[Rhodes22-list] Trailer Trouble

[Scott Andrews]

Trailers have always intimidated me. When I hauled my boat from Stan’s up to Delaware I think I held my breath most of the way. I replaced the coupler and bled the brakes but other than that I only had a visual inspection to go on. Fortunately the trailer Stan sold me was in excellent condition and the hauling has been mostly uneventful. I had a wheel come off a lowboy trailer while hauling a bulldozer. I have never forgotten the feeling. Concealed metal fatigue and corrosion are hard to spot. Glad you are ok Peter. 
Scott & Rebecca sv Pantalaimon

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jul 21, 2023, at 10:12 PM, jpd9668 <jpd9668 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I hate to sound flippant, but it looks like the trailer never saw a fresh water rinse. My trailers always spent more time getting hosed of, especially the undercarriage, than they did in the water. Really pissed off the people in line at the ramp. But my axel never rusted in two.Joe DempseyTrojan 42M/V VoyagerFormer Rhodes 22S/V RespiteDeltaville, VASent via the Samsung Galaxy S22 5G, an AT&T 5G smartphone
> -------- Original message --------From: Peter Nyberg <peter at sunnybeeches.com> Date: 7/21/23  9:39 PM  (GMT-05:00) To: rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org Subject: [Rhodes22-list] Trailer Trouble So, yesterday I was towing my boat from Connecticut up to Rockland, ME, as I do several times a year lately.  Shortly after crossing the Maine - New Hampshire border, something about the behavior of the trailer caught my attention, but I can't really say exactly what it was.  When I glanced in the rear-view mirror, the first thing I noticed was a tire and wheel rolling freely down the highway somewhere behind me.  The second thing I noticed was a shower of sparks coming from behind the forward trailer wheel on the driver's side.  I decided that I should probably pull over to the break-down lane. The trailer handled the loss of one wheel pretty well, so fortunately, it was a pretty low drama situation. My trailer is a dual-axle galvanized Triad. manufactured for General Boats in 2016. I maintain an 'Unlimited Gold' membership with BoatUS, so I called them to arrange for transport for the boat and trailer to a trailer repair shop about 20 miles away.  The bill for the 'tow' was over $700, so I'll come out ahead on my membership this year.As the attached (I hope) pictures might show, it was the axle itself that failed.  I have the wheel hubs serviced every year, and check them periodically when towing to make sure they're not getting hot, but of course the thing you're checking is not the the thing that fails. The trailer shop in Maine is still in the process of figuring out options, but I'm pretty sure that they won't be cheap, and they won't be quick.Be careful out there,Peter NybergCoventry, CTs/v Silverheels (1988/2016)-------------- next part --------------A non-text attachment was scrubbed...Name: Axle.jpgType: image/jpegSize: 2092129 bytesDesc: not availableURL: <http://rhodes22.org/pipermail/rhodes22-list/attachments/20230721/5e2e51fe/attachment.jpg>-------------- next part --------------A non-text attachment was scrubbed...Name: Wheel.jpgType: image/jpegSize: 1774367 bytesDesc: not availableURL: <http://rhodes22.org/pipermail/rhodes22-list/attachments/20230721/5e2e51fe/attachment-0001.jpg>