Trailer Bunk Brace Broke

We are new to bunk trailers – not sure what happened here, but the braces holding the bunks buckled and failed. The trailer vendor said we must have “surged” while loading or braked hard while towing (so no warranty), but I can’t recall anything like that happening. Thankfully these aren’t very expensive, but does anyone have tips on how to prevent this? This trailer holds an Alumacraft competitor 205.

Attachments:

1. 

   IMG_2935-scaled.jpeg
   

2. 

   IMG_2936-scaled.jpeg
   

3. 

   IMG_2958-scaled.jpeg
   

4. 

   IMG_2956-scaled.jpeg
   

Pics

Attachments:

1. 

   IMG_2936-1-scaled.jpeg
   

2. 

   IMG_2935-1-scaled.jpeg
   

I am no expert, but I would guess too many power loads in water too shallow and the boat bending them as you load.

I’ll let others speak on the engineering piece but if braking and using your standard maybe even required surge brakes void a warranty I would call ‘bunk'(pun intended). I would fight that.

IMO you should look up the manufacturers weight rating for your trailer.

Then calculate the weight of your boat as accurately as you can. Including fuel weight when full, all batteries, accessories and equipment.

Is the boat weight at or over the trailer limit?

Some may laugh but I have personally seen a boat/trailer package that a dealership sold where the trailer capacity was only 200 more than the DRY weight of the boat and motor. The owner found out about this the hard way after he broke an axle in Canada on the maiden voyage.

I would be calling BS. That should never happen from braking or power loading.

That metal does not look all that thick however and with the design of it bending front to back that looks to me like a fairly bad design.

To me it looks like material is too light or the piece is not designed/engineered correctly. JMO

Looks like a cheap flimsy bracket.
You get what you pay for when it comes to trailers. I would have someone remake the brackets with a thicker material so it doesn’t happen again.

What’s the make and model of the trailer?

Greenhorn wrote:

The trailer vendor said we must have “surged” while loading or braked hard while towing (so no warranty), but I can’t recall anything like that happening.

Braking would not have caused the bunk support to fold forward unless the boat also moved forward at the same time. Has the winch stand moved or bent?

Yes the supports could fold under too much weight OR too much forward resistance when loading the boat. Particularly if the boat is too heavy for said brackets.

Either circumstances point to a trailer not designed to hold the load upon it. This could mean a poorly designed trailer or a poor choice of trailer to boat combination.

I would talk with a factory rep from the trailer company about the suitability of the trailer for your boat and/or possible warranty coverage.

Thanks for the replies. It is a shorelandr trailer, but haven’t looked up the model yet (it’s my dad’s boat and at his house). The trailer is double axel, so I would assume it could handle a 20ft aluminum boat just fine. The boat is new from last winter and we have only used the boat a handful of times this year. We have also not been aggressive with the power loading.
We may follow up with the dealer and/or trailer vendor.

I would be arguing with the dealer about warranty

Bearcat89 wrote:

I would be arguing with the dealer about warranty

Absolutely agree, I would be crawling up someone’s behind about that.

Bearcat89 wrote:

I would be arguing with the dealer about warranty

If the dealer is no help, got straight to Shorelandr.

-J.

Just curious is that a normal practice from manufactures to set up a trailer like that? That seems like lots of weak spots. All the bunk trailers I’ve owned have the bunks attached to the frame with rectangular tubing the same size as the frame itself. Guess I’ve never really looked at other set ups before I just assumed that was the norm.

Greenhorn wrote:

The trailer is double axel, so I would assume it could handle a 20ft aluminum boat just fine.

Don’t assume. A trailer is like a chain, only as strong as its weakest link. A trailer can’t be made to handle more weight just by adding a second axle. And in many cases these days a two axle trailer is used by dealers even under relatively light boats for reasons of balance not weight capacity because of today’s small or lighter tow vehicles.

Also, an aluminum boat of that size is not necessarily lighter than fiberglass.

Everything about those stamped brackets indicates to me that the trailer could be significantly undersized. The only way to KNOW is to do the math.

That looks like a classic example of corner cutting by design/component quality. That’s unbelievably thin.

Start with the dealer, then Shorelandr. The margin on boats and trailers is plenty that they can afford to replace a piece that was junk from the start. Don’t take no for an answer.

Shouldnt happen regardless, but was your boat carrying extra water?

If this a result of user error (BIG IF), the only way I this happening is if the Front Keel of the boat hit the bunk square and fairly hard while loading. Or the bunk bound while loading (it appears these bunks pivot on that bolt?).

Like was said earlier a hard braking would do this without the boat moving forward. of which the boat shouldn’t do if strapped and winched tight.

In my opinion, that should be repaired on a “new” trailer under warranty, it seems like a good business decision to me

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CWNYRZML?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1″>

I had to modify a trailer to fit my current boat – 2020 Alumacraft Trophy – and used these. They’re super robust. Much thicker than I anticipated and super easy to install.

Browndog wrote:

I had to modify a trailer to fit my current boat – 2020 Alumacraft Trophy – and used these. They’re super robust. Much thicker than I anticipated and super easy to install.

Link/picture?

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Greenhorn wrote:</div>
The trailer is double axel, so I would assume it could handle a 20ft aluminum boat just fine.

Don’t assume. A trailer is like a chain, only as strong as its weakest link. A trailer can’t be made to handle more weight just by adding a second axle. And in many cases these days a two axle trailer is used by dealers even under relatively light boats for reasons of balance not weight capacity because of today’s small or lighter tow vehicles.

Also, an aluminum boat of that size is not necessarily lighter than fiberglass.

Everything about those stamped brackets indicates to me that the trailer could be significantly undersized. The only way to KNOW is to do the math.

I believe the boat to be a max of 2,900 lbs (wet/loaded) and the trailer has 4,000lb capacity.

Greenhorn wrote:

I believe the boat to be a max of 2,900 lbs (wet/loaded) and the trailer has 4,000lb capacity.

Have you taken it to a truck stop or grain elevator to weigh it?
3 friends and I estimate the loaded weight of new boats using the numbers the manufacturers have online whenever one of us gets one. Then we take it to certified scale and weigh them. The 6 or 7 18′ aluminum boats I’ve seen all weighed well over 3000lbs, and every boat weighed 250 to 400lbs more than you come up with using the mfg numbers. I would guess a 20′ boat would be much closer to 3900lbs than 2900. Remember the weight of the trailer itself is part of the GVWR max capacity.

Unless there is something very unusual about your setup, like you’re got an unusually small HP outboard on it, or no trolling motor and batteries, then this seems light to me. I would be absolutely shocked if a fully loaded 20 ft boat came in at only 2900 wet with 24 volt setup and trolling motor.

Also as Pat points out the trailer is carrying the weight of the trailer itself.

People often misunderstand capacity versus gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR). Is 4000 pounds the capacity or the GWVR?

As Pat says, get to the scale. This isn’t that hard. Most major truck stops have one.

I’d be pissed, I’ve never heard of that being an issue before. I’m with the others that I’d be camping out at the dealer until they gave me a warranty. That seems cheap.

Who was the dealer?