Jeep hubs on a Jayco
 

Hi all,

We’ve recently bough a Jayco camper, and looking to optimise it a little more for outback/remote touring (outback roads, not ‘off-road’ as such).

Thinking of swapping the 6-stud hubs on the camper to match the 5-stud on my KL to enable wheels and spares to be interchanged.

Has anybody done this or something similar? I’m trying to get an idea of complexity and how much I could expect to pay to have it done?

Any thoughts/advice appreciated!

Might try this lot.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Ford-F10...sAAOSwzrxUrjE0

You need to find a good trailer chassis/parts supplier. First you need to know what bearings are in your existing axle/hub assy. You also need to check whether you KL hubs will fit over the nose of the hub. Also check back spacing of you existing trailer wheels and any new wheel you intend to use. It is relatively easy if you get some good trade assistance.

The hub in the referred add is a bit over the top. If you are only using Holden or Ford bearings the hub should be about $25. Plus bearings.
Recommend brand name bearings NTN, SKF, Timken, NSK, Koro not Chinese. Again, if it is only Holden or Ford, bearings should be $25 to $35 per wheel.

Holden bearings are rated at one tonne per axle, Ford(slimline) at one and a quarter tonne per Axle.

Most new vans and campers have much higher rated axles, 1.5, 1.6, 2 and 3 tonne capacity. This is where it gets tricky and dearer.

Any hub/drum for axles with brakes will be dearer than those prices suggested above.

Don’t be pu off. It is a good idea. Find a good trailer axle supplier.

By the way, where are you located?

I put ford hubs on my poptop camper. Simple as. Purchased them from Huntsman in Melbourne. They have adds for things on ebay. If you go to their warehouse they give good discount for cash.

Thats all fine, I also put 5 x 4.5 hubs on my camper trailer.

However, as DaveM said you need to know what bearings are being used, most probably Jayco will be using SL (Slimline often called Ford) they are slightly larger than the Holden bearing many smaller box trailers use.

However the other point DaveM made was back space, i have aftermarket Alloys on my XJ so it was not an issue, if I try to use the standard steel wheels with 5.25" back space the clearance is very limited, and i needed to grind about ½ mm off the centre hubs to fit the rims over.

The KL i think uses a front wheel drive type offset which may mean that other than the wheel centre being too small not sure how much will need to be trimmed, they are likely to rub on the inner guard of the camper.

All things that need to be checked. many people have just purchased and fitted very easy job, however, some are just plain lucky and don't have issues, measure everything first as back space and the wheel centre hole can be issues, if not to much just as i did start the angle grinder and slowly rotate the hub until the wheel fits over. But measure back space first because after all that f????ing around i did not have acceptable clearance using standard wheels, the aftermarket alloys had 4" back space and worked perfectly.

Thanks for your thoughts guys. Having given it a bit more thought I figure I’ll probably end up going for a second spare rim & tyre in each size for both the Jeep and the Camper. For the likely cost of swapping hubs plus an extra rim and tyre (as a 3rd spare to share between Jeep and Camper) - I could probably just buy 2 new spare rims/tyres. That gives me a bit better insurance against punctures and keeps it simple.

Thanks again for your input - much appreciated.

Just before you go down that track, take a photo of you trailer hub, preferably without the wheel for us. As I said earlier this maybe easier than I implied.