A thread about minor boat trailer upgrades.

[Josh]

This may not be interesting to anyone else at all. But I'm doing a bunch of little upgrades to my trailer that didn't seem exciting enough to put in the "What have you done for your boat lately?" thread. So I figured I'd make a trailer upgrade thread and post them here.

If anyone else has any little (or big) trailer projects, feel free to post. Otherwise it can just be all the little things I do to this 30+ year old EZ Loader.

 

[Josh]

First off, as you can see, it was time for a new coupler. The old one did still work, but it was getting pretty rough and looked like crap.

It actually took me a couple orders and returns to find the one that fit. Whoever originally put this one on kinda made some weird hole choices. So I ended up having to buy the exact same one that was already on there (which was thankfully still in production). Ended up being more expensive than it should have been, but whatever. Add on some nice new galvanized hardware, and it fits properly and looks much better than it did.

 

[Josh]

Also did a very easy bow roller replacement. The original rubber one was starting to disintegrate. So I picked up a polyurethane one (blue!) from Amazon.

Amazon product ASIN B08ZNCZW77
The bolt was in good shape, but I did replace the locknut. Living by the highway is kinda lame, but living a couple blocks from an awesome hardware store is one advantage. Makes it easy to go pick up one $0.52 locknut.

 

[Josh]

Next up, some trailer guides, winch replacement, side light repair, perhaps non-rusty chains.... and so on.

 

[Dogsnfish]

Does the trailer for my pontoon count? Ours has a very heavy back gate made for ORV's. Want to install a gorilla lift to make it easier for us, as we are both 60+ and the gate isn't getting any lighter.

 

[Josh]

Does the trailer for my pontoon count? Ours has a very heavy back gate made for ORV's. Want to install a gorilla lift to make it easier for us, as we are both 60+ and the gate isn't getting any lighter.

Trailers are trailers! The more the merrier.

 

[iveofione]

Good call on the upgrades Josh, a trailer failure on the road can be a real heartbreak. I was travelling to Minnesota one time with a friend who was towing a utility trailer. Somewhere in remote eastern Montana a wheel bearing went up in smoke and it cost us half a day to get up and running again.

The biggest trailer upgrade there is-up to date and properly inflated tires. Trailer tires are often small and make a lot more revs per mile than the vehicle tires. Plus the tires are usually exposed to UV if they are stored outside. The result is a tire that has been run underinflated for years, sat in the sun and still looks relatively new due to limited use. If this sounds like your tires take a look at the DOT stamp on the tire to see what year it was made in. If the tire is out of date or has any checking on it you are courting a highway tire failure. Pay attention to the recommended tire pressure stamped on the tire. If the tire says 80 psi max and you are running 40 psi you are shortening the life of the tire, not lengthening it.

 

[PhilR]

This is timely as I need to clean up and paint my drift boat trailer

 

[Mark Yoshida]

Since Sept of last year when I bought my first used trailer, I replaced the following so I could get it licensed.
Tires, new hubs, bearings, lug nuts, trailer winch w/strap, grease gun and learn how to install the new bearings.
Old trailer tires were cracked and needed replacing.
.
After that I removed 20’x20’ grass area behind the garage and put 5 yds 5/8 minus gravel down.
Come to find out the trailer jack wheel digs in making it difficult to maneuver around so I got a trailer dolly.

Love the new dolly.

 

[Greg Armstrong]

I no longer have a boat trailer but here are a couple of self explanatory products I found that were worth their time and small little expense. The bunk lubricant made it so much easier while single handing, and the rust inhibitor kept the salt from eating up anything in its path.

 

[Evan B]

Maybe when I get back from Alaska I'll post about redoing all my hubs, rotors, calipers and leaf springs on my trailer this year.

 

[DanielOcean]

Maybe when I get back from Alaska I'll post about redoing all my hubs, rotors, calipers and leaf springs on my trailer this year.

And the importance of not forgetting a K-Pump

 

[JayB]

I no longer have a boat trailer but here are a couple of self explanatory products I found that were worth their time and small little expense. The bunk lubricant made it so much easier while single handing, and the rust inhibitor kept the salt from eating up anything in its path.

View attachment 76245

Great suggestions!

 

[JayB]

-Spend the extra money on either Timken or National bearings/races/seals if you're going to invest the time in replacing them yourself.

-It's worth investing a bit of money in a bearing seal/race driver kit and a bearing packer to make that job faster/easier/cleaner.

-If you're like me and you have nightmares about having to deal with a bearing/seal issue anywhere but a dry garage it's worth assembling a complete, pre-lubed hub assembly, the other bits you need to install it, and a mini-grease gun in a box that comes along for the ride so you can just swap-and-go instead of trying to drive the races out of the hub alongside the highway and/or trying to find the right parts somewhere.

 

[DanielOcean]

Yes, biggest mistake I see with people doing any sort of axle/bearing work is they do not go get the tools. When you have all the right stuff its bing bang pow, and done. The bearing driver kit is a must. If you do a bunch you will know what it sounds like when the bearing is properly seated too.

 

[JayB]

Good call on the upgrades Josh, a trailer failure on the road can be a real heartbreak. I was travelling to Minnesota one time with a friend who was towing a utility trailer. Somewhere in remote eastern Montana a wheel bearing went up in smoke and it cost us half a day to get up and running again.

The biggest trailer upgrade there is-up to date and properly inflated tires. Trailer tires are often small and make a lot more revs per mile than the vehicle tires. Plus the tires are usually exposed to UV if they are stored outside. The result is a tire that has been run underinflated for years, sat in the sun and still looks relatively new due to limited use. If this sounds like your tires take a look at the DOT stamp on the tire to see what year it was made in. If the tire is out of date or has any checking on it you are courting a highway tire failure. Pay attention to the recommended tire pressure stamped on the tire. If the tire says 80 psi max and you are running 40 psi you are shortening the life of the tire, not lengthening it.

Anyone make a better trailer tire than Carlisle?

 

[SurfnFish]

Whenever the trailer rolls so does his old milk crate:
-off road quality 12V air pump
-fresh can of FixaFlat
-extending handle breaker bar with lug socket
-bag of emergency reflectors
-hydraulic jack w/extending handle and wood blocks

 

[iveofione]

-Spend the extra money on either Timken or National bearings/races/seals if you're going to invest the time in replacing them yourself.

-It's worth investing a bit of money in a bearing seal/race driver kit and a bearing packer to make that job faster/easier/cleaner.

-If you're like me and you have nightmares about having to deal with a bearing/seal issue anywhere but a dry garage it's worth assembling a complete, pre-lubed hub assembly, the other bits you need to install it, and a mini-grease gun in a box that comes along for the ride so you can just swap-and-go instead of trying to drive the races out of the hub alongside the highway and/or trying to find the right parts somewhere.

No discussion on wheel bearings would be complete without the warning to not over tighten the bearings, probably the number one cause of bearing failure. Just remember that a slightly loose bearing will easily go 1,000 miles whereas a slightly tight bearing may not make it 100 miles.

 

[JayB]

Looks like someone lived one of my vacation nightmares....

"
We left California en route to Idaho.

After a few nice days at City of Rocks, we headed for Salmon and our final trip prep. Just past the small town of Carey, Idaho, the axle on our raft trailer blew up. It's impressive to see your own wheel following you up the highway, and smacking the tail end of your trailer after you've pulled off the road. Thank goodness no one was hurt.

Saturday afternoon, a few hours short of our destination, three (yes, three) spare tires for the trailer in the truck but stuck. Fortunately, Cyril, the owner of MK Trailers, in Carey, happened by. He didn't have any trailers small enough for our needs but he offered to get our trailer back to his shop while we ran down to Twin Falls and try to get a new trailer on a Saturday evening.

We got back to Cyril's shop, new utility trailer in tow, about three hours later. Cyril met us and told us he had hauled our old trailer, inflated raft and all, back to his shop down the highway on a forklift. I wish I had a photo. We deflated and rolled the raft and transferred everything to the new trailer. Cyril, very kindly, bought the trailer from us. He planned to put install a new axle and sell it.

We made it to Salmon around midnight.

The next day we did our final shopping. Then, I drove up to. Missoula to pick up my daughter at the airport. We had been unable to find a raft trailer between Carey and Twin Falls, so we settled for a utility trailer. I think I saw about half a dozen places selling raft trailers between Salmon and Missoula. Such is life.

The Main Salmon, between Corn Creek and Carey, was fun!

We arrived at Carey Creek Boat Ramp around 2:00 pm to find our truck had not arrived. I remembered estimating our arrival at Carey Creek as 3:00 pm, on my shuttle paperwork, so I figured they just hadn't arrived, yet. 3:00 came and went. We got a message out to some friends, on our Garmin. They contacted the shuttle company and learned that our truck had problems and the shuttle company had left it in Riggins.

We hitched a ride into Riggins, where my wife and kids got a room. I decided to risk going back out to Carey Creek for all of the gear. The truck did okay (with, literally, a dozen codes showing). I got back to the motel at midnight.

The next morning, we limped the truck down to McCall, which was our intended post-takeout destination. We arrived Sunday around midday.

First thing Monday morning, I limped the truck down to the Dodge dealership in Cascade. They told me they could look at it August 4th (it was July 17th). They suggested that the Dodge dealership in Boise was quite large and might be able to get me in sooner. I called them. They said, if I dropped it off on August 1st and left it for 3-5 days, they could take a look.

I limped back up to McCall and stopped at Valley Auto, where Sean told me they were about two weeks backed up but he'd squeeze it in as best he could. They are closed on Tuesdays, so Wednesday was the best we could hope for. We were supposed to have been home that same (Monday) night. Sean called later that afternoon. The fan had cut the wiring harness from the fan clutch, hence all of the electrical codes. He had ordered the part and would contact us when the truck was ready.

Wednesday morning, around 11:00, Sean called and told us we were ready to go! I picked up the truck, we loaded up and hit the road around 12:30, sights set on home.

Everything was great until about 30 miles west of Winnemucca. We went from highway speed to limp mode in a matter of seconds. We pulled off the highway and could go no farther. Fortunately, we had cell service. We got towed back to Winnemucca, where my wife had found a room.

The next morning, we contacted the shop to which the truck had been towed. Around midday, they called back and told us they could either replace a part for $3,000 + labor, or send the part to Elko for cleaning. The latter option was $600.00 + labor. Either way, we would not be back on the road for a week. We opted for the cleaning option. I'm not putting any more money into that truck (last year, on Gates of Lodore, it was a failed water pump and cracked exhaust manifold).

A dear friend drove out from California, hooked up our trailer, and got us home, last night (it was a 12 hour round trip, for her). Our truck, with some of our stuff, is still in Winnemucca. We'll head back there when we hear it's ready for pick-up.

We had a lot of adventures on this trip. We were also remarkably blessed:

The trailer failed right outside of a small town in an otherwise remote area.
The owner of the local trailer shop found us and went way above and beyond to help us out. (he even bought our trailer)
A passerby drove my family into Riggins when our truck did not show.
A very kind mechanic squeezed us into his schedule in McCall.
We had cell service when the truck broke down outside of Winnemucca.
A friend dropped everything to come and get us in Nevada.

I am certain the stories of this trip will be told for a long time. I'm just not sure how many of them will be about things that happened on the river."

 

[Wade Rivers]

I had rotten punky carpet bunkers on my used 16' boat trailer. Replaced the bunkers with 2X6s and added these EZ Slides.

E-Z Slide Trailer Slide Kits | Ironwood Pacific

E-Z Slide Trailer Slides make launching and loading your boat go smoothly by reducing friction between the hull and the trailer bunks.

www.ironwoodpacific.com

Man, they are slippery! The boat winds on very easily, almost too slippery. I added an extra tie down to keep the boat from sliding forward.

PS. Consider "Boat Buckle" retractable tie downs. My brother has them for his DB and I have strap envy.