dunk your trailer axles...or not?

[DodgeRam]

Hi , just came back from shrimping today did great. My last three trailers I had a 9' tongue installed. it make life so much easier to unload and retrieve your trailer , easier to back up, small adjustement of the streering and it correct it self right away, low tide no problem. I sink my trailer untill the bunks desepear, than use a 25' rope with a quick disconect in front of my anchor, when trailer is in the water I go untied the boat use the front rope walk on the dock jump in the box of the truck than proceed to pull the boat to about 3' of winch line away from the bow eye. Very easy this way. I also have the hot dip galvanize drum breaks with the wash down system maybe the will last longer than just the steel one?. Gary

[Sea Wolf]

After reading about these brake issues here and elsewhere, and from my own experience, I can tell you that the answer to the brake problem is stainless steel brake discs with cast aluminum caliper piston bodies and the matching pads, etc.

I went over to these a year or so ago, and have had zero problems with them. I have the Tie-Down Engineering brand, which have been just fine. Some of their first discs were prone to warpage because of the way they were made from rolled stock, but that problem has been a solved.

If you want to go absolutely first class, get Kodiak's top of the line stainless vented discs with all the best rust and corrosion resistant materials.

If you have drum brakes, you'll also have to replace the actuator at the same time to convert to discs, but no big deal.

The Tie-Down first axle kit to convert from drums to stainless discs including all new stainless lines, hoses, discs, bearings, seals, backing plates, calipers, pads, trailer coupler, actuator, and solenoid back up kit, is available from

www.championtrailers.com

for $410 + shipping. The kit for the second axle, if you need it, is $250.

The Kodiaks will cost two or three times that, depending on how you get them.

If you're reasonably comfortable with automotive/mechanical work or have done brake work yourself before, the job is a cinch. Just leave the boat somewhere for the weekend, so you can work on the trailer more easily.

And don't forget to rinse the brakes good (and the entire trailer, too) after salt water immersion.

The outfit above has all kinds of other trailer stuff available at the lowest prices I've seen. Take a look and order a catalogue from them if interested. Joe.

[Byrdman]

Interesting topic: Just a thought and I had not given thought to the salt drying while out on the boat. How much water does it take to rinse? How about one of the 2 3/4 gallon pump sprayers ....like I use for my round-up and ant-n-roach killer around the house???? Would that be enough of a rinse to simply roll off the salt after a launch retrieve to get "a layer" of the salt off to keep it from baking on? Or not?

[captd]

C-Brats,
Float on v. roll on. I have a single axle, easy loader. with roll on. I have towed this 22 ft C-Dory close to 100,000 miles. The tow rig is a one ton dually. I have a third wheel on the front hitch, ( also works to carry an extra spare.) so I can launch across the sand in Mexico or in very shallow water any where. Boat and trailer can be pushed in by hand as far as necessary. Boat and trailer are going on six years old. I can winch the boat and trailer back across the sand about 100 ft. After the boat came loose off its mooring and came surfing into shore on the back of a pretty good size wave, it was left high and dry on the beach. I backed the trailer right up to the bow hooked on the boat winch, lifted the bow up on the rollers with the winch and slowly backed under the boat with the winch running at the same time. I have found that you can launch or pick up the boat without getting the axles wet in most cases. If the depth is too shallow and you have very little grade, now you need to drop the third wheel and hand push boat and trailer out. But that has only been in Mexico.

Brakes still seem to work well after these six years and have had very poor rinsing with fresh water. The one ton Ford hardly notices when the boat is on behind. Maybe I have no trailer brakes at all........better check on that.

Captd

[Robbi]

Joe, Thanks for the information and the web site for Champion. Very interesting read on the switch from drum to disc. I'll have to do some checking on bearing size etc. But, this may be an answer for my trailer. Robbi

[CaptMac]

Dogon dory thanks for telling me the downside of the plastic glides chafing the
boat bottom. I had looked at the bottom of my scratch-free C-Dory bottom, and
wondered if the glides would mar the finish. Now, I know.

Also, the picture of your dogon dory running over the lake with the wisp of
low-lying cloud cover in the background is dogon incredible. As an amateur photograher,
I do the photography for my web site, and can appreciate a good picture.

I have the disk brakes, not the drums. SeaRam: OT, but are the stainless L-bracket
mounts for your Scotty downriggers stock, or custom-made. How do you like
your Scottys? What model are they, & cable length? Thanks.

There is some concern with the liquid rollers, which with its use, means the
boat is primarily held down with a bow hook, stern strap and gravity. In the
event of a hard turn or braking, it would be good to have friction on the list.

Joe, thanks for the web site. I was quoted a lot more for the stainless brakes,
so that will be useful for the future. Thanks to all for your replies with some
very helpful suggestions.

[Bob Cat]

I've been worried about the truck rims being in the water, let alone the boat brakes. I do many, many vessel exams at our local launch ramp for the CG Aux and see almost all trailers with water over the tires. I think for Dive Cat it will surely be that way since the bottom of the hull is right at the tire tops.

One neat thing I haven't seen mentioned is a hose connection built into the trailer that aims directly at the springs and brakes. This does a great job with boat on. A few folks take the time to wash their trailers after they launch, but it isn't much appreciated by their fishing buddies waiting to get going!

Scaley

[Sea Wolf]

Just a passisng observation of the been there, done that variety:

Do any of these apply to you?

1. You can't feel your brakes come on and off when you step on the brakes and then resume towing.

2. You don't notice any resistance to backing up in reverse.

3. You notice the boat and trailer pushes hard on the vehicle trying to speed it up going down steep grades.

4. When making an emergency stop, the trailer pushes the tow vehicle much further than when operating the tow vehicle alone.

5. Thumping noises are heard coming from the brake surge actuator when steping on the brakes or accelerating. Perhaps the fluid reservoir is found to be frequently low.

6. Strange clicking or dragging noises are heard coming from the brake system when you're in a position to hear them over the road noise, such as at low speed or when rolling along up against a wall.

7. You haven't inspected the brakes shoes and drums or discs and pads within the past year or so.

Well, Skipper, you may not just have any brakes at all! Brake problems usually develop slowly as they wear out or become corroded / rusted to the point of failing, and the onset is more often therefore gradual rather than dramatic. Often folks fail to notice the loss of braking ability.

If you don't know your brakes are working properly, there's a good chance they're not, check them out or have someone qualified do it for you. Clould keep you out of an accident and / or save your boat and trailer a lot of trouble.

I'm not trying to be a wise-guy here, just advising everyone to become and stay fully award of their brake status! Especially when you're new to towing a larger trailer, not all of this is self-evident. Joe.

[Chuck S]

This is why roller bunk trailers are made. We don't have any brakes on our lil' trailer but I prefer to keep the hubs dry. And the bearings and spindles!

-- Chuck

[Sea Angel]

Hi All;
There was a discussion of dunking the trailer axle off the end of the ramp on another site that got me to wonder if there were any thoughts about how to retrieve/recover from this event.

I have found a successful procedure for helping the trailer owner with the misfortune of dropping the wheels off the ramp edge. The procedure here was done with a Searay 18' bowrider with an outboard and has worked for single axle trailers and one dual axle.

Center up your vessel without securing the engine(s) with the centerline of the 'stuck' trailer. Position the bow of the vessel directly over the axle of the 'stuck' trailer; or if preferred, the furthest point away from the coupler. Line(s) are passed from my bow cleat, under this trailer's point and back to the cleat. If you have, or can get , extra crew on board, have them come to the bow to help lower it in the water, 'jack' the line tight and then have everyone go to the stern. This way you are using the lifting/bouyancy power of your boat to raise the rear of the trailer.

Here is where you have to be VERY careful! Be patient! Have the tow vehicle try to pull the trailer SLOWLY over the edge and back onto the ramp. Release the line from the cleat as soon as practical and back out of harms way! If bouyancy allows, I have stayed at the bow controlling the lifting line with a turn around the cleat to affect a fast release when needed. Most times you only need to raise the trailer abt 1', if it has springs.

Talk this over with all parties so everyone knows what to expect when the trailer starts to surge above the ramp dropoff and to be prepared to NOT allow the tow vehicle to have TOO much pull up the ramp.

When the water is low, don't do this! Check the layout!! And water depth!!

This has worked dozens of times for me. I have been very fortunate, with the safety issues and the lack of damage. This could reopen a 'closed' ramp so you won't have to wait for that tow truck.

For the honest side of this, I have not done this with my CD25. I do not have a trailer any more and keep Sea Angel at a marina so I would not have to fight 'stuck' ramps. That's my excuse and I am sticking to it.

Has anyone else tried this?

[Sea Wolf]

Art / Sea Angel

No, I haven't tried it, but it sound like a perfectly logical approach!

I wish I had known about this technique back in 1970 when we needed it!

We backed the trailer and the rear wheels of the car as well off the perpendicular end of the ramp at Richmond, Ca., at the end of an afternoon fishing trip.

It was already after dark, and the tide was coming in after a very low low tide , explaining how we got down to the very bottom of the ramp. The low-high tidal difference eventually came up to almost 8 feet!

By the time we could call a tow truck, the incoming tide was in the back seat of my new Volvo.

We kept her running to keep the salt water out of the engine, but the electroysis on the current carrying wires to the rear of the car's signal lights did a real number on them.

In such a situation again, I wouldn't wait to try to get it out with my own efforts, but call for the big wrecker immediately!

The other way out might be to disconnect the trailer from the tow vehicle, leaving it attached with a line to at least get the tow vehicle into a safe position.

You might even be able to use a very long tow rope to get a run at it and pop the trailer up over the vertical end of the ramp.

Fortunately, many tidal ramps have a line on the dock and/or a sign in the water along the side of the ramp marking the end of it so that one can stay on the ramp and not get into such trouble!

Another thought would be to use the windlass on a boat so equipped.

The chain portion of the rode ought to be in the gypsy affording extra grip, and a good 500 watt or more windlass should be able to put at least 450 or more pounds of lift on the chain to help lift the trailer over the hump.

One could additionally use the boat motor to push forward on the trailer, a 90 hp outboard providing about 2000 lbs of forward thrust! Kind of dangerous, however!

Thanks for sharing this with all of us!!!

Joe.

[Sea Angel]

Joe;
The windlass sounds like a possible approach to give you the extra pull/lift. Lifting the wheels above the ramp edge is the main purpose, followed by the tow vehicles effort to get them back over and on the ramp.

Control is most important and the means to quick release. A remote windlass would work and allow you to be at the helm to be ready to reverse the engine[s] to keep from being pulled up the ramp with an energenic driver pulling the trailer. Most rodes are at least 100'.

Sorry to hear of your experience with the Volvo. I learned a few other tricks, like letting the air out of the tires a little bit for folks who launched off the beach and got carried away with gas pedal. This gave more surface area for the load on the beach sand.. and it worked, just as it does in the snow.