Options on Trailers
 

Getting ready to order a new trailer and there are a few options that are available.

Xtra spares
Tool Boxes
Elect/Hyrdro breaks
Painted Alum.

What does the group think about tool boxes and double spares? I'll be going with Elec/Hydro. brakes so this is a gimmie for me and I'm ordering one spare. Are the tool boxes really worth the added money? Do you really use them? I carry most everything I need in my truck? I know it's safe but has anyone ever needed 2 spares?

BBY, yes, we have needed two spares at one point but I think it was more the exception than the norm. One of the guys we travel with still had bias ply tires (:cool-smiley-011:) on his trailer. One failed and then less than an hour later another failed. In August, traveling between Louisiana and Destin so it was extremely hot too.

Personally, I have always thought I would like a tool box on my trailer but as you said, I typically carry everything I need in the truck.

I put boxes on my trailer and love them!!

I have a Myco tandem dually with a big, nice, locking toolbox, but with a 47 stepped hull, on some ramps it is necessary to immerse the rear of the box to get the boat off the trailer, and everything in there gets wet. Unless you are consistently on good ramps for a big boat, I would recommend keeping the tools in the truck.

I have a tool box on my trailer and have found it to be quite helpful. Carry a jack, hub assembly, tools, etc. etc. which leaves more space for stuff in the truck. I also have 2 spares. If you have anything smaller than 16" 10 ply tires you will at one time or another need those spares--and I think 2 is better than one. It's always better to be safe than sorry--IMO.
Jay

all four items you talked about are good. you can never have enough help. also look into having the spares mounted on spindles with a full bearing set so if you drop a bearing you already have the parts with you. as for painting that is up to you to look at bare aluminum or the color you choose.

2 spares are a must, from My experience any way!! and that is why I ordered 2 with my new trailer last year!! Cheap piece of mind.

Always carry 2 spares and have used both. With the larger size /load tires you can't always find one quickly. We travel at night for the most part and we've blown a tire late, changed it and then blew another before sunrise. We had to go through some paving work earlier on and the trailer kept coming on & off the raised new pavement area. It shifted the belts around in the tires and they separated -two on same side, without two I would have lost a whole day - just my opinion.

2 spares are a must,and the tool boxes come in handy and you'll be glad you got em
ROCK ON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!

I vote two tool boxes and two spares. I have blown two on the same trip. Spec 10 ply tires.

Jim - get the toolbox....you won't regret it. Also, don't paint the trailer - go with the straight aluminum finish

What manufacturer did you go with?

With 2 spares, you can run over something and bust all three and still make it down the road. You didn't mention it but if it's a triple, brakes on all axles. There's different hardware available for braking components. If you're in salt, I'd want a stainless upgrade, Freshwater flush is nice, as is either oil bath hubs or easy-lube spindles.

I would not use oil bath with a trailer that gets dunked, I have seen too many trailers with them get water into the oil. Also the freshwater flush puts some water on the brakes but not enough to warrant the cost. cheaper and easier to just put a garden hose on them after you pull the trailer out.

These are some of the options we have on our current Myco that you might want to consider. I can honestly say that if I had to build another trailer, I would duplicate the options that I have now. They all serve a purpose and have worked well.

- LED Lighting - uses less energy and lasts longer.
- Midship turn signals - lets the rubber-neckers know you want to change lanes.
- Disc brakes on all axles - better stopping power.
- Oil bath axles - only if you don't dunk the trailer. The oil bath axles are sealed, but if the trailer is going in the water I personally would stick with the old school grease just to be safe.
- Torsion springs - seem to ride better than leaf springs.
- Elec/Hydraulic brakes - great stopping without the "clunk" of surge brakes.
- Fresh water tanks - wash and flush the boat anywhere.
- Storage boxes - you can never have enough room for tools and spare parts.
- Swing drive guard - protection for the rear of the boat and for other drivers on the highway, yet still easy to load/unload.

As for the options you specifically mentioned, I would certainly go with elec/hydro brakes. They seem to work really well. On the tires, it can't hurt to have more than one spare. We have always had our spares mounted horizontally so they are out if sight. If you are adding boxes to the side of the trailer, this is something you might want to consider. About the tool boxes, it really depends on how much stuff you intend to carry. I like them and load them with extra fluids, filters and small parts for the boat and trailer, garden hoses for the wash down system on the trailer and all of the cleaning supplies. They come in handy. Finally, painting or not painting an aluminum trailer is simply personal preference. If you like the look of it painted, go for it. If you like the bare aluminum better, leave it alone.

I hope this helps. Good luck with your trailer purchase and happy shopping.

I mentioned above about the drive guard protecting your boat and serving as a safety device for other vehicles. Here is what happened to one of my other trailers when it got hit from the side at 50mph. We were making a right hand turn and had another car run into the rear/side of the trailer. The lady was in her 80's and told the police that she never saw it. Either way, because the drive guard was there, the force of the impact was the bumper of her car hitting the trailer instead of her windshield hitting the drives.

She was not injured and the only damage to the boat was a broken skeg and some other miscellaneous parts on one drive. If not for the drive guard, she would have had a face full of fiberglass and bravo drives. I also have no doubt that there would have been more damage to the boat had the trailer not had a drive guard. Please trust me when I say that a drive guard is absolutely money well spent.

Two spares are a must, and have the both mounted on the trailer with full replacements hubs including bearings and the whole works. This way you have spare everything and can whip on a new hub in moments instead of rebuilding a bearing setup from parts after you've cleaned out the carnage. If you are going with integrated rotor/hubs (depends on brake manufacturer), make the spares be total rotor replacements, and not just hubs. I have two spares, but only one mounted on the trailer. The second one goes in the truck for long trips.

1 nice top loading tool box is a must for bottle jack, brake fluid, wheel chocks, grease gun, breaker bar, cordless impact wrench, and spare trailer parts like bearings, caliper, and brake pads. This keeps you from schleping them in&out of the truck each trip.

You want the box mounted as far forward as possible on the driver side. It can't be too high (as you can use it for a step to the bow), as long as your tailgate won't interfere nor the nose of the boat. As long as you spec a tall, sealed, top opening box, you should not have to worry about it getting wet.

You want the spare(s) mounted on the passenger side.

As far as brakes, I only know what Kodiak offers, and you want Nickel Cadmium rotors with SS calipers.

ASG here on the board has a painted aluminum trailer under his 39TG, and it looks AWESOME. If you want to pay the $$$ for it, its worth it, but not a necessity. All aluminum trailers oxidize a bit over time, but I know where you will be dipping most often will be fresh water, so not as much of a concern.

Jim, ping me if I can be of any more assistance. All of the advice above is top notch.

http://www.airtighthubs.com/products-sport-5200.php


Comes standard equipment on Myco. If your getting someone elses trailer I would get them. Also their E- axle for spare.

When i am towing the boat to the races i do carry two spares. I also love the tool box on the trailer just for cleaning supplies.

I have Dexter seals on my Myco tandem dually ( it has 15000 lb axles). I would agree on sealed hubs. I replaced mine with sealed dexters which has made a big difference on ingesting water but those look far better. I wet launch all the time and have replaced the oil with Lucas which is almost as viscous as axle grease. They have not been a problem (but I only trailer relatively short distances, about 85 miles each way)

Waiting to pull the trigger but it's between Myco & manning. Leaning towards the Myco.

i would buy a myco. :cool-smiley-026:

http://www.mcclaintrailers.com/


check them out. same as myco and cheaper to buy

I had 2 storage boxes on my last cat trailer. I also had 2 spares put on.

Water would get into the boxes everytime. I tried getting some good plastic storage bins that fit in there, hoping the water would stay out. However sometimes you have someone different doing the trailer and they may back it in too far, now you have a plastic bin filled with water.

Try to keep a storage box as far forward as possible and as high as possible to avoid this problem. A box like this is better than 1 or 2 on the side.
http://mcclaintrailers.com/channel/images/channel14.jpg

In terms of wheels, dont care. Go find the strongest, most durable tire and then find a wheel to fit it.

Make sure your axle size is far more sufficient than you need. For instance, if your boat is 20k on the trailer, get 3 8000 pound axles, not 3 7000 axles.

On the trailer, going overkill will only save you hassle down the road. Dont underbuild it.

Some of the cooler features above are nice, LEDs look better, drive guards are good but sometimes make launching more difficult depending on how they are built.

What would be really slick is if you had a stoage box running down the middle of the trailer that was 8' 10" long and you could keep an entire extra axle on the trailer, locked in that box. I dont know how you would do this with a V, but a cat would be easy as long as it was accessible from the side (so you can get it out with the boat on).

When I blew a bearing in Havasu, luckily I was in town, but I had to get an axle from my trailer mfg in Texas. Took about 2 weeks before they got the axle. My boat had to stay in Havasu for 3 weeks. Finding a shop to do the work is the easy part, if they have what you need.

Magic34, that is a McClain trailer right? Is that what's under your 370SS?

Also, how about lining the inside of the trailer tool box with Rhino Liner or similar? This would seal all but the top very well.

I also just posted this on another thread:
[ Depending on the entire setup, and the ramps used, the ENTIRE weight of the boat and the trailer is ALL on the front axle when you are cresting a ramp going down, AND you have water weight in the axles and cross members added in when pulling out of the water too, as it drains.

This will do a REAL NUMBER on the front axle in no time. This is why its very important to over-engineer your trailer. I'll say it again: "you can't have too much trailer." ]

If you go with a Rhino Lining type coating, try a dark color. I did my boxes on the Gladiator trailer inside and out in white Line X and we had to touch up the edges of the boxes with a little white paint every year. I don't know why, but only the edges turned yellow. All of the flat surfaces stayed perfectly white. I first thought it was the diesel exhaust, but you can see in these pictures that it occurred equally on both sides, not just the exhaust side. I still like the general idea though, because once they are coated you can walk on the boxes and throw stuff in and out of them all day without any worries of scratches or dings.

Sydwayz has a good idea about using the lining to waterproof the boxes. I think that this would work really well if you had top load boxes.

on my current trailer I have torsion axles and on the next trailer will use the same but specify ones with replaceable splindles then carry a complete hub assembly as mentioned and have it mounted to a spare spindle