Alright, we’ve got our boat ready for this season. Now what about the trailer? Is it ready for 3-6 hour trips? How about just a few miles? Let’s take a look and invest a little effort into getting our trailer ready.
Trailer Ready Basics
- Lights and Connectors
- Bow Winch
- Jackstand
- Axles / Bearings / Tires
Lighting:
Do all of your trailer lights work? Are you sure? Taking a few minutes to back up to the trailer and hook up the trailer harness will payoff immediately. Running lights should be on both sides when your truck headlights are on. Let’s try turn signals and brake lights. Do you have a light over your license tag?
Many times, lights that work erratically can be a result of problems with the harness connector either on the trailer or on the vehicle.
We’ve had problems with the harness connector failing inside the molded end. Hard to troubleshoot when you can’t see inside it! Have someone stand behind the trailer while you wiggle the connector slightly. Sometimes the problem can be duplicated this way.
Bow Eye Winch
How does the boweye winch and strap look? If the strap looks super dried out or frayed and worn, this is easy to replace at home and even with the boat on the trailer. Also, lubricate the ratchet arm and gears with spray grease or WD-40.
Jackstand
Does your jackstand have a grease fitting? If so, grease that puppy. It’ll make things so much easier when it comes time to hook / unhook the trailer. Here’s one. Do you have a removable jackstand base? Make sure that the pin that holds the base on isn’t too rusty. We lost a jackstand base on the road once because the pin clip rusted off and the pin vibrated out.
Axles and Hardware
Problems here can ruin your trip and even your whole season.
The next time your boat is off of the trailer, maybe at the boatramp, take a good look at the axle(s). If there are large areas of rust, push them with your finger to see if the rust is causing holes or soft spots. Also, look at the leaf springs and the hardware for excessive rust.
These areas are somewhat more difficult to replace or repair. You may need to have a shop fix these issues. We try to do our own repairs whenever possible, but axle and leafspring problems are best left to a pro.
Hub Bearings
If you follow our posts, you know that I’m a big believer in greasing everything with a fitting. Definitely check the bearing grease and keep the hubs well lubricated. Also, make sure the hub bearings are covered to keep out dirt.
Keep a close eye on the inside of the wheel. Look for excessive amounts of grease on the inside of the wheels. Lots of grease on the inside of the wheel is a good indicator that the hub bearing seal is damaged or worn. Replace these now.
Tires
Whether you have 2, 4, or 6 tires on your trailer, maintaining proper air pressure is important. This is an easy one to check. Make sure they are in recommended range without overfilling them.
Also, if your trailer has been parked for months at a time, do a visual inspection of the tires especially the sidewalls inside and outside. Run your hand across the sidewalls looking for any swelling or big blisters.
Tires are known to separate after sitting for too long. Many years ago, our trailer stayed parked for a few months. Even though the tires looked “brand new” we lost 2 of the 4 trailer tires on the first roadtrip. We had to replace all 4 tires at one time to feel comfortable continuing our trip. Great tread doesn’t mean good tires!!
These are the things we look at on our trailer, usually around the same time we service the boat for the season. Unexpected stuff comes up, but maybe catching what we can early can save us from alot of headaches at a time when we’re supposed to be having fun.
Soon!
We’re hoping to be back on the water tomorrow for a Thursday evening cruise and to check our recent repairs. Planning is in the works for our first Silver Glen Springs trip of 2018!! We’ll post again before we go with some trip details.
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See you on the Water!
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