Trailer adventures...

[Jon W]

So, instead of going to the run today I did some friends a favor and towed their boat from Concord MA to Newfound Lake in NH. I've towed this boat/trailer (an 18' Sea Ray) for them for the last 3 years and each year we've had to fix something... First year we needed a new battery. Last year we needed a new solenoid relay for the boat's starter (discovered when the boat was in the water, but wouldn't start).

This year we needed new trailer tires... They looked fine when we left, but after about an hour on the highway, not so good...


The top 2 tires in the picture are the ones that fell apart on us after they were dismounted at a VIP Discount parts place where we stopped to get new tires (the only place open at 2:30pm Sat afternoon)... While we were in Concord NH, stopped in traffic, the guys behind me (who own the boat) said "something looks funny", so we pulled over and discovered both tires were disintegrating. Once we had the new ones the trailer towed much more smoothly!

I'm told the old tires were 20 years old.... RIP!

I hope you guys had a fun time wheeling!

JW

[johnsxj]

PIC PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jon W]

Not sure why it isn't working - I can see it...

Here is a link to the pic:
www.pbase.com/jwatson/image/115864339

[johnsxj]

WOW!!!!!!
Makes for a good reminder to those who are towing out to Moab!

[frank]

Thats gittin yer mony worth ! FjR68

[Jon W]

Aug 10, 2009 21:40:27 GMT -5 johnsxj said:

WOW!!!!!!
Makes for a good reminder to those who are towing out to Moab!

Yeah... I'm going to be getting some contract work and some paid days at work so I plan to order 4 new trailer tires from Lou in the next couple of weeks...

JW

[dedflstci]

I drive a tow truck and the other big failure we see regularly with trailers is the bearings. If your trailer has been sitting for a while, the bearings haven't been repacked recently, or you just bought it and don't know the history, I highly recommend repacking the bearings (or replacing them if they look bad) before a trip like Moab. Things can turn bad really fast.

Ben

[Jon W]

Aug 28, 2009 18:05:12 GMT -5 dedflstci said:

I drive a tow truck and the other big failure we see regularly with trailers is the bearings. If your trailer has been sitting for a while, the bearings haven't been repacked recently, or you just bought it and don't know the history, I highly recommend repacking the bearings (or replacing them if they look bad) before a trip like Moab. Things can turn bad really fast.

Ben

Good thought - I already did it. I bought the trailer in the spring and did a fairly major overhaul... I replaced/regreased the wheel bearings on all 4 wheels. One of the wheels needed new races so I ended up replacing the drum/hub assembly - so that stuff is all done. Brakes were OK, so I left them alone.

I rebuilt a new wiring harness from scratch - all new wire w/ butt-splice + liquid elec tape + heat-shrink on all connections and I put in several junction boxes w/ dielectric grease on the terminals so I can pull out pieces of wire if I need to or splice new pieces in... I also I grounded the chassis to the trailer hitch's ground wire at multiple points.

The only thing left to do are replace the tires, which are 5 yrs old.

For the trip to Moab I have several sets of replacement bearings / races / seals, high-temp grease, and a spare drum / hub assembly which I'll put in the tool box.

JW