Better trailerability?

I have a 21SC that i live about an hour away from water. Hence trailering is a highway. or freeway event.

On my last drive home with it. i was going 45 mph max on this drive and every bump i hit the trailer really jumped and the boat all rattled around alot. for short hauls i can see this working. But, for riding long distance...


I have a single axle load rite trailer it currently has a leaf spring suspention and no shocks that i can see. is there a way to calm down the trailer? And also anyone cover the front of there hulls to prevent F.O.D. damage while driving?

How is the tougne weight? The axle should be adjusted to give about 10% of the total weight to the hitch. Take the weight of the boat and add the trailer, gear, and 10% of that is what you should feel at the tounge (70-100lbs?)
If it is too light, it will make the trailer squirrelly. Check it w/ a bathroom scale. You can slide the axle back if you need more weght at the hitch. Just make sure you take careful measurements to keep everything square. That alone will make the trailer handle real funny.

_________________
Jim

2007 Hobie Wave

Its easily liftable by me but would have no idea of the accuall. somewhere between 50 and 150lbs so i'll get the scale out today.

Should i worry about stones hitting the hulls?

What are you towing with too. If you're using a Ford Festiva I expect that to not work out so well. Move the boat around on the trailer if you can and see if you can find a spot that gives you a better way to tie it down, and spread the load out better. Make sure everything is tied down tight. Mast front and back, and the boat on all four corners. Tounge weight isn't a bad thing either, even if it is more than the 10%. Find out what your hitch is rated for. I have probably 150lbs of tounge weight when just the boat is on the trailer, at least 50 more when the jetski is on there too, but I also pull my boat with a 3/4ton diesel pickup, and it doesn't care. My trailer is also a tank at 1400 lbs, 1700 w/ the ski. Sliding the axle back increases the wheelbase of the trailer, also making it more stable.

Covering the hulls. I don't bother. Some use stretch wrap. A cheap sleeping bag works well I'm told. If I were going a big distance, especially getting out of the Minnesota tundra in winter I'd wrap them up. If you're towing with a pickup you can get a big mudflap that attaches to the reciever that goes almost bumper to bumper.

I have about 50 lbs tongue weight and my 16 trails very smoothly. It's something you tweek till you have lesser of the evils.

The original complaint was the trailer was bouncing around too much, as is the case with most cat trailers the boat is much too light for the capacity of the trailer. In order for the suspension system on the trailer to work there need to be sufficient weight on the trailer to flex the springs. What I did on my trailer was to remove one of the leafs out of the spring, that will reduce the weight the trailer will support, allowing the suspension to flex on rough roads.

_________________
06 getaway -- always remember, man with both feet in mouth have no leg to stand on.

I think that may be more the direction i need to steer this. Its not that the trailer felt unsafe or "squirlly" its more that its just very harsh and unforgiving on rough road.

I tow with a ford econoline E-150 so vehicular size is not an issue. So trailers like this do not advance from a "shock" of sorts? more just need to get the springing right?

Torsion axles act as a shock.

I wonder if etrailer or some other trailer parts vendor might have brackets and shock absorber kits for small trailers. Seems like it would be easy to retrofit.

_________________
Jim

2007 Hobie Wave

I would tend to agree with the others, not at tongue-weight issue. It sounds like the trailer is either grossly over-loaded or under-loaded. So the springs are either too soft for the load and bottomed out, or they're too stiff for the load and not deflecting at all. See if there is a nameplate/sticker somewhere on the trailer that lists the maximum capacity.

If you put your weight on the trailer do the springs deflect at all?

sm

open your wallet and let the moths out.. everyone else pays to have thier boat a home, just do it.

Even if i wanted to shell out money to park it at a Marina that would limit me to sailing in the one bay. And it would still be a hour drive to the boat. With the boat staying in the center of the state with me. I can go to the Deleware river, up to LBI, down to great egg harbor, Or out to the Deleware bay. It saves money and it allows more versatility.

I'm not an expert on this, but I have to tell you that when I picked up my Sports Cruiser, it too seemed to bounce all over the place. It was the squeaking noise, rattles, and low level thuds of it more than anything that was un-nerving. I drove about a mile down a country road and kept wondering if I was going to have a boat left when I got home. I got out of my truck and inspected everything, tightened the straps, and then drove 600 miles none the worse for wear.

What I'm trying to say is it might be normal. On the highway I had no issues other than my gas milage going to hell. The hulls are the only thing I'd be worried about, and their only contact points are the rollers. You may not like this idea, but what if you tried sandwiching a swim noodle, or neoprene like padding between the hull and rollers while it's on the road? Ideally it should be strapped down tightly, but you are still going to have that hard rubber roller translating every pothole in the road to your hulls. Just a thought.

Good Luck.

_________________
TC

I would think that going to softer leaf springs and adding some dampening (shocks) would do the trick, yet I have never seen this done. Another trick would be to mount some weight, like plate steel to the frame of the trailer so the sprung weight would be a better match for the spring stiffness.

OK folks... None of you have addressed a very basic issue - tire pressure.

8 or 12 inch, it really doesn't matter... The tires that comes with these trailers are rated for about 3 times what the trailer actually weighs fully loaded. Yet most people inflate to max PSI.

Hellooooo! Does that sound vaguely suspicious to anyone?

Since most of you are hauling cats on trailers specifically designed to haul cats, how about letting some of the air out instead Look at how the tire sits on the ground, not the max PSI listed on the sidewall. Better yet, feel the tire when you get where you're going. Is it hot, is it cool, is it bored to tears?

And no, a torsion axle will not improve the ride. Been there, done that. Torsion axles perform the same function with approximately the same spring rate as leaf springs... So why torsion? Because they lower the deck of the trailer. For easier loading. A very common attribute of cargo trailers.

Brian C