and out in the sticks at night and never heard of anyone having their rims lifted. too many offsets, sizes and backspacing to make it worth a thief to mess with. gut is resell market is limited. here in vegas there are several that leave their boats at calville bay sitting on trailers in the back 40 parking lot for most of the summer and no issues. granted not 100k wakeboats but some are sitting on trailers with decent chrome rims.

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Originally Posted by Holdmybeer

I replaced my wheels on my Mojo trailer. Hub caps weren't deep enough so I didn't put them on. It was cheaper to buy wheels with tires already installed from etrailer or other places. I went from 14's to 15's so I could increase the load rating. I could have went 16's but you have to watch the backspacing. 205/75r14 vs 215/70r15 vs 225/65r16 isn't much but you don't want to rub on the trailer frame. 4.5" backspacing fits well.

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What is backspacing?

The distance from the rim edge to the center hub of the wheel.

If the backspacing is to great the wheel will rub the trailer frame. Not enough and the wheel will stick out of the fender. (I could have that backwards).

Regardless the wheel measurements need to be considered before just buying new ones. Not sure if boatmate has ever changed, but the lug pattern should be 5x4.5 but again you need to know these.

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Originally Posted by larry_arizona

Most launches are attended around here, would be pretty obvious a theft was occurring.

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They had a little span on Norris where some thieves were stealing cat converters off trucks sitting in the parking lots. Not sure how this was happening in the daytime with all the peeps around. I guess they saw real fast . . . .

Man! An 18volt Milwaukee Sawzall with the right blade will make short work of an exhaust pipe. Believe it or not they are stealing them for the small amount of Platinum and Palladium in them. Around here, the scrap yards are not allowed to take them without your license and a receipt for a new one. Unless it's attached to the whole car.

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I worked for a truck OEM and they stole 27 of them off unfinished trucks parked behind the plant. The internal material is mined in Russia and they are buying them back and recycling them and reselling back to the OEM's. They do not care if they are stolen or not. Black market is up to $200 each around Ohio.