[Rhodes22-list] Trailer

Tue May 18 08:30:43 EDT 2021

Graham,

The position of the boat on the bunks isn’t going to change.  The second axle, wheels, tires, and leaf springs only add a few hundred lbs and it’s mostly unsprung weight down low.  Let’s define the trailer coupling ball as the center of rotation.  Now, think about the radius of pitching (i.e. up & down) of the trailer wheels relative to the trailer coupling.  In order to have the tongue weight like it is now, but with tandem wheels, that pitch radius needs to be the same.  You also want the tandem wheels to share the load equally.  Therefore, you want the centers of the tandem wheels to be equidistant ahead of and behind the location of the present single wheels with a few inches of tire separation clearance.  Trailer brakes should go on the front wheels because the front wheels will tend to get more heavily loaded during a panic stop.  If your present single axle trailer is not stable at highway speeds; then, now would be good time to add more tongue weight by shifting the axles aft slightly.  Don’t go overboard here, a couple of inches would add a lot of tongue weight and make a huge difference.

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium

Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for Windows 10

From: Graham Stewart<mailto:gstewart8 at cogeco.ca>
Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 2021 1:05 AM
To: 'The Rhodes 22 Email List'<mailto:rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Trailer

I am wondering what all is involved in adding another axel. Is it just a matter of placing a secod axel behind the current one or do both axels need to be moved to achieve a proper balance?

Graham Stewart
Agile, Rodes 22, 1976
Kingston Ontario

-----Original Message-----
From: Rhodes22-list [mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org] On Behalf Of Steven Alm
Sent: Monday, May 17, 2021 8:15 AM
To: The Rhodes 22 Email List
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Trailer

Thomas, when I first bought my boat a quarter century ago and towed it for
the first time, as soon as I hit 45mph the boat started fishtailing wildly
and jerking the vehicle like crazy. Scary as h*ll! I took the motor off and
lashed it to the trailer tongue and also loaded other gear as far forward
as possible. That helped. But also, when the boat was in the yard (not
connected to the vehicle) if I climbed the boarding ladder the tongue would
lift up. I’m only 165 lbs! After a couple years of this and many attempts
to load the boat farther up on the trailer I finally popped for a second
axle to be added to the trailer. I added electric breaks too.  Best
thousand bucks I ever spent! It now tracks like a dream without removing
the motor, shifting gear or anything else. It also gives me peace of mind
knowing that if I blow a tire or burn a bearing I can safely pull over.  I
know some R22s tow just fine on single axle rigs but mine did not and
others, like you have had the same problem. Not all trailers are created
equal. If you plan to do much trailering I highly recommend this fix.

Steve “Slim” Alm
S/V Fandango
On Sat, May 1, 2021 at 12:17 AM <cjlowe at sssnet.com> wrote:

> Yes, I can see how I could have worded it better. You want the stopper "
> arm" pushed all the way toward the tow vehicle .
>
>
>   Jerry Lowe
>
>
>
>
>  Just to clarify, when you say the bow stopper has to be all the way back
> > you mean it should be retracted towards the front of the trailer—is that
> > correct?
> >
> > Michael McKay
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone
> >
> >> On Apr 30, 2021, at 6:41 AM, Mitch Mitchell <mitchpadl at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >>
> >> Makes sense. Thanks!
> >>
> >>
> >>> On Fri, Apr 30, 2021 at 2:16 AM <cjlowe at sssnet.com> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Mitch,
> >>>  The bow stopper has to be all the way back so the bow eye doesn't hit
> >>> the stopper when pulling out of the water. As you start to  pull the
> >>> trailer out of water, the boat is resting on the tip of forward end of
> >>> the bunks and the aft end of the boat floats a foot or more above the
> >>> back end of bunks. As the boat comes out, it rocks back and the bow of
> >>> the boat raises about a foot, if you don't have the stop all the way
> >>> back, you will rip off the bow eye pad, or worse.
> >>> I like to have the bow eye pad about two inches forward of the bow for
> >>> travel. The boat will rock almost that much in transit and there is no
> >>> sense in beating up the bow by putting them tight together.
> >>>
> >>> Jerry Lowe
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> If that’s the case what would be the purpose of an adjustable bow
> >>>> stopper?
> >>>>
> >>>> Sent from my iPhone
> >>>>
> >>>>> On Apr 28, 2021, at 10:50 PM, Peter Nyberg <peter at sunnybeeches.com>
> >>>>> wrote:
> >>>>>
> >>>>> I’ll disagree a bit here.  I never move my ‘bow bumper’.
> >>>>> I’ll put my bow as close to it as I can manage while the boat is
> >>>>> still
> >>>>> in the water.  As Charles said, when the boat and trailer are pulled
> >>>>> out
> >>>>> of the water, the space between the ‘bow bumper’ and the boat
> >>>>> will
> >>>>> increase.  This is inevitable, and not necessarily a problem.  Moving
> >>>>> the ‘bow bumper’ closer to the boat at this point just increases
> >>>>> the
> >>>>> likelihood of damage to the boat in transit.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Peter Nyberg
> >>>>> Coventry, CT
> >>>>> s/v Silverheels (1988/2016)
> >>>>>
> >>>>>> On Apr 28, 2021, at 10:29 PM, Charles Nieman
> >>>>>> <blue66corvette at hotmail.com> wrote:
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Thomas
> >>>>>> You float the boat, slide the bow bumper as far forward as possible,
> >>>>>> tighten the boat as far to the front as possible. When you drive out
> >>>>>> of
> >>>>>> the water, the boat will shift to the stern, so the key is to keep
> >>>>>> it
> >>>>>> as close to the front as possible. After you get it out of the
> >>>>>> water,
> >>>>>> then you slide the bow bumper back to the boat to reduce bounce.
> >>>>>> It’s
> >>>>>> tricky, and I’ve had to retry a few times but it can be done.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Sent from my iPhone
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Charles
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >
>
>
>