Trailer and Rim Upgrade

[daniel123]

The generic white-painted-steel, 14-inch rims I use on my single-axle Continental #3500 lb aluminum trailer start to rust pretty much as soon as they see water, fresh or salt. With the other upgrades I'm undertaking with the 200 Osprey to make it look and perform better, I guess it's time to do same with the trailer, which I realize should probably be a tandem for that size boat. I do have a new axle beam, spindles, bearings, u bolts and leaf springs ready to install, which I hope will help with some tire cupping (insides only) issues I found last season. I'm also upgrading to LED lights. I figure it's time to bite the bullet and upgrade those rims too. Is aluminum the way to go? Any recommendations/sources appreciated.

[flounderpounder225]

Just my .02 I would stay with galvanized steel, neighbor has aluminum, PIA with corrosion around the lug nuts, and he has had issues with the tires seeping air around the bead area, for fresh water probably fine, but for salty.. I wouldn't spend the extra $$

[GoneFission]

I agree with Marc - go with galvanized steel if you are buying new.   But here's a trick - 14" alloy wheels are very cheap on the automotive market!     Nobody wants those little skinny wheels on their cars, so you can find them for next to nothing sometimes in a recycle yard, junkyard, eBay, or Craigs.  Just check the bolt circle/pattern - 4 bolt or 5 bolt - you may find a deal!

[Coverhill]

I have a 17' Aquasport Osprey, mid 1980s model, which is still on it's original galvanized trailer, which has been well maintained or it would have gone to the junk yard long ago.
I use the boat only in salt water.

Two months ago I concluded that I needed to do some trailer maintenance after finding that the starboard side tire would not hold air not withstanding that the tires were only one year old. I guessed that my 30 year old galvanized wheels ("rims") had deteriorated around their edge due to rusting and that was the reason that I was not getting an airtight seal between the tire and the wheel. So I took the trailer to a 20 years of experience boat trailer repair company and asked them to put me on a new set of wheels. There were two basic choices available to me - galvanized steel or aluminum. The aluminum were significantly more expensive but nicer in appearance. I was willing to spend the extra for the aluminum. But I figured that I'd ask the guy who for 20 years has worked in this specialty every work day - galvanized or aluminum?   Without hesitation he said "go galvanized, its a better wheel". So that is what is one again on my galvanized trailer.
Since it had been about 15 years since I'd installed new wheel bearings I had him do that also; we used the old single axle which is sprung (not torsion). I did ask him about torsion axles and he said that they're better than a spring axle. He also installed a complete new wire harness and lights as lights have been the most troublesome item on my trailer.

One more piece of information that I have learned about the hard way. "Tire Cupping" has been mentioned by others on this forum. I have owned two trailer mounted boats for decades now, and still own them.  Both of those trailers came from the factory with their axles not mounted square to the trailer tongue. In other words one end of the axle was mounted farther forward than the other end of the axle. THIS IS WHAT CAUSED MY TIRE CUPPING, which is a problem I had on both trailers. It took me a long time to figure out what was causing that cupping of my tires ( like someone was carving chunks out of one side of the tire's edge)
After I had the axle "squared" to the trailer my tire cupping disappeared; that was some years ago and it has not returned. It takes someone who knows what they're doing to square the axle to the trailer. It's not a job for a hacker. Measure, measure and measure some more, then move the axle. Hope this helps others.

Coverhill
North Palm Beach, FL

[daniel123]

That's great information, guys. Special thanks to Coverhill. Galvanized it is for the wheels, (although I'm tempted to see if I could find a deal on a pair of those automotive alloys....) Where would you recommend I go for the galvanized wheels?

Last week I weighed my 1998 200 Osprey and 1998 Johnson 115, w/full tank of gas and the original single-axle Continental aluminum trailer at my local Kat truck stop scales and got 3660 pounds. That sound right? I realize it's marginal for a single axle trailer, which is why I have a new axle, springs, hubs and bearings from Continental for a replacement project I hope to tackle this summer, in part to see if it solves my tire-cupping problem. Is there a trick to making sure the axle is perfectly perpendicular to the main trailer beams or otherwise in proper place? Also, there is no pre-set bend or arc to the axle beam to allow it to be straight under weight of the boat. Is there supposed to be?

Dan

[Coverhill]

Dan,

You've asked two separate questions as I read your last post.

I'm going to try to answer the last one first, --"straight under the weight of the boat; is there supposed to be?"  I'm uncertain exactly what you're asking here, but if you're asking "where lengthwise along the trailer frame should the axle be properly placed?", I can take a shot at giving you some insight there. My answer however involves another aspect of pulling a trailer. Ideally you want between 5% and 8% of the TOTAL weight of your loaded trailer to be the 'tongue weight' of your trailer as measured at the trailer hitch.
In your case your loaded trailer weight of 3,660 should carry a max tongue weight of 292 pounds at your trailer hitch. My trailer repair dealer had a special weight scale that he inserted into my hitch ball socket and measured my tongue weight (at my request as I knew that I had more tongue weight than was necessary) It took him less than one minute to take that weight measurement, incidently. Two factors determine what the tongue weight of any trailer will be: (1) the location of the load (boat) on the trailer frame, and (2) the location LENGTHWISE of the trailer axle on the trailer frame. So, I think that your question may be this number (2) factor. I believe that you can move your trailer's axle either backwards or forwards, under the trailer's frame, and attach it to the frame at any location so long as that location mechanically will allow you to do so (e.g. no obstructing trailer cross member, etc.) So long as you can effect a solid, sound attachment of the axle to the trailer frame it will be ok.  To find the best location you'll want to know if you want to lessen or add to the current existing tongue weight of your loaded trailer. From the 5% to 8% formula (given to me by the trailer repair expert I recently dealt with) you'll want to have a minimum tongue weight of 183 pounds. Too much tongue weight makes handling the trailer more difficult than necessary; too little tongue weight will make the trailer tow in an unstable manner and is dangerous ('fishtailing' is the result of too little tongue weight).

You asked where to go to obtain your new galvanized trailer wheels. I don't know where you're located. Any boat trailer sales or repair outfit should stock new galvanized wheels.
I'm located in North Palm Beach, Florida and I went to "The Hub", a Continental Trailer dealer, which deals exclusively in new 'boat trailer' sales and repair, and is located in Mangonia Park, Florida.

Your 3,360 total trailer load weight certainly sounds in the ballpark for what you've described.

Now, to your first question "how do I measure to get the axle 'square' on the trailer frame".
Assuming your frame is 'true' (meaning that both your outside longtitudinal frame beams are identically formed and are evenly aligned with an imaginary line that would pass lengthwise down the center of your trailer) you should measure first up each outside beam for exactly the same length (starting at the rear of the trailer). Be sure to clearly mark this point on each outside beam as you'll need this in this next step. Then take a second similar measurement (starting at the rear) but make this measurement from the rear end of the PORT beam to the front measurement point on the STARBOARD beam (a diagonal measurment), then using that exact length you've just obtained, take that exact length and repeat it on the other side of the trailer and see if it brings you to the exact place you marked on your PORT outside beam. If so that should give you the port and starboard points where your trailer axle will be square. Of course you'll really need to have the boat off the trailer to be able to do this with the needed accuracy. "Measure TWICE, Mount axle ONCE". If you get it right I'll bet your "tire cupping" problem will disappear.

Hope this helps
Coverhill
North Palm Beach, FL

[daniel123]

That is excellent advice, Coverhill, which I have printed to reference as I tackle the job. What I meant in the first section was that some  have told me that some axles are actually pre-bent to be installed with the bend "up" to allow the weight of the boat to push the axle back down into a horizontal position during use. Mine's not pre-bent. And I'm still wondering if I'm in the ballpark boat-weight-wise for a single-axle trailer, which is why I weighed it and am replacing the axle and hardware to make sure what I do have is in new, working condition.

I'll have the boat off when I remove my old axle and hardware and install the new.

It am located in Ohio and thought that there might be a particular provider of galvanized wheels that members have found to be a good source. That's how I found Taco Metals and Marine Liquidators, to name two of several CA-recommended businesses I have used on several occasions!

Dan

[seabob4]

Dan, have you looked at etrailer...http://www.etrailer.com/  or Eastern Marine (Trailer Parts Superstore)...http://www.easternmarine.com/

Compare pricing, see how it looks from where else you've tried...

[wingtime]

The axles that are bowed up in the middle are called prestreesed.

[daniel123]

I'll check those sites out and thanks for the clarification on the axle term, Wingtime.

Dan

[daniel123]

I tackled the axle replacement job last week and while the 200 Osprey was off I went ahead and replaced all the lights with LEDs. The main reason for the axle replacement was because the new tires on the single-axle trailer were cupping on the inside. We figured the axle was weak and "bowing" under the weight of the boat, resulting in that wear. Coverhill had also mentioned that an axle not square to the frame might also cause that cupping, so I was looking for both causes during the process.

We removed the original axle, which showed some surface rust, but not before my buddy jumped on it a few times while it was still on the trailer and said it felt like it was 'giving some' underfoot and we figured that was, indeed, the cause of the cupping.

When we went to put the new axle on, positioning it using the rust and wear marks left on the frame by the ubolts on the original, I reminded him of the squaring issue. When we measured those marks we found that one --and therefore the axle position it maintained -- was a half inch ahead of the other! We measured from the rear of the frame and placed the axle in the same place, but as square as we could using our own measurements, and not the marks from the original hardware. I forgot to do the crisscross-measuring Coverhill suggested and am kicking myself for not doing so -- but I think that finding that the axle was 1/2 inch off was still a major point and I'm hoping that was the reason my tires cupped.

That said, just to see what it looked like, we cut the old axle in half -- and it was good as new on the inside.  So I'm not sure if it was weak and flexing too much, as my buddy thought, or not. But one spindle was gouged from a failed bearing sometime in the past, which would have reared it's head sometime down the line by causing another to fail, and combined with replacing the old axle with one in a square position, and with new bearings, hubs and leaf springs, it was a job worth doing.

I have ordered new galvanized rims and tires from etrailer, as recommended, and will watch to see if the cupping wear has ended. And will report same here. Meanwhile, I welcome any feedback and thank you all for the help.