TOPIC: Pay attention to your trailer

I know a lot of folks are getting excited that spring is here and summer is around the corner, and we can't wait to get our boats out. Besides polishing the deck and hull, tweaking the motor, and whatever else occupies your time in preparation for boating season, please pay attention to your trailer.

Make sure all your lights work. If they don't, check bulbs. If they work, but not correctly, check the ground from the tow vehicle to the trailer. This is often the problem with "wacky" lights. Personally, when I wire a trailer, I run a ground directly to every light, and I rarely have light problems as a result. If you're still not sure your lights are working correctly, and you have a standard 4 pole flat connector, you can buy a light tester that plugs into your tow vehicle connector that tells you whether the problem is with the tow vehicle. These testers are like 2 bucks at Walmart. They are a big help.

I've had two friends have to replace axles in the last year or two because they ignored their trailer's wheel bearings. A good test is to pop the hub cap off, remove the cotter pin and axle nut, remove the outer bearing, and wipe the race it rides on clean. How does the grease look? Is is light and smooth or dark and stiff? (You want it to be light and smooth.) Now take your fingernail and run it around the race in a manner that it would catch any irregularities. If it catches at all, remove the hub and rebuild it, races, cones and seals.

Another tell-tale sign to look for is grease leaking out around the back of the hub. That means you at least need new seals.

Rebuild kits are cheap, especially compared to being broken down on the road and needing a new axle. Just a side note here - just because you have bearing buddies, that doesn't mean your bearings are in great condition.

You can do hub rebuilding yourself, or take it to a shop. If you've never done it before and want to learn how, there are all kinds of videos on youtube for do-it-yourselfers. (Or bring it over to my place. )

Inspect your tires. Are they weather checked and cracked? If so, they won't last much longer. Keep the air pressure where it needs to be. Consider removing the wheels and tires and take them to a shop to have them balanced. Trailers need balanced tires and wheels just like you car does. (I got mine done last night.)

Brakes are another story. I'm not going to go into it here just because very few of these trailers we're running are set up for brakes.

Any questions?

Frank

Extra bearing BUDDY's or Center Caps in tool kit.? At least two members lost bearing buddy caps going down Smooth I-75 to the Fla Mt Dora show last month . Also had a neighbor , who said they are working loose... I know initially hammer on with a piece of wood, etc. but newer issue just not holding . I went to a Wal Mart next exit, not in the trailer dept , but IN the boat dept ... They will not sell the stardard cap , only the $14 pair of buddies.
. Center al caps can be threaded for a grease zert fitting as a spare , or short notice empty hitch. . Before the 700 mile return trip , I put a bead drop of J.B Weld on the bearing buddy seam & it held . Was fixing a light fixute crack.. Sure a hammer & chisel will knock the bead (or tack weld)off come , inspect time , or a short touch / cut with hand grinder. IMO

PC1000 wrote:

I know a lot of folks are getting excited that spring is here and summer is around the corner, and we can't wait to get our boats out. Besides polishing the deck and hull, tweaking the motor, and whatever else occupies your time in preparation for boating season, please pay attention to your trailer.

Make sure all your lights work. If they don't, check bulbs. If they work, but not correctly, check the ground from the tow vehicle to the trailer. This is often the problem with "wacky" lights. Personally, when I wire a trailer, I run a ground directly to every light, and I rarely have light problems as a result. If you're still not sure your lights are working correctly, and you have a standard 4 pole flat connector, you can buy a light tester that plugs into your tow vehicle connector that tells you whether the problem is with the tow vehicle. These testers are like 2 bucks at Walmart. They are a big help.

I've had two friends have to replace axles in the last year or two because they ignored their trailer's wheel bearings. A good test is to pop the hub cap off, remove the cotter pin and axle nut, remove the outer bearing, and wipe the race it rides on clean. How does the grease look? Is is light and smooth or dark and stiff? (You want it to be light and smooth.) Now take your fingernail and run it around the race in a manner that it would catch any irregularities. If it catches at all, remove the hub and rebuild it, races, cones and seals.

Another tell-tale sign to look for is grease leaking out around the back of the hub. That means you at least need new seals.

Rebuild kits are cheap, especially compared to being broken down on the road and needing a new axle. Just a side note here - just because you have bearing buddies, that doesn't mean your bearings are in great condition.

You can do hub rebuilding yourself, or take it to a shop. If you've never done it before and want to learn how, there are all kinds of videos on youtube for do-it-yourselfers. (Or bring it over to my place. )

Inspect your tires. Are they weather checked and cracked? If so, they won't last much longer. Keep the air pressure where it needs to be. Consider removing the wheels and tires and take them to a shop to have them balanced. Trailers need balanced tires and wheels just like you car does. (I got mine done last night.)

Brakes are another story. I'm not going to go into it here just because very few of these trailers we're running are set up for brakes.

Any questions?

Frank

lmao... thats what i was going to say until i saw it in your post. if theres any doubt"just bring it to frank's." hehe..he's a crackerjack at this stuff. ron

yep,franks the man ,he redid the bearings in the trailer that has the devil ray on it,they ran cool the whole way home.
as for me when im going a long ways,i keep extra bearings in my truck of different sizes,plus the tools to change them with along the road if need be,i also try to carry 2 spares,i know that sounds crazy but i once had 2 flats in one day,thats the reason i took off the 8 inch wheels and put on 12 inch wheels.
and like i said frank is great with trailers he tears them compleatly down and then restores them,and does a fantastic job.

Other additions:

Look for rust! Particularly bubbling paint around welds. Its often not though about as much as the "moving parts" [axles] but one weak joint can send your trailer [AND YOUR BOAT] on a journey which will not be forgotten.
Check your bolts/nuts. Whether rollers of bunks, vibrations can loosen them to the point where they fail to support the boat. Same for winch post.
When tying down, look for any frayed straps/ non-working rachets. Just when you think you've got it tight, it manages to work loose on the road.
BTW, for submersible lights, coating the bulb contacts with that electro-whatever grease will help keep away the corrosion.

Sounds basic but also check the fenders. Make sure there are no cracks around the bolts holding them on. I lost one on my way to Mt. Dora. I'm sure it was due to snow and Ice build up on the fender. Without a boat on the trailer it would bounce alot more and the weight of the ice broke it off.

Split wrote:

Extra bearing BUDDY's or Center Caps in tool kit.? At least two members lost bearing buddy caps going down Smooth I-75 to the Fla Mt Dora show last month . Also had a neighbor , who said they are working loose... I know initially hammer on with a piece of wood, etc. but newer issue just not holding . I went to a Wal Mart next exit, not in the trailer dept , but IN the boat dept ... They will not sell the stardard cap , only the $14 pair of buddies.
. Center al caps can be threaded for a grease zert fitting as a spare , or short notice empty hitch. . Before the 700 mile return trip , I put a bead drop of J.B Weld on the bearing buddy seam & it held . Was fixing a light fixute crack.. Sure a hammer & chisel will knock the bead (or tack weld)off come , inspect time , or a short touch / cut with hand grinder. IMO

Bearing Buddys coming off ?? Ive never had one do that . I better check them . Ild hate to be the guy on the motorcycle behind you when they do ..
This is a good thread ..Trailers are neglected sometimes and can ruin your day ..One thing I do that wasnt mentioned yet is look at your leaf springs close .Ive repaired many a broken one .Even if they appear to be all there look between the clamps for cracked ones .If a small one is bad it puts more load on the Main .If youve ever seen a main spring break It gets Real Ugly Real fast ..

Great thread Frank, and good input from everybody. It's hard to have a good time if you're broke down along side the road, or worse yet in an accident because you neglected the basics!

One more thing on the subject of lights... I haul an empty trailer long distances fairly often to go buy a boat somewhere and when I do I noticed I often had severe tail light trouble.

What was happening was that the fragile filaments were getting shaken apart. Without the weight of a boat, the trailers jump off the road in areas of bad pavement and get shaken violently due to the stiffness of the unloaded springs. (All the pavement is bad in the rust belt).

I solved this with LED tail light bulbs. It seems that the solid state nature of these replacements makes them much more durable.

LED replacements for the 1157 bulb are available almost anywhere now. If you have trouble with premature bulb failure you might give these a try, it worked for me.

-KevFin

frank a. installed my led pipe-lites. don't ever have to worry about water damage again. ron

frank,you deserve some karma for this thread,its just as important(if not more important)to make sure our trailers are safe,thanks frank,john

You know John, I been thinking about posting this because I've had a couple good friends have major problems last year because of trailer neglect. I just want everyone to have fun with their boats, and that means getting to the launch (or glassic meet) without any trouble!

What got me going was having my wheels/tires balanced Thursday night. I don't think many folks think about it, but it is important to check your trailer tires' balance once in a while, and it's cheap to do too. Then I posted this the next morning.

Busy day, got to keep at it.

Frank

I started this thread in the general forum to catch people's attention. I don't believe most perusers of FG look at the trailer forum much, and I also know a lot of boaters do not pay attention to their trailers. That is where I was coming from, just so you know.

Enjoy your day all.

Frank

Thanks for the "Wake up call" Sometimes we are so excited about our boats and motors we might forget about our trailer maintenace.

PC1000 wrote:

I started this thread in the general forum to catch people's attention. I don't believe most perusers of FG look at the trailer forum much, and I also know a lot of boaters do not pay attention to their trailers. That is where I was coming from, just so you know.

Enjoy your day all.

Frank

ok i see where folks think since its about trailers ,it should be in the trailer forum,but im with frank on this,this is a very important thread,there were a family of 3 killed around here because a trailer that wasnt properly taken care of left loose from the truck towing it and it killed a father and 2 kids.
i had a lucky break at silver lake ,i put the sunray and trailer on the lowboy for the drive up to silver lake then took it off and hooked to my truck,then drove it around up there,when we got back to the motel,i went to uncouple it and it slid right off.
the coupler wasnt adjusted,i was very lucky ,i could have hurt someone.
so from from time to time i check the adjustment on my coupler,john

Thank you John. This is no different than a friendly general forum post about how to winterize your motor, or get your motor ready for the season. It's not a matter of this brand or that brand, or how to do this or that, or "I did this, what do you think."

So it goes. It had a good run!

Frank