How many of you have weighed your boat and trailer? When I bought my boat new, I upgraded to a heavier rated trailer because I didn’t like the cheap trailer the boat was sitting on at the dealer. Well, I have a lot of inside tire wear which I’m told is a sign of bent axles. Possibly still too much weight for the trailer? I’m curious how many of you know what the weight of your rigs are vs. the rated weight for the trailer.
I don’t. I believe I have 1750 lb hubs on my axles so I think it’s rated somewhere in the neighborhood of 7500 lbs. There’s no way my boat exceeds 5k fully loaded. I should add that I haven’t had any blown bearing and my tires are wearing very very well. I have a 2002 Bombardier Fish Hawk CC.
My last boat, a Crestliner fish hawk 1750 had 1250 lb hubs (single axle). I’m pretty sure the boat was rated for around 2300-2400 lbs dry. Needless to say I blew 3 wheel bearings on long road trips.
I have weighed one of my boats, the others I looked up the specs on the manufacturer’s websites for the hull and the outboard and carefully calculated the weight so I’m confident it was very close to accurate.
Everybody should do this! Doesn’t matter what your tires or hubs are rated for, it’s the full package that needs to be evaluated. You can oversize any one component, that doesn’t mean the trailer can take the weight.
Dealers for years have been under-sizing trailers to a degree that is almost criminal to cut boat package costs. I have seen trailers that came as part of a package that are so undersized that they are over their weight limit when the boat is rigged and the gas tank is full. That’s how close they try to cut it, they didn’t even leave enough margin for the owner to fill the gas tank and they didn’t think he’d ever find out.
The dealers figure the average guy will never figure it what they did to him. All the way back in the 1990s a dealer tried to get away with selling my dad a boat package that included a trailer that only had 300 pounds of capacity left after the motor was added. No way would that be safe in the long run, you’d be overloaded as soon as you added a trolling motor and batteries.
BTW, it’s NOT easy to find the weight rating of older trailers sometimes. I really had to dig.
Grouse
And I’m assuming that the trailer rating includes the weight of the trailer itself? My trailer is a double axle welded frame trailer and I vaguely remember it weighing 900 lbs according to the specs.
There’s no way my boat exceeds 5k fully loaded
I’ve been down that road years ago, and your dead wrong as in comparing it to dead weight. How many pounds of force does it have when 4,000# bounces over a pot hole and impacts the ground again. The velocity of that much force bouncing produces a lot of energy. Look up a splat calculator
I’ve been down that road years ago, and your dead wrong as in comparing it to dead weight. How many pounds of force does it have when 4,000# bounces over a pot hole and impacts the ground again. The velocity of that much force bouncing produces a lot of energy. Look up a splat calculator
Are you saying that spindle bearing load ratings don’t account for occasional shock loads? If not, how do you determine how to choose the right bearing/axle for your equipment? Seems like an asinine way to rate bearings. Such a simple concept that I find hard to believe isn’t a black and white answer.
Keep in mind that springs and tires will absorb A LOT of the shock load.
They absorb more vibration and prevent continuous bouncing. We beat this horse up in an older thread until it was turned into glue a few years ago.
The majority of new boat / trailer sales are inclusive on a minimal weight trailer. In an attempt to keep the package price cheaper, they cut corners on the trailer. Do you think for a moment a dealer is going to tell you “ oh btw, you make the most minimal trailer in your package because we suckered you in on price. Now that you added a kicker and a few other options….you should upgrade your trailer too” he’ll no, very seldom ever happens and people don’t think to ask. Guys that trailer their rig a few thousand miles a year probably won’t notice right away the excessive wear. Guys like me that trailer their rig 20k+ miles see it right away
And I’m assuming that the trailer rating includes the weight of the trailer itself? My trailer is a double axle welded frame trailer and I vaguely remember it weighing 900 lbs according to the specs.
It’s hard to say. I wouldn’t assume that it DOES include the trailer weight, that’s for sure. I’d go by the axle and hub ratings and include the trailer weight.
I totally agree with you Randy, that’s why I included the Crestliner example. No wonder that boat and trailer cost less than $14k brand new.
There’s a lot of variable when it comes to trailers. Another not discussed is how the weight is distributed. If not distributed evenly, you put unnecessary stresses in the trailer which can absolutely put other stresses like axial and moment loads on the bearings which are never accounted for and are some of the reasons they fail. This would then reduce the dynamic load rating.
I crawled under the trailer and found the load stickers. Front and rear axles are rated for 2,500 lbs each. I’ll be headed to the scales when the weather gets a little nicer hear. I’m currently in the middle of a project adding some more weight in the form of a light weight tower.
One major source of information is right on the tires that come with the trailer. They list the load capacity of each tire at a specific psi. Not always but most of the time the tires are the weakest component of the trailer. If tires and other components are on the line you will have trouble. A 20 percent service factor over loaded weight isn’t too much.Maxed out tires at max pressure equal impact breaks unless you live in a world without Chuck holes or occasional rocks and debris on the road.
Are you saying that spindle bearing load ratings don’t account for occasional shock loads?
Hubs are just one part of the system. You can put 8000-pound rated hubs on a 4000-pound axle. That doesn’t mean the trailer will carry 8000 pounds.
The capacity is determined by the weakest link in the chain. Tires, hubs, axle, springs, hardware, frame, carrying components, construction technique they ALL have to be properly sized. You can’t beef up a trailer’s capacity just by changing one component to something “heavier”.
I would bet the vast majority of boat trailers out there are either overloaded or dangerously close to overloaded just with the boat, normal fuel load, and rigging. That’s how close the dealers cut it and most owners have no idea.
Grouse
I’m sure some dealwrs to package the minimum. What about manufacturers that put packages together? Many of those are barely sufficient to handle the load.
Seems like in years past that the trailer was always the first item to start rusting up too. I see a fair amount of those white shorelander trailers with some rust out there.
Well ok, is their a place where you can weigh the whole thing? Weigh station for trucks?
Well ok, is their a place where you can weigh the whole thing? Weigh station for trucks?
download an app called cat scale. will tell you of weigh stations in your area. there is another app (don’t know the name offhand) that allows you to pay the weigh fee and receive the results.
I’ve also heard that some guys drive through the port of entry or highway scales and subtract the weight of their truck. From doing some dump/transfer station runs I know the weight of my truck.
Scrap yards or grain mills some times will do it for a few bucks!
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