[Rhodes22-list] I Hate My Trailer

[Peter Thorn]

Rick,

I just ordered a single axle Triad from Stan, galvanized but otherwise
"straight up".  Do the heavier springs improve towing/tracking?   What other
upgrades would you recommend?

PT


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rik Sandberg" <sanderico at earthlink.net>
To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Saturday, August 09, 2003 11:15 AM
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] I Hate My Trailer


> Slim,
>
> Been there done that, although, not to the degree you are having.
>
> It is not a particularly difficult job to move the trailer axle back. If
> your trailer is like mine was, you shouldn't have to change anything else
> to have the room for this. If I were going to do this, I would upgrade the
> axle and springs while I was at it. I found that my original springs were
> either just a bit soft to begin with, or they had gotten soft with age and
> were not doing a nice job of controlling the bouncing. I went to a 5700 lb
> 5 leaf spring and the trailer suddenly developed pretty nice manners.
>
> How high is your hitch ball??
>
> The only way I was able to improve the loading characteristics of my
> trailer was to improve the angle of the trailer to the boat at the launch
> ramp. I bought a height adjustable hitch head and when I loaded, would
have
> it in the lowest position. I would then raise it back up for highway
> travel. I could set this by pulling one pin. Also when I upgraded the
axle,
> springs, tires and wheels, I needed to lengthen the spring shackles to
gain
> some axle clearance under the centerboard. The old axle (3500 lb) was 2
1/4
> inch dia, the new axle (6000 lb) was 3 inch dia. This and the 16 inch
> wheels/tires combined to raise the back end of the trailer several inches.
> So on the launch ramp, my trailer had a fair amount less difference in
> angle between the boat and trailer than a stock trailer. I could drive my
> boat on, winch up slightly and I'd be ready to drive back comfortably from
> KY Lake at 65+, towing with an S-10.
>
> Maybe Jim or Trish will comment on how she has towed for them so far.
>
> Rik
>
>
> At 02:58 AM 8/9/2003 -0500, you wrote:
> >Hi.  Mary Ann and I just got back from a four day trip with Fandango.  We
> >went up north to Leech Lake in north central MN.  The sailing and living
> >aboard were great (I'd love to tell you more about it sometime) but after
> >putting the boat in and out several times in several locations with
varying
> >degrees of steepness at the ramps, I've concluded that something is
> >definitely wrong here.
> >
> >No matter what, I just can't get the boat far enough forward on the
trailer.
> >The result is not enough tongue weight.  I had to take the motor off and
> >lash it on the trailer tongue, put the rudder up in the V berth, along
with
> >anything else that has any weight to it.  I used my bathroom scale to try
to
> >find out how heavy the tongue really is:  the scale only goes up to 300
lbs.
> >and I pegged the thing before the tongue even budged off the hitch--so
I'll
> >bet I have at least 400 lbs, maybe more.  Still, the trailer fishtailed
at
> >anything over 55 mph and also lurched and tugged most of the way.  I use
a
> >3/4 ton full-size cargo van with a V-8--more than enough.
> >
> >At one of the ramps that had a very gradual slope, I backed in so far
that
> >my tailpipe was almost under.  Using the tongue extension, the forward
ends
> >of the bunks were just at water level and I drove the boat hard at the
> >trailer, trying to get up on the damn things, but still no luck.
> >
> >And at the steep ramps it's even worse.  As we've discussed before, you
pull
> >the boat all the way up to the bow stop, but when you pull the trailer
out
> >of the water, the bow rocks back away from the bow stop, and leaves the
boat
> >too far back--actually NEGATIVE TONGUE WEIGHT!
> >
> >I really don't want to move the motor, rudder, etc. not to mention all
the
> >landing gymnastics every time I trailer.  Is it just me or is it a design
> >flaw.  The trailer axle should be about 6-8 inches back or something.
Can
> >anyone offer some insight, please?  Pretty please?
> >
> >Slim
> >
> >__________________________________________________
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>
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