The Boat US Unlimited Towing was worth every penny!

[Roccus]

Thanks, Roccus, great info as always... So far the only axle I have found was 4 to 6 weeks to get...

Getting parts ( or any supply) is extremely difficult, I'm waiting on a 20HP electric motor for a major piece of equipment here I ordered in May..It's made in Korea.. not expecting it any time soon... unfortunately, it's unique to this piece of machinery and I cant find anything to replace it..
anyway, https://www.championtrailers.com/bearing-kits/.. try these guy's, not that they will be any faster but NORMALLY, I get stuff from them in a few days once they make your axel if they dont have your exact size in stock.

and for springs I use Stengel Bros. out of Pennsylvania..fast and most of their stuff is made in the good old USA.

[Roccus]

Great stuff Joe.  Westernmass and I have 10 hours of towing to do this weekend in total. What would you do to prepare for 5 hours each way?  Trailer has trailer brakes...new truck has trailer brake controls which I played with yesterday.  Turned the gain up a bit until the boat wasn't pushing.

I'd pull the hubs, inspect the bearings, replace anything that was suspect, repack and install a new seal, I'd ( and I do even for short trips) carry a spare hub with bearings.. at a bare minimum, if you feel confident they are good, jack up each side and give the wheel a spin, if it's quiet, you should be good to go, if it sounds "grumbely" or noisy at all,. pull it apart and check it..

Look at the tires, check then front and back for cracks or "crazing" from road hazards or dry rot( the most common cause of trailer tire failure) last check and adjust the pressure, do it cold ( ambient air temp, low or overinflated trailer tires are the second most common cause of tire failure)

check the springs for cracks or unevenness, make sure the hardware is good and not rusted through or loose,  look at the cross members  be sure they are not cracked of damaged, finish with a light check... it all only takes 15 or 20 minutes, but it sure beats sitting on the side of the road for something you could have avoided.

I've been using Lucas red N tacky red grease for a number of years now for my wheel bearings, it has very good low and high temp.  properties...it's good on applications with brakes as well.

[Jethro]

I'll only add what I learned the hard way, the most common mistake people make is too much grease in a Bearing Buddy or EZ Lube hub. They just keep pumping until they see grease push out somewhere. This damages the seal on the back side of the hub. They need one, single pump of grease twice a year, that's it. For this reason I don't like bearing buddies, they are on my Starcraft but I still pull the hubs apart and pack the bearings by hand when I do it. My Sylvan has oil bath hubs and I'm not sure I like them any better. Trailers just suck in general.

[stripernut]

Looks like what I need is a; EZ-LOADER 2-1/2" Sq. Drop Center Torsion Axle (2700 lbs.)
I have a bunch of request out to dealer, but just encase some one has one in the back yard... LOL.

[Baitbucket]

Looks like what I need is a; EZ-LOADER 2-1/2" Sq. Drop Center Torsion Axle (2700 lbs.)
I have a bunch of request out to dealer, but just encase some one has one in the back yard... LOL.

Not sure what the axle costs, but there are a handful of boat trailers on FB Marketplace for 400-1000$

[fishsluggos]

Happy to hear you're OK Alan. Had a similar experience with 2 flats pulling my buddy's 23' water logged old glass barge back from the Cape. Changed the first tire on Rt 6 then had a blow out on Rt 495 during the evening commute. The boat snapped the trailer and Ford 150 from the middle lane into the brake down lane instantly and he was able to steer off to the shoulder. Thank God no one was in the right lane. I thought we would jack knife or roll. 

FWIW, I have an EZ Loader trailer with sealed oil filled bearings that have held up well. Even 3K miles across the US. But I don't use it in the Salt either.

[stripernut]

Not sure what the axle costs, but there are a handful of boat trailers on FB Marketplace for 400-1000$

So far $700-$800, (less for the axle but with all new hub kits) but still looking at availability. If it looks like it will take to long, we will look at other trailers...

Thanks for all the kind words, it did go about as good as that sort of thing could. My father was driving, but both of us have "practice" pulling over when bad things happen... For him (that I saw the results of), loosing a tire and axle at 90+ mph in a old station wagon... The groove he left in the payment was amazingly long, straight and trees that the flying tire and axle exploded were impressive... He claims he was instantly sobered and had opened the driver door to bail encase he lost control (this was a long time ago)... My claim is a little simpler (no were near as stupid) was having a hood fly up and take out the windshield at 60 mph, I was very happy both my wife and I were wearing sunglasses (lots of flying glass) and the little vent in the hood let me see enough to pull over... Fun times! I did have a tire blow in a old Pinto that I could not control, but that was because my lovely wife, as a passenger had reached down and pulled the hand brake in a panic (so hard it was pointing almost straight up and she badly pulled a bunch of muscles in her arm)... Kind of limited my ability to steer.

[Baitbucket]

So far $700-$800, (less for the axle but with all new hub kits) but still looking at availability. If it looks like it will take to long, we will look at other trailers...

If you need any help, please dont hesitate to ask.

[stripernut]

Will do if I need to!

[Jethro]

Looks like what I need is a; EZ-LOADER 2-1/2" Sq. Drop Center Torsion Axle (2700 lbs.)
I have a bunch of request out to dealer, but just encase some one has one in the back yard... LOL.

I would assume you called EZ Loader direct? My Sylvan is on an EZ Loader dual axle with those big drop center torsion axles, one of the tires out of the 4 is wearing really strange- I think I have a bent spindle. They had it in stock but I didn't want to spend the $900 shipped on the new axle. But my trailer is a 2011, so not that old. It seemed like they stock most of the parts.

Have I mentioned trailers SUCK?

[lowaccord66]

Must be the time of year for boat related issues.  I found the bottom of Lake Champlain going 35...




Waiting to see if its a 600 dollar or 2000 dollar mistake.  Lake maps on Garmin suck....rocks were not marked...marked on navionics.

[Jethro]

Must be the time of year for boat related issues.  I found the bottom of Lake Champlain going 35...




Waiting to see if its a 600 dollar or 2000 dollar mistake.  Lake maps on Garmin suck....rocks were not marked...marked on navionics.

Oooooh crap. Stainless prop too. What a bummer! Hope that output shaft is ok.

[TT]

Must be the time of year for boat related issues.  I found the bottom of Lake Champlain going 35...




Waiting to see if its a 600 dollar or 2000 dollar mistake.  Lake maps on Garmin suck....rocks were not marked...marked on navionics.

OUCH!!!

[Baitbucket]

Ouch man, lucky it didnt catch your lower unit and rip it off.