R-21EC Trailering Damage

[Kamalani]

While trailering Kamalani this week. (approx 300 miles round trip), I sustained the following damage: Mast hinge weld broken, VHF radio mounting bracket shaken loose with all 4 screws missing, and broken trailer wheel bearing! And NO I am not dragging her over the Baja 500 course! But the condition of California's highways is so bad that I am becomming reluctant to leave home!

I am using the EZ Loader single axle trailer that was supplied with the boat in 2008. So my question to factory and TugNuts is this - Has anyone tried modifying that trailer to make it dual axle? Or is there any other way to lessen the damage from rough highways?

Alex

 

[knotflying]

Call EZ- Loader, I am sure they can readily answer your question. Maybe your problem though was a bad bearing to begin with and the roads helped it along. Trailers take a beating; used intermittently, soaked in salt water, curbs and sharp turns

 

[dalee62]

I talked to the EZ loader rep at the Seattle boat show in January. My concern is that the trailer is almost maxed out weight wise with a fully provisioned boat. I always put as much stuff as I can in the truck to lighten the load on the trailer. I asked if I could add a second axle. The answer was "NO". His suggestion was to buy E rated tires if I was concerned.

I know that I cringe every time I hit a bump and watch things flex in the mirror.

Dave

 

[knotflying]

Well, as much as you may not like it, the answer is a new trailer. For you new, but I am sure you can find a used one somewhere.

 

[glthomas]

My 2013 single axle EZ Loader is rated for 5,000 lbs. The 21 is around 2100 so you shouldn't be overloaded.
Are you sure a tandem would help? The added weight might control some of the bouncing but then you have two sets of axles to maintain. You can go to a nearby Truck Stop and weight trailer and all for a few bucks. The scale allows for you to pull up so that your vehicle is off the scale. You are not insured if you pull an overload.
I have towed a few thousand miles with no problems. I always air up the tires to 50 lbs, lower the mast and antenna and secure them with the supplied cables. At this time I am not using tie downs on the transom but I plan to get some in case of an accident on the road. ( next trip to Academy). I have not traveled the area you live and most of my miles have been Interstate Highways, so no comparison there.
You can check with you Insurance Coverage on Road Hazards for you tow vehicle also. You can also file a complaint at the Highway Department if you can narrow it down to a specific area or exact description of the hazard.

I can feel your frustration. Get you trailer checked out so that you are confident to tow. There are others here looking for trailers, so you could sell yours to recover some cost If you find you are overloaded.
You didn't mention your tow vehicle. If it's been awhile you might invest in new or upgraded shocks or sway bar, etc.
Good luck getting over this hump and back in the water. 🙂

 

[tlkenyon]

Rough roads are a problem here in the Great Plains also. I find that when I slow down it really eases the pain - adds to the trip duration, but a reasonable trade-off. I also reduced the tire pressure to 40 psi from the max recommended 50 on load range E tires. This might wear the tires out a little more quickly, but they also absorb some of the punishment. Even at this reduced pressure, heating has not been a problem, even on very hot (95F) days where I get tread temps of 120 or so.

I also once neglected the transom straps (senior moment?) and found that the boat actually bounced on the trailer bunks after a particularly large pothole that I did not see until too late in traffic. This obviously added some dynamic loading to the trailer and, in fact, the forward starboard bunk support collapsed on this trip. I have not forgotten the transom straps since.

Dual axles might not be the solution and the ride will likely be stiffer and actually transmit more shock to the boat. Significantly under-loading a trailer can be just as bad as overloading.....

 

[Don Cardinal]

I have a 21 classic on an Easy loader roller trailer. I use an over the gunale strap for my aft tie down. I happened to be looking in the rear view mirror of my SUV as I was going over a bump. I noticed that the bow of the boat moved up and down on the bow stop . Even with the winch being tight on the bow eye. This horizontal pull isn't going to stop the keel of the boat from leaving the front roller of the trailer. I bought a bow tie down at West Marine. It loopes around the trailer tongue just below the bow eye then you adjust the cantelever buckle to the right length and then close the buckle. No more bounce. I think I paid about $19.00 for the Bow Tie down. A little expensive when I know that you can buy a pack of four ratcheted cargo tie downs four the same price. However the tie down had a sewen loop on one end for easy wraping around the tongue and a stainless hook on the other for hooking to the bow eye.
Happy trailering,
Don

 

[Kamalani]

Thanks for all of your useful input. Today I was able to go recover our boat and trailer from the repair shop about 100 miles from home. Both wheel bearings were replaced, as well as the damaged brake rotor from the broken wheel side. All of this set me back a little over $600, but I was lucky to find a boat repair shop near my breakdown location that took excellent care of our boat while it was there.

Boat US Insurance, and in particular their trailer coverage, earns an A++ for their part on that day as well. Their rep located not only the Boat repair business closeby, but arranged a low-bed semi and trailer for towing. The tow operator arrived in less than an hour carrying his 4X4 pickup on the lowboy, which he hitched to my boat trailer and drove the entire rig up onto the flatbed. (He also warned me never to allow anyone to attempt to load a boat and trailer by using the tow winch cable attached to the trailer tongue, as the trailer jack would never survive the strain.) Bottom line... That was about a $700 towing job paid for entirely by Boat US!

On tires - after experiencing a rather dramatic blowout of one of the original Marathon load range D tires supplied by EZ Loader, I replaced both mounted tires with E range and held onto the remaining original as a spare. The E tires are stamped for 80 lb max, but I run them at 75.

Now it just remains to finf a stainless welder to repair the radar mast, and bolt down the VHF radio with thru-bolts, large washers, and nylock nuts! Then head back out on the road, and try not to scream at every jolting pothole!