LEARNING HUB
How Taskmaster Produces the Best Wheels in the Trailer Industry
MATERIALS, DESIGN, AND PROCESS
HOW TASKMASTER PRODUCES THE INDUSTRY’S BEST STEEL TRAILER WHEELS
Trailer wheels are an important and often overlooked trailer component. In the never-ending pursuit of cost cutting, sub-par wheel manufacturers have skipped important steps in the process that have left the industry with problems including wheel-offs, tire pressure leaks, and recalls. The commodification of the trailer wheel can seriously impact consumer sentiment towards a trailer manufacturer. Taskmaster Components does things differently. We employ a staff of engineers with unmatched experience in the chassis and tire/wheel industry. Our team ensures that the manufacturer follows our strict manufacturing requirements that include specifying material quality, design standards, and building process. These three pillars ensure that we produce wheels that we are proud to offer to our customers.
MATERIAL QUALITY
For Taskmaster, specifying material quality is an easy process because we choose to use only the highest quality materials. We use high-grade steel throughout the wheel where others choose to cut costs by using quality steel only on the wheel disc. We also use advanced coating systems that allow our finishes to outlast competing wheels in real world and independent laboratory testing.
DESIGN
We own our wheel designs. We use the design process to head off the problems that plague the industry and leave the end user dissatisfied. Torque loss, excessive weight, and slow air leaks are design flaws that can be fixed with the right expertise.
Torque Retention
The mating of the wheel disc to the trailer hub is extremely important. We design sufficient flat mating surfaces that allow the wheel to achieve, and more importantly maintain, proper lug torque specifications without loosening over time. Wheel designs that don’t provide the proper mating surface area experience spring-back that makes it impossible to achieve and hold the required torque. In extreme cases, this can lead to the worst-case scenario, wheels falling off while towing, and at best the end user will need to constantly check and re-tighten their lugs.
Weight
Wheel weight is an overlooked element by many manufacturers. Excessive weight effects trailer load ratings, fuel economy, and price. We remove up to 10% of the weight of competitor wheels. Raw materials make up a large percentage of overall wheel cost, so by removing excess materials we can produce superior wheels at competitive prices.
Valve Holes
Valve hole issues are the root cause of slow tire pressure leaks. Manufacturing valve holes that don’t leak requires three steps – stamping a flat area on the disk for the hole location, punching the hole, and chamfering both sides to remove sharp edges. Some manufacturers produce their valve holes with a single step, just punching the hole. The result being an oblong hole that doesn’t match well with the round valve stem. Oblong holes paired and rough edges due to not chamfering eventually allow air to slowly leak causing issues on trailer sales lots and unnecessary headaches for the end user.
PROCESS
Our founder, Tom Walker, has a motto – Do Things Right, and Do the Right Things, and Taskmaster Components adheres to this motto. We focus on the wheel manufacturing process and continually refine it because we understand that making the best wheel possible is the right thing to do.
Weld Location
Our welding process specifies location, angle, and quality. To reduce warping, the disk is welded to the ring with 4 evenly spaced welds. Welding the disc to the ring with 360° coverage introduces excessive heat that causes the ring and disk to warp. Warped wheel components cause vibration (due to runout) that leads to premature wear and tear on hubs, axels, and uneven tire wear patterns.
Weld Angle
Proper weld angle is crucial to penetration and fatigue metrics. The weld should be positioned 30% on the ring and 70% on the hub for optimal strength and endurance.
Weld Quality
Taskmaster’s steel wheels feature welds with proper width and depth and with minimal splatter. It is easy to differentiate our wheel welds from the competition with a visual inspection.
Disc Shaping Process
Disc shaping is a six-step process. Skipping steps effects both performance and aesthetics. Shaping the disc first and then punching ventilation holes is a complex process that utilizes multiple machines. Some companies punch the ventilation holes while the disc is flat, and then form it. This produces oblong holes that don’t look right and weakens the disc by fatiguing the metal.
Quality Control
We employ quality control checkpoints within our wheel manufacturing process. All wheel surfaces are smooth and chamfered. Competitor wheels have sharp edges around punched holes and rough weld areas. We believe that sharp edges and tire rubber are not a good match, and we ensure our products won’t injure the end user.
Taskmaster Components cares about wheel quality. Our dedication to quality input materials, advanced designs, and our no-corners-cut build process make our wheels stand out from the crowd, and most importantly, give the end user peace-of mind. We are proud to build the wheels we’d want to use.