KC8QVO

Are there any hubs out there that are known to be very strong?

What I am looking for is a hub to build up a wheel set for a bike trailer. I want 2 side-by-side wheels (conventional design, not a single wheel like a bob trailer), 20" tires, and a load capacity of at least 300lbs (which would be, figure, 150lbs per wheel/hub). Actual rolling weight might be 200lbs or less, but I want the extra head room on the strength of the wheel set so I have more confidence in them holding up.

The mounting idea I have is to support the axles on both sides, not just side mounted on the inside part of the wheel. So the loading would be balanced like on a bike.

Axle diameter can be anything - bigger the better. Spoke count doesn't matter so long as I can pair a suitable 20" rim with them. I would prefer a cone/race hub, but that would be irrelevant if a cartridge bearing style hub of one variant or another had superior loading ability. Disk brakes are a future idea - I'd like to have the option there from the get-go.

cyccommute 

In all honesty, pick one, any one. It probably won’t matter. Hub failure is rather rare.

Andrew R Stewart 

I, too, would have little worry about the hubs given your design. Of course avoiding the uber lightweight stuff helps filter the stupid light choices that have traded weight for strength. But these days there's very few hub shell failures compared to just 20 years ago when too many wheels had radial lacing. The two sides support for the axle means that the hub will see rather similar stresses as it would on a bike (excepting that the bike leans into corners and thus has less lateral forces then a two track trailer dose. These lateral forces are more a concern for the rim and spokes then the hub though.) I sold and serviced Burley trailers (before the companies business issues caused a change of business model) and have services many other brands of two track trailers and the hub/bearing problems are no different from bike ones. Set up and maintenance make a huge difference and so many of these trailers see a lack of both.

The whole another aspect is that of adding brakes to a trailer. There's a reason why so few trailers have brakes. Cost, complexity, control come to mind. You might do some homework on the Equinox trailers. Andy

KC8QVO

Thanks for the replies.

I spent a few days with a fellow bike tourer I met on tour last fall that used a trailer. Meeting him, talking to him about his set up, and seeing the set up in use is what made me want to go the trailer route. He had other designs before but settled on the design he was using - home made - after improving on other ideas. He used BMX bike wheel sets. He said his biggest issue was snapping axles.

The wheels were supported on both sides with an outer rail, so they were not just side loaded. However, the axles appeared to be the weak link. I do not know how much weight he had - but it was a lot.

That is my concern. A failing "hub" isn't necessarily the issue - it is the axle. I suppose with cone and race hubs it would be easy to up-size the axles. Then again - that gets back to my thought that if there is a cartridge bearing hub that would be a stronger set up (axle + hub) then that might be worth the idea. However, I do like the traditional cone + race hubs and the ability to dial them in, break them down for maintenance, etc.

70sSanO

I don’t have experience with through axles to recommend how to set them up on a trailer, but since you are supporting both ends of the hub, they will give you more strength.

John

AeroGut

Take a look at cargo bike wheels. Plenty of 20" options with disc rotor mounts and heavy-duty axles. Or if you want to keep it relatively cheap, get some 14mm axle freewheel compatible BMX rear wheels and use a thread-on disc rotor mount that goes on the freewheel threads (like this: link). Obviously, make sure that the wheel is mounted so that the rotor is on the left side looking from back of the bike so that the threads tighten under braking load rather than loosen.