Hey Bob, John, Dave, and anyone else familiar with trailer issues,
As some of you know, I'm in the process of getting my 2006 228G Seafarer in shape. While I had it in the shop for some rather minor touch-ups, I decided to do a "little" trailer work. I didn't want my polished up and refurbished Seafarer to come home to a less than optimal ride... well, the rewiring of the lights turned into a more detailed check of the trailer in general.
The bearings on the integrated hub assemblies looked fine, rolled smoothly and quietly, but the inner castle nuts on all four "replaceable" spindles are completely rusted to the spindles and beyond repair. To the point I couldn't get any of them to budge, they didn't look very good at all and were crumbling. The Kodiak 225 calipers were sorta rusty, the pad brackets were very rusty and crumbling and the rotors were pretty bad. So, I thought since I wasn't around for the first ten years of the trailer's life and don't know it's complete history, I would just replace both torsion axles and put on new, integrated hubs, stainless brakes and new brake lines while I'm waiting for the boat to be ready.
I just got the new Goodyear Endurance tires for the trailer. It has two new Marathons on it, but they are now made in China and I've seen some less than good reports of the inconsistent wall thicknesses and other problems with them. The new Endurance tires are made in the USA and are 8-ply, D rated, look great, and cost less than the Marathons. I think Goodyear is trying to get as many of these on the road as possible after the USA startup a couple months ago. Not too many reviews on them yet but I, and the shop that installed them on new rims for me, have been impressed by the apparent quality of the tire. Time will tell.
I got the axle and brake items delivered from Expediter in Palm Beach, who was recommended by Dexter, who bought out Tie Down's axle division. So far so good... then I started looking more closely at crossmembers and thought, ya' know maybe I should replace the two 80" ones while I'm at it since the rear one had been damaged by someone hitting the guide pole, which cracked the outside couple inches of the underside of the crossmember where the guide pole is attached by the U-bolts.
The bunk brackets are attached by galvanized U-bolts which we know have the potential to eat into the crossmember due to the dissimilar metal corrosion and some evidence of that may be apparent without removing the brackets. For those not familiar with the Performance trailer, at least on mine, the crossmembers are not hung by U-bolts, but bolted through only the topside of the crossmember through the I-beam frame flanges. To further weaken the area, holes are drilled through the bottom of the crossmember so you can access these bolts with an socket and extension from the bottom of the crossmember. Then add the four smaller holes to mount the guide pole U-bolts and you can see the potential for a weakened area on the rear crossmember, which holds much weight, considering the overhang of the motor bracket and motor aft of the bunks.
So, now my question is... should I replace the crossmember and drill the same holes and mount the new one in the same way (it has held up for ten years), or mount with stainless U-bolts. I would still have to drill the smaller holes in the bottom of the crossmember for the guide pole bracket, but feel I could only drill two and just use one U-bolt for the guide pole. I would then drill one more hole in each flange of the I-beam on each side for the U-bolts to hang the crossmember, not too big a deal. But now there would be a little more downward force at the very aft section of the I-beam flange since the rear portion of the U-bolt will be just aft of the crossmember and pulling down on the last couple inches of the I-beam as you tighten the U-bolt down and then when the weight of the boat is supported on the crossmember.
My engineering and physics background may be causing me to overthink this, but I need to get my trailer back on the road to go pick up the boat, so I want to move on getting the trailer in shape. I will have some delay in getting the new crossmembers due to the Memorial Day weekend and Monday probably being a holiday for Sturdy-Built, which seems to be the best source for the hardware I need.
The other option would be to finish the axle job and pick up the boat with the trailer as it is and wait for my next chance with the boat off the trailer to complete the rebuild. Of course I know that some may say just get a new trailer, but I have some investment in the trailer already and am still coming in well under the price of a new, comparable trailer with quality components, SS brakes, etc.
Any thoughts on the crossmember attachment are greatly appreciated, especially from anyone who has replaced one on a Performance Crew II trailer or similar.
Thanks in advance,
Steve
As some of you know, I'm in the process of getting my 2006 228G Seafarer in shape. While I had it in the shop for some rather minor touch-ups, I decided to do a "little" trailer work. I didn't want my polished up and refurbished Seafarer to come home to a less than optimal ride... well, the rewiring of the lights turned into a more detailed check of the trailer in general.
The bearings on the integrated hub assemblies looked fine, rolled smoothly and quietly, but the inner castle nuts on all four "replaceable" spindles are completely rusted to the spindles and beyond repair. To the point I couldn't get any of them to budge, they didn't look very good at all and were crumbling. The Kodiak 225 calipers were sorta rusty, the pad brackets were very rusty and crumbling and the rotors were pretty bad. So, I thought since I wasn't around for the first ten years of the trailer's life and don't know it's complete history, I would just replace both torsion axles and put on new, integrated hubs, stainless brakes and new brake lines while I'm waiting for the boat to be ready.
I just got the new Goodyear Endurance tires for the trailer. It has two new Marathons on it, but they are now made in China and I've seen some less than good reports of the inconsistent wall thicknesses and other problems with them. The new Endurance tires are made in the USA and are 8-ply, D rated, look great, and cost less than the Marathons. I think Goodyear is trying to get as many of these on the road as possible after the USA startup a couple months ago. Not too many reviews on them yet but I, and the shop that installed them on new rims for me, have been impressed by the apparent quality of the tire. Time will tell.
I got the axle and brake items delivered from Expediter in Palm Beach, who was recommended by Dexter, who bought out Tie Down's axle division. So far so good... then I started looking more closely at crossmembers and thought, ya' know maybe I should replace the two 80" ones while I'm at it since the rear one had been damaged by someone hitting the guide pole, which cracked the outside couple inches of the underside of the crossmember where the guide pole is attached by the U-bolts.
The bunk brackets are attached by galvanized U-bolts which we know have the potential to eat into the crossmember due to the dissimilar metal corrosion and some evidence of that may be apparent without removing the brackets. For those not familiar with the Performance trailer, at least on mine, the crossmembers are not hung by U-bolts, but bolted through only the topside of the crossmember through the I-beam frame flanges. To further weaken the area, holes are drilled through the bottom of the crossmember so you can access these bolts with an socket and extension from the bottom of the crossmember. Then add the four smaller holes to mount the guide pole U-bolts and you can see the potential for a weakened area on the rear crossmember, which holds much weight, considering the overhang of the motor bracket and motor aft of the bunks.
So, now my question is... should I replace the crossmember and drill the same holes and mount the new one in the same way (it has held up for ten years), or mount with stainless U-bolts. I would still have to drill the smaller holes in the bottom of the crossmember for the guide pole bracket, but feel I could only drill two and just use one U-bolt for the guide pole. I would then drill one more hole in each flange of the I-beam on each side for the U-bolts to hang the crossmember, not too big a deal. But now there would be a little more downward force at the very aft section of the I-beam flange since the rear portion of the U-bolt will be just aft of the crossmember and pulling down on the last couple inches of the I-beam as you tighten the U-bolt down and then when the weight of the boat is supported on the crossmember.
My engineering and physics background may be causing me to overthink this, but I need to get my trailer back on the road to go pick up the boat, so I want to move on getting the trailer in shape. I will have some delay in getting the new crossmembers due to the Memorial Day weekend and Monday probably being a holiday for Sturdy-Built, which seems to be the best source for the hardware I need.
The other option would be to finish the axle job and pick up the boat with the trailer as it is and wait for my next chance with the boat off the trailer to complete the rebuild. Of course I know that some may say just get a new trailer, but I have some investment in the trailer already and am still coming in well under the price of a new, comparable trailer with quality components, SS brakes, etc.
Any thoughts on the crossmember attachment are greatly appreciated, especially from anyone who has replaced one on a Performance Crew II trailer or similar.
Thanks in advance,
Steve
