Changing Tires From 45 MPH to Higher For Harbor Freight 4x8 Trailer

Published 06/22/2023

Question:

I have a 4x8 harbor freight trailer that I want to raise the deck on to give me more clearance to build a simple tear camper on it. How would I go about raising the deck? Also, the tires are rated for 45 mph. what would I need to change to bring that up to highway speeds? Thanks

asked by: Larry S

Helpful Expert Reply:

Let's start with tires, and for that you would just need to switch them out for higher rated ones. Having tires rated for 45 mph is a little silly, as most are rated for at least 60 mph. It looks like your trailer uses 5.30-12 tires and has wheels with a 5 on 4-1/2" bolt pattern so you can just switch them with the 65 mph rated Kenda 5.30-12 Bias Trailer Tire with 12" White Wheel # AM30859.

I do recommend confirming both the tire size as well as your wheel bolt pattern; if you aren't sure of what your wheel bolt pattern is I have added a link below which explains how to find it (it's just a measurement so it's super easy).

However, for the deck, based on what I can see of how this trailer is constructed, there isn't a way to do that we can offer. It doesn't look like it uses hangers (normally you would just swap those out for taller ones) and seems to just bolt together so we don't have any parts that will change the height of that type of trailer.

expert reply by: Kyle S