Trailer rant!

[MikeR]

Brand new 2013 EZ Loader trailer, has been sitting in my garage since purchased new just over a year ago. First two trips with the trailer were launching from the sling at Edmonds in August. Third trip was last weekend, launching the trailer at a ramp into the water for its first time ever. It was salt water, and yes I disconnected the lights before launching, and yes the trailer was rinsed with fresh water both ways.

Today, only one week after its first dip, we hitch up, check the lights, and no tail light on right side! I opened the light fixture to find a burnt bulb that has already rusted itself to the socket. Seriously?!

I've had same problem with other trailers (although usually it takes a couple of years to get to this point), so it makes me wonder...in this day and age, why are the lights on my 2013 trailer exactly the same design (but apparently lower quality construction) as trailers I've had that were 30+ years old? If better lighting systems are available, I would have gladly paid more, but unfortunately this was the only roller trailer on the dealer's lot that fit my boat when I went to buy it. Searching the forums here it sounds like even LED lights can also suffer from water intrusion.

So after scraping off as much rust as I could and replacing the bulb, we launched on the sling at Cap Sante in Anacortes today. No more salt water for this trailer...lights are just the first thing on my gripe list for so-called "salt water" trailers!

End of rant. Thanks for listening!

 

[joefish]

I'm with you! Just wait. A year ago the wheel of my custom 2012 trailer passed me going down a hill. All five lugs had sheered off. It bounced about 10' in the air, demolished a mailbox, and almost crossed the median into oncoming traffic. Before that the trailer had a shock break off, and a number of other problems, including lights out almost immediately after purchase. My wife will no longer travel with me when pulling the boat because of all the problems, breakdowns, flat tires and inconvenience involved with repair. New Load Rite trailer is good so far. Have only had to fix one light and another is out right now. Trailers -- not just a pain butt, consider them armed and dangerous. :thdown :thdown

 

[Robert H. Wilkinson]

, consider them armed and dangerous. :thdown :thdown

:lol: :lol:

A friend of mine picked up a brand new trailer - didn't even have a boat on it yet - on his way home from the dealer a wheel bearing seized up!! He now carries his spare mounted on a complete hub and bearing assembly.

I just replaced my taillights with led ones this spring, thought it was the end all to end all. Seems like every time I used it this summer I had to re do the ground on one light or the other.

Regards, Rob

 

[RobLL]

Has anyone ever experimented with optic fibers for those pesky lights. The lights source would be out of the water, and glass is pretty resistant.

 

[rogerbum]

Has anyone ever experimented with optic fibers for those pesky lights. The lights source would be out of the water, and glass is pretty resistant.

No but that's not a bad idea. The thing I've seen some do is to mount the trailer lights up higher on side guide posts. That's another way to keep them out of the water. I also made a spare set on plywood that I can hang from the cleats on the boat and tie off at the bottom. I made a Y-connector so the lights on the trailer still function also. I did this in response to my trailer being hit one too many times and breaking the trailer lights. The current set I made up is in my garage but the wiring is not (yet) long enough for my Tomcat trailer.

 

[Jazzmanic]

Totally agree with the title of this thread. I maybe use our King trailer twice a year, usually from Anacortes to Seattle. Last year, I decided to have major service done on the trailer by Karl at EQ Marine. The work included replacing the calipers with stainless calipers, packing wheel bearings and generally getting the trailer back to "new" condition which was not cheap). So I used the trailer once this summer going from Edmonds to Bellingham and back and rinsed the brakes with fresh water. I go to use the trailer again and hear and metallic "grinding" noise on one of the wheels. I have it looked at by Les Schwab, thinking it's a bearing and they tell me its the caliper rubbing against the brakes. So I call Karl and he says no, this is normal because the calipers are "floating" not fixed. Doesn't sound right to me.

Trailers....arghhhh!!! :amgry

 

[Sunbeam]

Okay, now I don't feel so bad. When I bought my boat, the boat itself had always been stored indoors, so that was great. The trailer really hadn't been used, but had been stored outdoors, so was not in great shape. Also only had drum brakes on one axle, ancient tires, cracked/aged bunks, etc. So, I had to decide whether to just buy a new trailer or fix this one up. The galvanizing was in good shape and it was a welded frame so I decided to fix up. Still wondered if I should have gone new, but now it sounds like new isn't always perfect either (how annoying).

One thing I did do in my extensive rebuild was to always try to upgrade all the parts. Not having trailered a boat before, I was somewhat shocked at how cheesy many of the parts are!

So, for example, I immediately took the new bearings from the wheel kit and put them aside as spares (they were no-name made-in-China bearings), and went down to a bearing house and got Timken, made-in-USA bearings instead. Kodiak disc brakes (both axles), flexible brake hoses, new, much more powerful winch, new cypress bunks (not treated lumber) with Monel stapes on the carpet, better fasteners, and right on down the line. Maybe even a new trailer would not have had some of these parts (but maybe they are options - I don't know).

Two things I changed later/and or am still going to change:

1) As part of my rebuild, I had put on new taillights, but just "regular" ones. After one launch they had water in them. So I went to all LED's. They look much better sealed and are a lot brighter to boot.

2) I re-wired at the time, but just with a regular "cheapo" trailer wire set. I have had no problems yet, but very few launches. So now I bought some dedicated, better/thicker Ancor trailer wire (looks like Romex and has four wires in it), and will run a separate skein of (4-wires) down each side with a full ground wire and a separate "outshoot" for the clearance lights. Just as insurance against what seems to be a common problem (as in, "It's always the ground!").

I have now ordered some of the tall "goalposts," and they will have lights at the top, but I may just leave them as auxilliaries - have yet to see them in person so not positive yet. Thing is, if they are the "real" lights I think it might put them further forward than the taillights I have now, and I already have more distance than I would prefer from the taillights to the back of the engine.

Trailers... a blessing and a curse combined!

 

[Captains Cat]

"its the caliper rubbing against the brakes"

Peter, do you mean the caliper rubbing against the rotor disc? If so, sounds like the brake pads are worn to where they need to be replaced and the rotor should be scored somehow...

 

[Sunbeam]

When my Kodiak disc brakes were first put on, and I started out on my cross-country trip, I had all kinds of problems (basically ended up re-doing everything that shop had done, as it was almost all wrong). One issue was that one of the calipers was "riding" on the disc. I called Kodiak and found out that they typically put them on the side (so like a parenthesis) not on top, as mine were. Although they said on top was not totally unacceptable either (but it does seem it would make it more likely to "ride down" onto the disc). I also found that you could lift them up slightly and re-tighten... something (sorry, that was two years ago so I have forgotten the details). Also one of mine had been put in sort of "wedged crooked" and had worn down as a result, so I had to replace that one set of calipers (in the middle of Montana, of course!).

Upshot was that after I did some adjusting, the calipers longer ride on the disc, so maybe yours doesn't have to be that way?

 

[journey on]

MikeR,

I assume your trailer has incandescent lights, since you discuss cleaning the socket.

When we got Journey On, it came with an EZ Loader trailer. This was 9 years ago and it had LED lights. I'm surprised that yours came with incandescent lights. I'd call up EZ Loader and discuss that with them. They've been pretty good with me.

LED lights are "sealed" so that they can be dipped in salt water and the salt doesn't get to the light element. Sometimes the sealing isn't perfect and I've had to replace a couple. Since that infant mortality, I've had good luck launching in salt water without unplugging the lights. Good thing since I have electric brakes on the trailer. Just remember to seal the connections.

One problem is that since the LED's draw so little current, when I plug the trailer into the truck, I have to jostle the connector to ensure good contact.

I had bearing problems, but I fixed that by replacing the Chinese bearings with Timken. End of problems.

Boris

 

[Jazzmanic]

Charlie, I was told that the brake pads were in good shape. I believe I had the same problem as Sunbeam, the caliper "riding" on the disc. It's hard for me to accept the explanation by Karl that this is normal due to floating calipers. I think I'll try my hand at "adjusting" the caliper much like Sunbeam did. I'm in a bit of a time crunch however because the rains up here in the PNW will be starting soon and I want to get this sorted out before the weather turns. :sad Thanks for the good explanation Sunbeam.

Sorry if I highjacked the thread. I took it as a general rant on trailers.


Peter

 

[Will-C]

For those of you still using bulbs, I would try removing and coating all your bulb bases with Vaseline before they corrode in place. If you get a quality set of LED type lights, they for us, at least seem to hold up much better. I don't bother unplugging them when launching I also silicone seal any plug in splices in the wiring harness an effort to keep corrosion at bay. I have also mounted my left tail light and license plate to some 3/8 thick conveyor belt as the regular hardware will more than likely leave you license plate laying along side the road somewhere if you travel enough. I added gussets to all the tail light mounts in an effort to prevent them from shaking around which also leads to failures. Using anti seize on your lug nuts is also recommended especially for the salt water bunch. We remove, clean degrease and replace the grease and replace the grease seals, check the brake pads every year. Also take a look at any brake lines that might be rubbing on anything that could cause them to fail. We slit clear plastic tubing and tie wrap it in place to prevent that. If you do salt water and still have drum brakes, I'll pray for you. Check out trailer modification in our album. It never ends.
:hug
D.D.

 

[RobLL]

My intention if I get a 22 footer is for dry storage in Everett or Edmonds. I will take a year or so learning the boat and use of navigation equipment. Maybe then I will be brave enough to learn trailering - or maybe not.

If I get a boat with a trailer what should I do with it - sell or store on bro's property.

ps - I have found these discussions really useful in the number of issues which I need to know about.

 

[rogerbum]

My intention if I get a 22 footer is for dry storage in Everett or Edmonds. I will take a year or so learning the boat and use of navigation equipment. Maybe then I will be brave enough to learn trailering - or maybe not.

If I get a boat with a trailer what should I do with it - sell or store on bro's property.

ps - I have found these discussions really useful in the number of issues which I need to know about.

I'd store it if possible. The boat goes 60MPH on the trailer and you'll likely get 12-18MPG (depending on truck). It will do 25 in the water at 2MPG. The trailer opens up a lot of new cruising/fishing areas that are simply not practical on the water for most people.

 

[NewMoon]

If you do salt water and still have drum brakes, I'll pray for you.

Thanks, but at last I no longer need it. Last winter I finally replaced drums with UFP discs. Wow do they work better!

The trailer (triple axle, 12,000 lb loaded) was 15 years old, and had some 70K miles of towing on it. Even with careful rinsing after each dunk in the salt, I spent a number of unpleasant days each year maintaining bearings and brakes. Every once in a while I had to fix something while on the road (I carry lots of spares).

This year, after another 5K miles on the road, all I had to do was re-pack the bearings.


P.S. I've never had a problem with taillight bulb corrosion, since the trailer was built with rubber-mounted lights like these:

http://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Lights/ ... T70RB.html

 

[dotnmarty]

"If I get a boat with a trailer what should I do with it - sell or store on bro's property."


Well, trailers can be a pain, that's true.But the trailer for a 16 footer has very few if any systems that can break down.You can make sure your trailer is safe and up to snuff.My advice would be to store it on your brother's property for now. As time goes by you may want to store the boat on the trailer and save the expense of moorage. And, if the time comes that you want to sell the boat, a 16 footer with a trailer is more attractive than the boat alone. (I wish I had a brother with property).

 

[Sunbeam]

Peter,

Let me know if photos might help on the discs/positioning, and I will dig a few up. Would just do it now but am drifting for a moment (in a safe place) to get online weather (since when does the VHF weather forecast talk about temps and rain probability but not mention wind at all ?! :crook )

I can't remember at the moment if I left my calipers on top or moved them to the after side (I know I did leave them on top at first, and did adjust them "up" a bit; but can't remember if I later changed them to "end parenthesis" position).

Sunbeam

 

[gulfcoast john]

Re-wiring a saltwater trailer lighting harness takes me hours, and I would just as soon Buy Quality The First Time. Typical WesBar type WalMart harnesses last 2 years in saltwater heavy use. I like this one made exclusively for West by Grote, the Big Rig Truck lighting company. Yeah, it's $200 but worth it, with tow truck based grounding (the Mother of All Trailer Lighting Evils) and plug and play connectors. My Trailer Guy upgraded the 2006 harness but LED lights are always going out usually due to bad ground. I didn't specify the Ultimate system as I was already $4600 in rehab costs into a 2006 EZ Loader after PO bought new tires and brakes.
Buy Quality The First Time, and you won't be disappointed.
Cheers!
John

 

[DuckDogTitus]

Today, only one week after its first dip, we hitch up, check the lights, and no tail light on right side! I opened the light fixture to find a burnt bulb that has already rusted itself to the socket. Seriously?! !

I had a lady pull up next to me a week ago as I was towing the boat to let me know my right brakelight was out. I said yeah? its a boat trailer... that means its working right.

I just replaced my taillights with led ones this spring, thought it was the end all to end all. Seems like every time I used it this summer I had to re do the ground on one light or the other.

Regards, Rob

I love those. :thup

 

[Jazzmanic]

Peter,

Let me know if photos might help on the discs/positioning, and I will dig a few up. Would just do it now but am drifting for a moment (in a safe place) to get online weather (since when does the VHF weather forecast talk about temps and rain probability but not mention wind at all ?! :crook )

I can't remember at the moment if I left my calipers on top or moved them to the after side (I know I did leave them on top at first, and did adjust them "up" a bit; but can't remember if I later changed them to "end parenthesis" position).

Sunbeam

Thanks Sunbeam. I've looked at some YouTube videos and I think I understand the gist of caliper brakes. I'm going to try and adjust, see if the slide pins are sticking, etc. If you want to shoot me some photos at your leisure, please PM me. Hopefully the rains hold off this weekend because I'm ready to tackle this project.

Peter