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Looking to buy wheels for Mullins trailer


theKiwi

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Probably a long shot, but does anyone have wheels for a Mullilns trailer for sale? My Mullins trailer has 6 bolt hubs - 5½" circle diameter. It has 2 x 15",  probably Chevrolet wheels on it now (they have Chevrolet hubcaps on them) and I'm looking to do something about a spare for the trailer.

 

Thanks

 

Roger

Edited by theKiwi
Fixed typo in title (see edit history)
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I’m pretty sure they were Kelsey-Hayes wheels new...........I found a set for my Pierce Arrow Travelodge, they were the same as 1936 Plymouth 16 inch wheels with a different hubcap. Wasn’t too hard to find them 30 years ago..........today, probably not easy. I think I paid 35 bucks a wheel for very nice ones. 

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The Mullins Mfg Co used Chevrolet 1936 wheels as default.  When you ordered a trailer they would install any wheel you wanted so you could use your tow vehicle spare tire.  Original trailers have a verity bolt patterns from 5 to 6 to Ford 9. 

 

The default color was Admiral Moffitt Gun Metal, some with red pin stripes.  Most trailers were a custom Color at additional cost.

Are you aware of the “Mullins Owners Club” & the “Mullins Red Cap Utility” book by Robert Parmelee?  Call 870-710-2886 about joining.

 

 

 

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10 minutes ago, huptoy said:

The Mullins Mfg Co used Chevrolet 1936 wheels as default.

 

 

So perhaps that is what the hubs I have are - it seems from a couple of postings I made on Facebook about the wheels that I might have about 1948-50 ½ ton Chevrolet truck wheels on it - still with the same 6 lugs on a 5½" circle as was used in the 1930s. So I guess I'm looking for one 15" ½ pickup truck wheel to be the spare to what I have, or 3 16" car wheels to be 2 on the trailer and a spare.

 

10 minutes ago, huptoy said:

When you ordered a trailer they would install any wheel you wanted so you could use your tow vehicle spare tire.  Original trailers have a verity bolt patterns from 5 to 6 to Ford 9. 

 

The default color was Admiral Moffitt Gun Metal, some with red pin stripes.  Most trailers were a custom Color at additional cost.

 

 

Thanks for these notes.

 

10 minutes ago, huptoy said:

Are you aware of the “Mullins Owners Club” & the “Mullins Red Cap Utility” book by Robert Parmelee?  Call 870-710-2886 about joining.

 

 

Yes, I have joined the Mullins Owners Club a few months ago when I bought the trailer, and I also purchased the Robert Parmelee book. (I only just got the trailer - took a while to arrange transport from Laramie Wyoming to me here in Caledonia, Michigan).

 

Roger

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Very nice! 

 

What size wheels are you running on the trailer? I tried to fit one of my 6.50 x 19 Franklin wheels and couldn't get it up inside the fender because the hub is in the way - and if it did go up it's going to be a very tight fit on the diameter of the wheel.

 

Roger

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The rims on both car & trailer is 19”.

the car tire size is 5.00/5.50 X 19

The trailer tire size is 4.75/5.00 X 19

The top of the hitch ball is 17” off the ground

 

The trailer tire sits inside the fender With 5 inches of clearance
rim & tire are actually front Wheel

I use The trailer for car shows & have luggage, tools, portable 78rpm wind up record player.  We have about 50 to 75 records and play them.  The trailer and everything in it weigh about 500 lbs.
 

 

 

 

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@theKiwi

 

Is this your bolt pattern?  I have five of them, 17inch wires of unknown origin. Condition is questionable at best but perhaps three could be saved.  I have been told Chevy or pierce. I bought these sight unseen fifteen years ago being told they were for a model a ford... clearly not the case but the guy was paid and I was out of town when they were delivered to my driveway. Seeing as the delivered price was twenty bucks, I didn’t track him down to return them. If someone has a use, I don’t even need my money back. 

FB542ABD-7AC3-4AB2-B7D7-2B3D921CA76B.jpeg

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Yes, that's the bolt pattern - 6 bolts on 5½" circle.

 

For now I'll pass I think thanks. I have discovered that there are available artillery style wheels like the Mullins originally came with, available in various sizes, but commonly 15" at least, so I might end up going in that direction to get 3 matching wheels, and they'll at least superficially look like the originals would have. Also trying to figure out if Mullins hubcaps will fit either what I've got, or what I might purchase.

 

Roger

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On 8/3/2020 at 8:21 PM, huptoy said:

The rims on both car & trailer is 19”.

the car tire size is 5.00/5.50 X 19

The trailer tire size is 4.75/5.00 X 19

The top of the hitch ball is 17” off the ground

 

The trailer tire sits inside the fender With 5 inches of clearance
rim & tire are actually front Wheel

 

 

 

 

My 6.50 x 19 Franklin wheels are 33" in outer diameter.

 

The distance between the front and rear of the trailer fender is barely more than 33".

 

Roger

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The Diagonal distance of the fender is 33”.

The 4.75/5.00 trailer tire is 28 1/2 “ diagonal.

My old set were 5.50 & the car size are 29 1/2 diagonal.

In 10 years showing car & trailer, no one has called me on the size difference.

 

Some trailer owners have added a bracket under the trailer for the spare.

there is a bracket used to add a 2nd rim/tire to the original in the back.

 

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3 hours ago, huptoy said:

The Diagonal distance of the fender is 33”.

The 4.75/5.00 trailer tire is 28 1/2 “ diagonal.

My old set were 5.50 & the car size are 29 1/2 diagonal.

 

When you say diagonal, are you meaning diameter?

 

3 hours ago, huptoy said:

In 10 years showing car & trailer, no one has called me on the size difference.

 

Some trailer owners have added a bracket under the trailer for the spare.

 

Yes, that's probably what I'm going to end up doing since it seems I can't use a spare that would also fit my Franklin.

 

3 hours ago, huptoy said:

there is a bracket used to add a 2nd rim/tire to the original in the back.

 

 

Yes, I've got one of them for my 1926 Franklin - the one I've got at least relies on the 2 rims being the same size as it grabs the rims in 3 places on the rim's inside diameter - so won't work for wheels with a disc centre, or for wheels of dis-similar sizes.

 

One other thought I've had was trying to get some wood spoked wheels of smaller than 19" size - then the car and trailer would at least look similar as yours does. There are some "not so great" 16" Dodge wood spoked wheels on Ebay right now.

 

Another thought is something like this - maybe that's close enough to looking like an original Mullins wheel to fool all but the keenest observer...

 

https://www.uswheel.com/wheel/7647/us-wheel-artillery-series-555/?finishID=3796

 

Roger

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  • 3 years later...
8 hours ago, George sapia said:

Hello my trailer came with wire wheels , but most pics show artillery wheels did they come with either originally?

Standard they came on artillery wheels, but you could get them with the same wheels as your car had so that you had 1 spare to go on either your car or trailer.

 

So it's possible the wire wheels are original to the trailer if they are wire wheels from a contemporary car.

 

Roger

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The stamped steel artillery wheels with a 6 lug pattern are 1936 Chevrolet.  The wheels are out there, however, original Mullins hubcaps are rare.  They tend to wear between the stamped outer skin and the wheel and the skin eventually pops off.  I have bought generic hubcaps from a repro parts Chevy dealer that have no logo on them to run on my trailer.  Sadly I sold my Mullins trailer a few years ago.  I still have the repro hubcaps, which I may sell.  I kept the original wheels with the original hubcaps, but for now, I am not interested in selling these.

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