[Guest]

After reading a post about who trailers their boat and how far ...made me think of my ?*#@!%^&** trailer. Question for those of you who do trailer, What kind of trailer is it...and do you like it? Mine is a 98 load rite(float on) that was bought new in 99, I bought the boat and trailer in the fall of 2000. Last year i lost more time on the water due to the trailer (6-7 weekends) then to the boat. Needless to say, im in the market for a new one!! just wondering which is the best for the money!!

P.S. anyone interested in buying a 98 load rite??!!:laugher: :laugher: :gunner:

 

[OldMagicfloat]

I have a 1990 Eagle tandum axel trailer. I have no complaints . It tracks perfectly and I have towed 85-90 mph . If you are looking for another trailer let me know. A friend of mine just purchased a new trailer and is looking to sell his. I am not sure what kind. It is 2 years old and came when he bought his 32 Sunsation. I think he's asking $4000. Let me know if I can help.

 

[26scarab]

What kind of problems did you have with your trailer ?
I bought one a couple of years ago and haven't had any problems with it. I've only put about a 1000 miles on it though.

 

[Speedwake]

I have an tandem axle American aluminum Ibeam trailer and it's great. I bought it with the Sunsation. No complaints at all. It has disc brakes which work great also.

- jeff

 

[Guest]

thanks 1boatnut..ill keep it in mind..
26scarab..it all started last year about this time...coming home from a friends house after working on the boat to get ready for the warm weather, about 15 miles from my house..coming across a bridge over a river i frequent wishing i was out there and all of a sudden i looked int the mirror and saw nothing but smokegre: !! pulled over and the rear left axle was on fire:dead: , a kind state trooper pulled in right brhind me and we had to dump a dry chem extinguisher on it!! the bearings had disappeared!! that was the start of it...had all the bearings replaced, thought i was good to go. Nope, the brakes continued to lock up all summer long.. just got done last weekend replacing the entire backing plate... came with new brakes, wheel cylinders and the works. But it pissed me of last year and ive got it set in mine mind..im getting a new one!! I just dont like it

 

[Guest]

oh yeh.. their drum brakes. ive heard disk brakes and torsion suspension are the way to go??

 

[Speedwake]

that reminds mind....
although this trailer has bearing buddies, it's probably not a bad idea to pull the wheels and check the bearing grease...

has anyone done this?
is there any trick to removing the hub with bearing buddies installed?

- jeff

 

[Guest]

JEFF...i hate to admit it but ive become an expert at this lately ..i think. Ive found the easiest way is to jack up the axle, get a hammer and a 2x4- about 1' long, with one end of the 2x4 on the hub press the back of the 2x4 against the tire and..."TAP" on the opposite end of the 2x4 and rotate the wheel 180 degrees. keep doing this and the hub will adventually work free...i think

 

[Red Stripe]

The trailer that my boat was sitting on gave me problems from the start. I didn't even make it home from buying it. Bearings and hub over an hour from home (they did make it part of the first 3 hours). Had to leave the boat and trailer in the middle of the night to go for parts and tools. Came back in the morning and fixed it and headed for home. 40 mins later the other one goes. Long story short, took 18 hours for a 3 hour trip home

 

[obnoxus]

97 Eagle tandem,, twice the price of others,,,worth every penny. original tires sucked though,, put Goodyear Marathons on it. Several 500 mile trips to the Ozarks,,, plus it sees 90+ every weekend on the way to the boat launch.

 

[obnoxus]

As far as the bearing buddies,,, I pulled a wheel apart last year for just that, to grease the inner bearing better. I found that my axle is drilled and has a hole in the rear.... it actually greases the rear bearing first, then pushes everything out the outer so you can tell when you have all new grease in there !!

 

[FA18Driver]

Well my boat came on a Eagle triple axle trailer, I used it until this year when I got a new Magic Tilt aluminum one. The old one had just worn plum out, I am not complaining any it had just seen better days so to speak. The salt water around here just eats one up and I am sure that was the biggest culprit to it's death I washed it faithfully each time it was used but it still rotted away. So I got aluminum this time in hopes it would last a little better with the salt and all. I also have the bearing buddys with torsion axles...... really smooth pulling trailer for sure. The bearing buddys work Like obnoxus has said, on mine anyways. Good luck

 

[obnoxus]

FA18,,,,, I'm with you,,, I would have aluminum in salt water,,,,, but ya know us midwest guys dont have to deal with that stuff.... we pulled boatnuts manifolds off last year to put the headres on,,, 10 years old and didnt look that bad,,,, even flushing them you would have seen at least 2 pairs in that time,,, plus the trailer issues.

But you guys run faster in salt and have ALOT more things to do and see,,,, so im jealous when your boating,,,,, but not when you open you checkbook for the repairs !!!

 

[FA18Driver]

Oh yea you are right, it is a pain in the wallet for sure but it is all we really have around here, I moved here from Destin Fl. and it is all I have ever really had this boat and the old trailer in, other than a few trips to a fresh water lake or two. But my eagle trailer was really good, it lasted well for what I used it for and if I were in freshwater I would have gotten another, that and I got a really good deal on the trailer I got so it was hard to turn down. So I got it I flush mine every use but I know they are gonna go sometime, I would like to put headers on but 2 sets???? ouch.... the price is a bit high for me so I will most likely just use manifolds again:bandit: :bandit:

 

[FA18Driver]

One more thing, be sure the lug nots are tight!!!!!!!!!!!!! my buddy lost a tire and wheel one day, was a very scary thing to say the least. We both now torque em down every time we tow it!!!!

 

[obnoxus]

Really,,,,,, was it with the aluminum wheels or steel? I have the aluminum and have not had a problem.

 

[FA18Driver]

They were aluminum, mine are and were on the other one also. They do tend to loosen up over time. From what we can gather it has to do with the wheel expanding at a different rate than the hub. The to metals will expand at different rates this is a given and we know that to be true. But what those rates are and how much it really effects torque on the lugs is not. All we do know for sure is that his came loose and went flying past and across the center of the Highway in to on coming traffic. We were just lucky that no one hit it or was hit by it. That was one of the scariest things I have ever seen. This 15" wheel and tire flying thru the air as it went thru the center divider We of course stopped and upon checking the other we found all to be loose, some worse than others some were only finger tight. We had not taken the wheels off in a year or so but we know they were tight as we used a torque wrench on them when we did the bearing job the year before. It is cheap insurance to just check em, only takes a few minutes and it could save a life......... sorry to ramble on about this but it is very important to do it:beard: :beard: :chinese: