Tool kit for long road-trip? WHat am I forgetting?

J

Joel.B

New member
1800+ miles to go buy a boat in Eastern Texas. I like to have a tool kit that has everything i could possibly need for roadside issues. I will buy fresh tires for trailer before I leave with boat, will inspect/grease bearings/hubs, probably have spares with me.

I am taking full sets of tools, metric/standard. Floor jack, jack stands, grease guns, electrical repair supplies, hose clamps, plenty of various tapes/clamps/hoses/ropes/straps........I keep a pretty thorough kit in my truck as it is.

Packing my kit and making lists right now as I may be leaving this Friday..

what am I forgetting?
 
Spare tire for the trailer?

AAA card with Plus RV, or Boat US membership :wink:

Flares or triangle reflectors for roadside stop.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

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I don't have the links, but that-away has posted links on tool kits afloat, and ashore. He also noted, for those of us not handy, it we have the parts and necessary tools volunteers are more like to be able to help us.
 
What could go wrong? Besides "anything", it is usually tires, lights, and bearings, right?
You have tires covered
Unless you are adept at changing out bearings, how about a spare hub with bearings, seal installed? And remember to pull over and feel the hubs for temp, or use an infrared thermometer after the first 10-15 miles
Get a magnetic light set from H.F. I assume usual flat 4 connector for lights, if not, the torch as suggested. Do not trust the magnets to keep lights on tlr, wrap around frame w electrical tape.
Congratulations, and may it be a trouble free trip!
 
Sounds like you are planning ahead! For the record, most trailer tires are not rated for speeds above 65 mph. Having just make that LONG, LONG drive across west Texas again (speed limit 80 mph), there is a burning desire to just push down on the gas and get across that big, empty, barren... well, I could go on, but I won't... but it is more of the same across New Mexico. ;-)

Don't push the speed.

Besides the things others have suggested for your list: a credit card and patience. Congrats on the new-to-you boat. Travel safe.

Jim
 
Thanks for the ideas- soldering kit is good. Flairs/reflectors is also a good one. I wont smile until I get into my own driveway- unless I stop for some BBQ in Texas, I may smile then but only briefly.

As fer going over 65mph, my old 12v cummins wont rev high enough to comfortably go much faster than that so i think I will be OK there.
 
Hi Joel. I looked at your picture: the boat and trailer appear to be in good shape. In addition to new tires (incl. spare), tire iron, correct size ball on your receiver, correct trailer plug, grease gun, jack, tie-downs, (temporary) trailer license, flares, cell charger plug adapter, etc. consider doing the following: Identify a vendor local to the sale who could rebuild the trailer bearings if needed (maybe the tire vendor?). Then, once there, take the rig out for a 15-20 min. spin at freeway speeds and touch-check the hubs for overheat. If they seem OK you're good to go. If one or both is hot to touch take the rig in to have the bearings replaced, before you begin the long journey home. I did a similar thing with my first 22' cruiser: made the deal by phone from Seattle, flew down to the Bay Area where I rented a U-Haul truck one way, then pulled the rig back to Seattle. The flight saved me 2 days' drive and gas. Mine also had a single axle trailer which did just fine, even without changing the tires. I bet yours will do fine as well. All the best with your new boat! Mike.
 
Do a little research on your route and make a list of phone numbers/locations for places that could do trailer repair or have parts in stock for the brand.

Greg
 
Unless you are planning to use the boat on the way back, do you really need tools/supplies for the nautical part of the tow package?

The tools for maintaining/repairing a trailer will probably fit in one tool box including a bottle jack.
 
I heartily second Harvey's recommendation of the BoatUS membership, specifically including the $15 trailer assist club membership. This can be a real lifesaver if you breakdown in the middle of nowhere and either don't have the right tool or for some reason can't (or don't want to) do the fix yourself. After we bought our boat and were trailering it home over 3 days we broke down in New Mexico. One tire on our dual axel trailer suffered a substantial blowout and I couldn't get the lug nuts loose to get the rim off. I tried everything but to no avail. Then I called the number for the BoatUS trailer assist and they were fabulous. Not long after a service tech showed up, got the wheel off, put the spare on, and we were back on the road. All this service comes with trailer assist club membership. We won't leave home without it...

Rob
 
You probably already know this, but just in case: I'd suggest the new tires should be balanced, and inflated to the max pressure on the sidewall.
 
I recommend taking a non-contact thermometer with you. Great for periodically checking tire, wheel bearings, and brake temps. They run around $20 to $40 bucks on Amazon or at your local auto parts store

When I tow trailers a long distance I temporarily install tire pressure and temperture sensors on the trailer and tow vehicle tires. The PressurePro system I use has sensors/transmitters that replace the valve stem caps, and it takes about 5-10 minutes to program the wireless system.



Edit- I also keep a set of Exlight LED Car Emergency Beacon Flares -Strong Magnet Adsorption Burst Flash（Pack of 3 Red）from Amazon in all my vehicles. They are magnetic and can also be placed on the trailer to get to a safe place to troubleshoot any lighting issues.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015R2 ... 1_3&sr=8-3
 
NewMoon":1hpikfan said:
You probably already know this, but just in case: I'd suggest the new tires should be balanced, and inflated to the max pressure on the sidewall.
Click to expand...

Balancing trailer tires is the way to go, I agree. Not so sure on max pressure on the sidewall. It all depends. Every tire is rated for X capacity at X pounds of inflation. If you are maxing out the load on a set of tires, then you'd inflate them to the max inflation pressure. If you are not maxing out the load on the tires, then if you inflate them to max pressure, you are just over-inflating and will get a harsher, bouncier ride, plus could wear out the center of the tire first.

Most tire manufacturers have load-to-inflation charts, and/or you can extrapolate from one that does to your tires. Just as an example, on my RV I inflate the 80 psi maximum tires to around 55 lbs. That's because I'm not at max load (which is great). On the boat trailer I did have Load Range C tires, and was near (but not at) the maximum rating. Thus I inflated them to near the max psi, but not to the max psi (I don't have the numbers in my head). I've now changed to Load Range D tires on the trailer, so I will be inflating them to a smaller percentage of their max psi (since I'm at a smaller percentage of their max load). This will keep the tires and my load (the boat) happy.

Now given the brief look I had at the boat and trailer (one photo), it looks like the single axle trailer might have 14" wheels. If so then the tires may be at max load, and then max psi would match that.

Sunbeam

PS: I'm in the middle of installing a UFP A-60 coupler and thermoplastic brake lines. Thanks for your tips on those! (BTW, I also decided to get four new sets of Kodiak brakes and hubs. I debated just replacing certain parts, but a call to the engineers at Kodiak revealed that there had been several design improvements. I don't have them completely mounted up yet, but I can already see several of them. I'll post more about that when I know more.)
 
Hi Sunbeam,

Your discussion of pressure sounds right - I sure vary the pressure in my truck rear tires depending on how much I'm carrying. I guess I was assuming the tires would be sized to the trailer load. Better to have trailer tires a little over-inflated then under - they can got hot and/or blow out under-inflated.
 
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