Crooked Trailer

I recently noticed that the trailer looked to be pulling a few inches right of normal, like it was running crooked. I didn’t think too much about it at first, probably just the mirrors out of whack or something.

Weeeeelllllll….. No. I noticed this afternoon that the right side (passenger’s side of the truck) tire was worn almost bald on the outside edge. The rest of the tire has good tread, as does the other trailer tire. So now I gotta figure out what’s causing it.

I checked the hubs after about a three hour highway drive, and they were not hot, so I don’t think I have a problem with bearing friction. The coupler looks a bit crosseyed, maybe I backed into it somewhere along the line and bent it. Question is, is that enough to make it run funny, or should I keep looking for something else?

Just the slightest bend in the tongue or a shift in your leaf spring can cause some tire wear. What happens is your tires are slightly running sideways…….I would look at these two areas. You will have to try and get the tongue straighted some how.

**I think Hooks cousin John S. could help with a cure/repair, Hook a little help here……

I popped the coupler off last night, and the tongue rail itself looks pretty straight just eyeballing it. I couldn’t lay in a metal straightedge because the jack was in the way and I was too lazy to take it off too.

The coupler was noticably bent, so hopefully a replacement will get it straightened out. Another hundred bucks worth of new tires and I’m back on the road.

If it doesn’t straighten out, the tongue rail is romovable from the rest of the trailer (it’s an old Escort trailer, where the tongue is just bolted into the side-rails). I suppose some further disassembly is in order so that I can get it to a shop with a large enough press to straighten it out (It’s about 4 foot long, 3″x3″ galvanized tube).

Thanks for the help, hopefully I’ll have it fixed before this weekend.

Your axle could of been knocked out of allignment too. If you hit a bad bump this could happen. To check measure from the back of each side of the trailer to the axle to see if it’s moved. You may be able to see the U bolts have moved out of place too. This is extreme but have heard of it happening.
Whats that called,your trailer is Dogtracking.

Hi Gianni

Hooks is right, it does sound like the trailer is dog tracking. Another “measurement” you may want to take to check your frame alignment is to check the distance from the coupler to your hubs or wheels. The easiest way to do this would be to “string it” if you have an unobstructed path to your hubs/wheels. The simplest way to do this is to tie a string to your trailer ball or the bolt underneath (being sure that the string either stays centered or can pivot freely) hook up your trailer with the new coupler on it and “measure” the distance to each hub or wheel.

While the back of the trailer in theory should be square to the axle, the back end is really just along for the ride and the “coupler to hubs triangle” is probably the more critical measurement for keeping your new tires happy.

If possible, it wouldn’t hurt to check the distance between your tires (to see if they’re fairly close to parallel) and compare the measurement from inside the front and back of the tires. I’m not sure if there should be a bit of toe-in/out on a trailer – but they should probably be pretty straight.

Good luck!

Dan

Great point. I wasn’t sure how to explain this clearly. I know some trailers might not be square in the back, but if this is the problem you should be able to see it where the axle/suspension mounts up to the frame if your trailer has any dust or dirt on it. Measuring from any stable center line should work too.

Gianni,

I would’t worry about the bent coupler as much as looking for a bent spindle or axle. Your trailer should have about 1/8th of and inch toe in. You can measure your toe in with a string and magic marker. Mark a spot on your string and have someone hold that spot to the outside edge of your tire. You go to the opposite side stretch the string to your outside edge of the tire mark it. Repeat the process on the backside of tire. They should be the same or the backside out just a touch. The bent coupler should come very close to the center line of your ball bent or not when towing.
hope this doesn’t confuse you to much. it did me writing it!!! lol

Gundy

Well, replaced the coupler and made a measurement from the front to each side of the axle carrier. One side was somewhere between 1/2 and 3/4 inch farther back than the other, so I got out a 19mm socket and a three pound sledge. My trailer and I then proceeded to spend a little bit of quality time reenacting an East German interrogation procedure.

The carrier is now square within my ability to measure. I’ll have to take it for a test drive tonight and report back on how it tracks. Once things get straightened out I need to start looking for a tire.

Gianni,

Glad to see you are working through your trailer problems.Sure glad that trailer isn’t Boehemeian
I also would look at your trailer wheel and see how it rolls. I don’t know if your trailer was setup that far off or it got knocked off that far. If it got knocked off then there is a chance the wheel got bent so I would check that.

Gundy

Hey Gianni,

I just had to take a picture of an old trailer rim that I have kept as a conversation piece. This rim is from a trip up to Kenora Ont. when we had a late night blow-out……and we drove on it a few (many) miles prior to idenifing the problem!
This is one to remember here not to have happen to YOU…

That rim pic reminds me of a trip up to Lake of the Woods on Jan 1st 2002. The trailer with 2 wheelers on it was vibrating slightly…we convinced ourselves it was the road. The next thing you know there was a loud klunk and the vibrating noise was real loud. I looked in the side mirror only to see the whole wheel and rim 20 feet in the air almost passing us in the ditch. It managed to snap off 3 studs, wreck the rim, and wear a hole in the hub before exiting stage right! Thanks to a good friend or the driver we had the trailer swapped out and we were back on the road in no time. It could have been much worse.

Ferny.

hey bobber,

I had my trailer rim puke out the bearings bad, now that i have replaced them, was thinking of bearing budies, but that little cap you get with the bearing kit don’t fit in the hub anymore. do you think it would be a wise idea just to get a new hub, i mean they can’t be all that expensive can they. I have gone through 4 brass washers already. i am wondering if i have the same problem as what you guys where talking about. but on some roads my boat will pull striaght, and on others it weaves back and forth. I think that guy that gave me my boat (wedding present) has a 16ft on a 14ft trailer.

thanks

Shane

SHANE,
IT SOUNDS LIKE YOUR BOAT IS TO LONG FOR YOUR TRAILER OR YOU MAY NEED TO ADJUST THE TRAILER. IT COULD BE THAT YOUR WINCH POST IS SET TO FAR BACK ON THE TRAILER TONGUE. IF THATS THE CASE JUST LOOSEN IT AND PULL IT FORWARD. BUT BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU DO THAT AS YOUR CLEARANCE BETWEEN YOUR TOW VECHICLE AND TRAILER WINCH POST IS REALLY SHORTED UP
ALSO YOU COULD BE TONGUE LIGHT BY THE WAY YOU PUT THINGS IN YOUR BOAT. YOU DON’T WANT YOUR TONGUE TO LIGHT. IF YOUR BOAT IS SMALL I WOULD SAY YOU WOULD WANT AT LEAST 75 LBS ON YOUR TONQUE. UNLESS YOUR HUBS HAVE HAD SOME KIND’A RUDE AND CRUDE THINGS DONE TO THEM THEY SHOULD BE OKAY. JUST REMEMBER TO TORQUE YOU BEARINGS IN PROPERLY.

Gundy,

I looked at them bearings when they puked and they hadn’t seen a drop of grease in them for probably a few years. I had to heat the inner race up just to knock it off of the spindle. I think that i still have a little wabble in that hub, my only concern is that if i tow my boat to another lake other than a few miles down the road to coon, it would repeat the same thing. I have towed it home, (approx 15 miles) got out and felt the hub, it was still cool, so I am just leary about pulling it up to the lakes that i used to up by aitkin. I do however have about a foot of room with the tail gate down before i get to the wench post. to you think that if i pulled that up about 6″ to 8″ it would ride better. I guess i can try. any advice on that?

thanks

shane

I had a similar experience with the blown tire, but no problem knowing immediately when it happened (sounded like a shotgun blast).

I had borrowed a friend’s small boat for a weekend camping trip, and the leaf springs on the trailer had nothing but the weight of the boat holding them together (i.e. nothing to capture the bottom spring from moving side to side). Enough bumps and it rotated out against the tire and kaboom!

So here it was, Sunday night, 11:00, and I’m out trying to find a replacement (no spare with the borrowed boat). An experience I’d not like to repeat.

Hopefully sometime this weekend I’ll get out and test drive the trailer now that it’s had the appropriate amount of beating

SHANE,

IT WOULDN’T HURT TO MOVE IT FORWARD AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. JUST BE CAREFUL OF THAT TAIL GATE I HAVE SEEN PLENTY OF DOVE TAILS CUT INTO TAIL GATES AND I BET THE MAJORITY OF THEM ARE BY WINCH POSTS SOUNDS LIKE YOUR HUBS ARE PRETTY BEAT UP. A TRIP TO NORTHERN HYDRAULICS SHOULD FIX THEM. ALSO YOU COULD SLIDE YOUR TRAILER AXLE BACK IF IT IS SETUP TO DO THAT. ALOT OF TRAILER AXLES ARE SETUP TO SLIDE TO FIND A SPOT WHERE YOU GET SOME MORE TONGUE WEIGHT. HOPE THIS HELPS.

GUNDY

hey guys,

I took my boat out this weekend and seeing how i had it off of the trailer, and i had tools in my truck, i went ahead and kicked the wench post back about 6″. man what a difference. it didn’t dog tail once on me the whole time i was pulling it. I think i may have found the problem. I think that they had that trailer set up for a 14′ on a 16′ trailer. thanks for the info. I will have to stop out and nothern hydrolics and see what they have for the rims. I was thinking of replacing both if i keep the boat for a few more years.

thanks for the help guys

shane

I took the boat down to Coralville yesterday and the trailer seemed to be tracking straight (at least within the range where any perceived dogtracking was likely to be paranoia on my part).

Thanks for the help, and if you’re ever down Ioway, give me a holler.