Long distance trailering tips

[SmokyMtnGrady]

Greetings :
I have been here now for over a decade and in those times I have driven 500, 600, 1,000 miles and in my early days I would have the worse luck. I would blow tires our,wheel bearings failed and hubs and spindles would fail. Year after year I would have the worse trailering experiences.

My last straw was 5 or 6 years ago I had bearing failure and a hub got so hot it exploded. The spindle was severely damaged. I took 4 or 5 hours at the Loves Truck stop outside Orangeburg, SC at 301 and I -26.

I finally got tired of it and tore my trailer down. I built it up with Kodiak stainless steel brakes and hubs. I bought load range D tires as they are the largest for 14 inch rims. I made a kit with parts such as hubs prelubed , a portable floor jack, trailer parts like grease caps , cotter pins and such. I have spare grease, rags, and spare lumber. We have breaker bars and a jack stands too. Everything I need to rebuild two wheels.

I think having your own. NASCAR trailer pit kit is a great thing. I also learned this. Repack your hubs before every long trip. Run your trailer tires at max pressure and get the highest load range tires your wheels will allow. The Kodiak breaks and tires have not let me down..knock on wood.

I have found my tie down calipers would stick causing excessive heat which lead to bearing failure and tire failure. The Kodiak breaks have been flawless.

 

[Parthery]

You make it safe to Orlando?

 

[blindmullet]

A temp gun is another good item to keep in the truck. Shoot the hubs at gas fill ups.

 

[HookUp]

On long trips I like to lash the bow down using the bow cleat, then run the line down under the trailer winch mount, up over the cleat again , down under the mount then a few turns horizontally to squeeze the two vertical lines together and then finally vertically over the horizontal bindings and hitch it tight.

 

[Seafarer_Bob]

I have found my tie down calipers would stick causing excessive heat which lead to bearing failure and tire failure. The Kodiak breaks have been flawless.

How do you know if the calipers are sticking and how do you fix it?

I've been trailering a smaller boat long distances for 30 plus years. I take all the precautions and carry a lot of spares but just bought a new trailer with breaks and the front axel constantly runs much hotter than the rear. The ball is at the recommended height but I may go a couple inches higher to see if that helps but aside from that I'm not sure what to do.

The dealer and mfg say it's normal due to the breaks but if the bearings on my single axel with no breaks trailer got that hot I'd be proactivly replacing them but they're hot like this on every trip and I haven't gone any major long distances, yet.

I've heard good things about this Kodiak SS breaks so I see that upgrade in my future. I have a Seafarer 228 on a Loadrite 6000# torsion axel aluminum. It breaks no problem the way it is but should I put breaks on both axels when I upgrade?

 

[Parthery]

Measure distance from the bottom of the tongue to the ground when it's hooked to the tow vehicle. Then measure the distance from the rear crossmember to the ground.

(Make sure the trailer is on level ground).

The difference between the two should be less than an inch. If not, raise or lower the ball mount to get within that range.

On my F150, I wound up going with a straight (no drop/no rise) ball mount and I can feel a difference both in the braking ability since the surge actuator is level and working properly.

 

[Seafarer_Bob]

Measure distance from the bottom of the tongue to the ground when it's hooked to the tow vehicle. Then measure the distance from the rear crossmember to the ground.

(Make sure the trailer is on level ground).

The difference between the two should be less than an inch. If not, raise or lower the ball mount to get within that range.

On my F150, I wound up going with a straight (no drop/no rise) ball mount and I can feel a difference both in the braking ability since the surge actuator is level and working properly.

Thanks, right now I only have a 2" drop but before I start messing with thre calipers I'll measure and bring it up a couple inches with a straight receiver.

 

[Ky Grady]

Isn't 6K trailer a tad minimal for a 228? Might be overloaded and not level contributing to the heat.

 

[Seafarer_Bob]

Isn't 6K trailer a tad minimal for a 228? Might be overloaded and not level contributing to the heat.

If so that would be really upsetting, I bought it new this spring from a Grady dealer when i bought my 228 so trusted their recommendation. I plan to haul it from VA to FL at least once a year and I regularly travel 200 - 300 miles with it.

 

[Doc Stressor]

I have a 6890 lb rated trailer for my 226. The dealer specifically asked me how far and how long I would be towing before he let me go with that trailer. I only planned to use the trailer to pull the boat from my high dry marina to my house, which is only 7 miles. He said that would be fine but if I wanted to tow to the East coast or down to the Keys, I should get a trailer rated for at least 7500 lb.

How do you know if the calipers are sticking and how do you fix it?

When I lived out west I would trailer up to 10,000 miles per year. I went through wheel bearing hell with Tie-Down disc brakes. The only way to adjust them to sit straight on the rotor and don't drag is to use shims on the bolts. This turns out to be a trial and error thing since you can't see how the caliper pads are going to sit until you tighten the bolts. I ended up removing the brakes and driving illegal just so that I could use the boat.

The other issue with disc brakes is a surge brake coupler. If you have to go down hills (as I did trailing in the mountain west), the brakes will engage when you slowly descend a winding grade. This will heat everything up and eventually fry the wheel bearings. The solution is to get an electric brake controller. They aren't recommended for boat trailers, but they work fine if you are careful not to get the coupler wet.

BTW, I have Kodiac brake on my current trail and they seem to be holding up pretty well. The calipers are wider than the Tie-Downs and the pads seem to float and self-adjust. After sitting for a long time I have had them stick. But they have always broken free after driving a few hundred yards and appear to work fine.

 

[Halfhitch]

Years ago when the disc brakes were a new item to me I was living and boating out west and being young we were everywhere and the downhill heating problem was a head scratcher at first. After replacing a couple sets of fried pads I rigged up a toggle switch on the dash I could flip on and energize the solenoid that dumps the pressure back to tank. No more smoked brakes. The fact that you have no trailer brakes while the switch is "on" has to be considered and allowed for.

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

How do you know if the calipers are sticking and how do you fix it?

I've been trailering a smaller boat long distances for 30 plus years. I take all the precautions and carry a lot of spares but just bought a new trailer with breaks and the front axel constantly runs much hotter than the rear. The ball is at the recommended height but I may go a couple inches higher to see if that helps but aside from that I'm not sure what to do.

The dealer and mfg say it's normal due to the breaks but if the bearings on my single axel with no breaks trailer got that hot I'd be proactivly replacing them but they're hot like this on every trip and I haven't gone any major long distances, yet.

I've heard good things about this Kodiak SS breaks so I see that upgrade in my future. I have a Seafarer 228 on a Loadrite 6000# torsion axel aluminum. It breaks no problem the way it is but should I put breaks on both axels when I upgrade?

The sticky caliper thing ,for me , is hearing it and if you jack up your trailer and spin the wheel you will feel it. The added friction will add heat. You could try using a lubricant on the pistons but remember if you do that you need to make sure you use brake cleaner on the rotors. To be honest ,I just said to heck with it and bought new Kodiak stainless brakes. They have not yet gotten stuck. Parthery has been mine trailer guru here. Lol.

Parthery, we made it to Orlando and the Keys! Weather has been great for a few days but the wind picked up and rains came in with a tropical wave. It has killed offshore fishing.

 

[wrxhoon]

I have used Kodiak S/S brakes on my trailers for the last 20 years, S/S rotors, S/S calipers ( the most important ) S/S brackets and pads with S/S backing plates. I install these brakes on every trailer I buy and never have any issues and hardly any maintenance besides changing pads and rotors will wear out quicker because they are softer. Softer material rotors will stop better that harder steel rotors . A bit like German cars that have softer material rotors = better brakes. I also have a Hydrastar electric over hydraulic actuator as it is mandatory here on loads over 2000 kg (4400 lb) and brakes on all axles. Never have any issues with either brakes or bearings , I use bearing Buddies and S/S sleeves on the stubs where the seal runs. My current trailer is 7000 lb and I trailer up and down the coast from Sydney with some very hilly terrain.
If you use none S/S calipers they will corrode pretty quick if you dunk them in salt water. When they corrode enough they either jam and won't work or tight on the rotors.
S/S set up is about 3 times the price to start with but much cheaper in the long run in both parts and labour.

Seafarer Bob, if your trailer is new brakes should still function. Do you have 14" wheels on your trailer? For that size trailer 15" are better as they don't spin as fast as 14's. I would put brakes on both axles, Kodiak or Dee-max, if you don't want to spend the $ to go full S/S at least use S/S calipers. The problem with that, when you get some rust on the rotors they rip the pads quick so you are forever changing pads. EOH actuator is best but surge brakes are OK if legal where you are.

If you have a new 228 with hardtop, 6000 lb trailer is on the limit for distance trailering.