Trailer conversion( rollers to bunks)

[gman 82 aquasport]

Will do, plan on working some on the trailer this week, I have 98% of the parts here now, missing a few u-bolts ...I haven't orderd my front roller yet ,I will wait until I winch the hull back on the trailer to exactly see what roller I need to get, It only takes 3 days from ordering to have it here :) Trailer is bare now no more roller chassis on it, just frame rails and crosmembers.. :pirat:

[gman 82 aquasport]

New pics of trailer with new bunks,

Trailer from the front looking down the rollers..

Kind of a side shot of the new bunks..

One from the rear..

Low one from the rear..
I had to make a bracket for the center lights, the bunks will sit directly under the stringers, cut the angle to match the rise of the hull, used a 2x6 to mark the angle from the hull then transfered it to the bunks then cut them and sanded them smooth, also rounded the tail end of them to about the radius of a baseball so the hull shouldn't dig in, used outdoor carpet to cover   ..Will spray them with silicone to get boat to slid on there easier on Monday.. 8)
Thats when I will find out if I need a front crossmember or roller or not
The bunks are triple 2 x 10 treated, held together with 3in stainless screws, new brackets front and rear, front ones are 8 in so if they need to be raised it will be fairly simple to do..The lenght is equal to the lenght of the roller set-up front to rear

[RickK]

Nice job  

[seabob4]

That trailer looks sweet!!  Triple 2 X 10s...hmmm, could haul a 35 footer with those!!!

[slvrlng]

Looks really nice!

My only concern is do you have enough room above the axles for movement up and down. It looks kinda tight and with those beams it could actually bend the axle around the beam.

[Capt. Bob]

I measured mine at rest and the is just under 8" of clearance between the beam bottom and the axle. My axles however are not straight but bent so the clearance may be more than actually needed.

The photos may be deceiving but it does appear to be a little close. Remember, the hull weight will depress the springs more and reduce the clearance.  

Maybe raise the beam up a hole higher on the brackets.

Good luck.

[RickK]

Good eye there Lew  
I guess notching the bunks over the axles is another way as long as the bottom of the boat still clears the axles on a bump.

[gman 82 aquasport]

Great info guys for things for me to look at tommorrow when I load the hull on the trailer..Before , on rollers the axles only went up about 1 1/2 inches(measured at the springs where they attach to axles to the frame)There is about 2 1/2 inches between the axle and the bunk right now, if need be I can notch it a little or raise the bunk... :pirat: I will know in about 24 hrs.. Bottom of the hull could only get to about 4 inches above axle. the keel rollers catch it at that height, but if my measurements were right the keel should be 1 to 1 1/2 inches above the keel rollers when loaded(sitting on the bunks only). The axles didn't come that high up before so I'm hoping they won't now..

[slvrlng]

The distance you need to be safe would be approximately the same as the clearance you have from the top of the tires to the underside of the fenders. This would be the easiest way to see how much you really need.
The hull sitting on the trailer you should be okay, but you have to think about potholes or bumps at 60 MPH. This is where the clearance would be tested.

[gman 82 aquasport]

After measuring this morning, I only have 1 inch clearance at the rear axle.(but 2 inches at the front one ).I also measured the clearance of the tires to the fender and it is 2 1/2 inches at the smallest place, so I will raise the bunks about 2 inches, I have the room to do it as is with the brackets I have, but I ordered some yesterday that are a little longer and will use them instead and will have more to play with that way...Will post pics when I have it finished and have the boat back on it.. :pirat: I can also raise the crossmember on its bracket also about 1 inch, so I at least have options :)

[gman 82 aquasport]

Raised the crossmembers 5 inches yesterday, I now have between 5 and 6 inches  clearence to the axle..After I load the hull I can adjust the height to where it needs to be...May have to raise the front bunk on the bracket to get the front higher for drainage.. :pirat:

[Curious]

Looks good!  Did you have fun screwing the 3" screws in?  Can you explain how you got the angle of the hull so you could transfer it to the beams?  I also like how you left the wood exposed as much as you did- should help it dry out a lot quicker than if it was completely covered with carpet.

[fitz73222]

Looks good!  Did you have fun screwing the 3" screws in?  Can you explain how you got the angle of the hull so you could transfer it to the beams?  I also like how you left the wood exposed as much as you did- should help it dry out a lot quicker than if it was completely covered with carpet.

Here's what I did when I wanted to make a deadrise template of my boat bottom. Take 2 yard sticks and lay the ends on top of one another and overlap by 1". Drill a 1/4" hole through both ends. Take a 1/4" bolt with two flat washers, lock washer and a nut and bolt the two yardsticks together and tighten till they are in a bind. Go out to the boat at the transom line and hold and fold the yardstick until they match the hull deadrise. Now you have a deadrise template to use for your bunk angles. I made three of them when I was setting up my new trailer and it worked so well; I needed very little adjustment when I did the trailer swap.

[Curious]

Why three, different locations on the hull?

[gman 82 aquasport]

The screws weren't to bad, I had to clamp the 2x10's together so they wouldn't try to separate while being screwed..I did use about 70 ,3in stainless screws in pattern of 2 then 1 then 2 again every 18 inches the center board being the reciever of all the screws.. ....

Curious, in regards to how I got the hull angle, well I did a little bit of down home southern geometry , basically this is how I got the angle for this set of trailer bunks....I measured the inside distance to the stringers from the center stringer,  them took this measurement and transfered it to the outside transom over the drain hole, set the bunks to be just outside of the center of the stringer(front chine would hit the bunk and ride on it if centered perfect)..You must take into consideration that my crossmembers are arched down so I gained a little bit of angle there.....Then I took a 2 x 6 about 2 feet long and stood it at the transom (flat side)where I had made my previous marks, then scribed a line using the hull bottom as the template, took the 2 x 6 over to the trailer, placed it against the rear of the bunk and made a measurement of each side:  say outside measurement was 1 inch and the inside measurement was 2 inches, I let the outside top be zero and made a mark 1 inch down on the inside of that stringer, then took my skil saw and set the angle to match and cut that bunk to the angle, any part that was a little off got sanded with 36 grit disc on a 7inch sander, made quick work of it.....In all I had both bunks marked, cut and sanded in less than 2 hours..
also consider that my hull has been on stacked piers made out of 6x6s, 3 then 2 then 1 with angle cut pieces on top to stablize the hull, all  nailed together on the ends so they wouldn't move.. I also had the rear corners on jack stands that were on 6x6s too with wedges on top to stabilize......  I knew that one day I would be able to use my fire department training in building collapse for something else....with enough timber you can brace almost anything