Trailer questions for Alumacraft Dominator 165.

Hello all,

I recently purchased a Dominator 165 and am concerned that it may be sitting on an undersize trailer. The transom hangs about 10” past the trailer frame. In order for the tie downs to be connected from the transom to the trailer, they angle back toward the trailer and put a lot of pressure on the edge where the hull meets the transom. Is this normal on anyone else’s boat?

Also, I have the opportunity to get a different trailer at a great price. However, it is rated for 4500lbs. Are there any negatives to trailering a 1700lb boat on a heavy duty trailer?

Thanks!

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Not sure. I have completely different set up but my straps do not go underneath and rub on bottom of boat. I would be more worried about the back roller that is not sitting underneath the boat itself.
I would guess someone with a similar set up will be able to give you better advice.

I’m sure it will work but I would get the right sized trailer.

What model number is your Karavan trailer? Let’s start with that, so we can determine if the basic trailer is correct, then we can look at where the rear crossmember is mounted. There are usually options for positioning.

HRG

I think it will work but needs the boat to sit up further and the rollers moved up also then adjust the axle to have the proper tong weight.

Agree with other posters, but could be as simple as just adjusting your winch post forward towards the tow vehicle. At least from what I see in the photos it looks really far back from the swing tongue. That will affect tongue weight of course, but would think that trailer is plenty good for the craft. Congrats and nice boat by the way!

Edit…now that I look at it again it could be that the trailer is too large actually. Unless the previous owner put some oversize rollers on it, your transom would be way inside of that if you move the winch post much.

So far I’d stick with what HRG recommended. Ha…

Thanks for all the replies so far!

I’ll get the trailer model number posted here later on.

Uhoh429 wrote:

Thanks for all the replies so far!

I’ll get the trailer model number posted here later on.

Joe,
When you’re crawling around, look for additional holes in the frame rails. Like I mentioned, it should be possible to remove the existing crossmember mounting bolts (white arrow) and move the entire crossmember forward (blue arrow). The winch post will need to be moved, the axle may need to be re-adjusted to re-set the tongue weight.

HRG

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Unfortunately, the crossmembers are welded and I can’t adjust them. It also appears that the rear rollers are fully adjusted forward. Maybe there are other roller types available that will help this situation? I can move the winch forward several inches, but that wouldn’t help unless I can move the rear rollers forward.

I’ve also thought of converting to bunks, which I’m open to.

Attached are several pics, including the factory sticker, however I’m not sure how to interpret it. There aren’t any clear indications of the trailer size on it. The vin# is printed vertically to the left of the barcode.

-Joe

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The good news is, according to the tag, the trailer you have is rated for a 2350# load, a fair amount above your 1700#.

I’d certainly consider revising to bunks, so you could slide the boat forward.

To answer your original question, regarding the 4500# trailer, it could provide a “jarring” ride to your hull, since the springs would not have much load on them. Of course, you could always re-spring, or have a shop remove a leaf or 2 to soften them up.

HRG

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What HRG said.
Is the 4500 lb. trailer a single axle? Removing a leaf from a spring is an easy job.

The 4500# trailer is a single axle, yes. My instinct is saying if I need to modify a different trailer so much, maybe I should just modify the one its on. It’s otherwise sound. And if I really want to eliminate any wondering or concern I should buck up and spend $ on a custom trailer.

All in all, this trailer suited the previous owner for 7 years, and presumably the original owner as well.

Thanks for the great info and feedback.

I have the same boat but on a Shorelander roller trailer and something seems off on this set up to me. Looking at the pictures, it looks like there was an adjustment made where the winch post is, wonder if it used to have a different winch closer to the post and higher up? Maybe getting the boat further on the trailer? Is it possible the original owner had the winch extended back to put that step on the trailer and had to change out the rear roller set to something bigger?

Either way, I would expect trailering the boat any long distance will cause the strap on the back to be worn thru quickly being tight against the transom like that. I cant say I have seen trailer designed to have the boat hang back off the last roller like that before

Just to throw this out there, why not consider using a gunwale strap, like my last rig?

HRG

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Joe, If your worried about the tie down strap rubbing on the bottom of the boat, get a small piece of carpet to slide between the strap and the boat until you decide what to do with the trailer.

Your winch post looks to be all the way back. Moving it 6″ forward and making the corresponding adjustments should help quite a bit.

In case you’re interested, here’s the parts drawing for your frame with bunks.

HRG

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1. Karavan-MB-2350-74ST.pdf

That’s awesome, thank you. By chance do you have a diagram for a roller trailer as well?

buckybadger wrote:

a

bigstorm wrote:

I have the same boat but on a Shorelander roller trailer and something seems off on this set up to me. Looking at the pictures, it looks like there was an adjustment made where the winch post is, wonder if it used to have a different winch closer to the post and higher up? Maybe getting the boat further on the trailer? Is it possible the original owner had the winch extended back to put that step on the trailer and had to change out the rear roller set to something bigger?

Either way, I would expect trailering the boat any long distance will cause the strap on the back to be worn thru quickly being tight against the transom like that. I cant say I have seen trailer designed to have the boat hang back off the last roller like that before

buckybadger wrote:

Your winch post looks to be all the way back. Moving it 6″ forward and making the corresponding adjustments should help quite a bit.

I think we’re on the right track here. Winch is adjusted almost as far toward the rear as it can go. The sticker on the bracket at rear rollers matches the “build number” stickers on the rest of the trailer. It’s possible that the rear rollers were swapped but not the brackets.

I suppose it’s possible for someone to have intentionally placed the boat further back to facilitate a super shallow launch.

When I look up your job # and VIN #, is shows the trailer assembly as using bunks, but it also shows these (2) roller assemblies. I assume that the 4-roller set is used up-front?

HRG

Attachments:

1. KT-FS1_MfgDocs_Manufacturing_Documents_310_310-02926-A-Front-roller-assembly.pdf
2. KT-FS1_MfgDocs_Manufacturing_Documents_310_310-03081-A-Rear-roller-assembly.pdf

Hot Runr Guy wrote:

When I look up your job # and VIN #, is shows the trailer assembly as using bunks, but it also shows these (2) roller assemblies. I assume that the 4-roller set is used up-front?

HRG

That’s right, the 4- roller set is up front. I measured and the rollers I have and they match the dimensions in the drawings.

Right now, if I moved the winch forward the distance it would need to be for the transom to sit flush with the rear framing, the boat would rest on the second roller. I marked up a pic with a red line where it would sit. Would that be normal?

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Uhoh429 wrote:

Right now, if I moved the winch forward the distance it would need to be for the transom to sit flush with the rear framing, the boat would rest on the second roller. I marked up a pic with a red line where it would sit. Would that be normal?

I would not be a fan of that, since the rear-most set of rollers is trying to pivot-up, like is shown in one of your previous pictures.

Give me a few minutes to find a picture of a roller to bunk conversion I did a few years ago, just on the rear carriage.

HRG

Here are a couple of pics of a conversion I made, eliminating the rear set of rollers and adding bunks. The cross-bars are home-made, probably 1″ x 1-1/2″ aluminum bar stock. You could make something similar, bolting to the top of the long bars that now exist, with maybe 2′ long bunks.

Orrrrrrr, you could rotate the exiting roller & arm assemblies 180 degrees, so that the single roller is now at the back, under the transom. Not sure if the pivot bolt is centered, or if this would not give you enough hull movement to work with?

HRG

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Hot Runr Guy wrote:

Here are a couple of pics of a conversion I made, eliminating the rear set of rollers and adding bunks. The cross-bars are home-made, probably 1″ x 1-1/2″ aluminum bar stock. You could make something similar, bolting to the top of the long bars that now exist, with maybe 2′ long bunks.

Orrrrrrr, you could rotate the exiting roller & arm assemblies 180 degrees, so that the single roller is now at the back, under the transom. Not sure if the pivot bolt is centered, or if this would not give you enough hull movement to work with?

HRG

Great idea!

bigstorm wrote:

I have the same boat but on a Shorelander roller trailer and something seems off on this set up to me. Looking at the pictures, it looks like there was an adjustment made where the winch post is, wonder if it used to have a different winch closer to the post and higher up? Maybe getting the boat further on the trailer? Is it possible the original owner had the winch extended back to put that step on the trailer and had to change out the rear roller set to something bigger?

Either way, I would expect trailering the boat any long distance will cause the strap on the back to be worn thru quickly being tight against the transom like that. I cant say I have seen trailer designed to have the boat hang back off the last roller like that before

Agree the strap wouldn’t bother me so much as a piece of rubber can fix that. The roller hanging off the back definitely isn’t right.

Orrrrrrr, you could rotate the exiting roller & arm assemblies 180 degrees, so that the single roller is now at the back, under the transom. Not sure if the pivot bolt is centered, or if this would not give you enough hull movement to work with?

HRG

This might work and seams simple enough to take the measurements and see where it would line up. If that is in fact the original trailer something has been altered as I don’t think a dealer would ever send someone out the door with the roller sticking out the back like it is in the first pic.

Hello all,

It’s been awhile but I wanted to share an update to my trailer issue. Thanks to a member here, I contacted a rep at Karavan, who was able to dig up the original shop drawings for this exact trailer. Turns out, it was indeed designed to be a bunk trailer, but the dealer that ordered it specified a deviation from the plans and ordered it to be a roller trailer.

I was able to order and pickup all the parts needed to convert the trailer to bunks. All the parts totaled around $275, which also included guide-on brackets.

After calling 5 marinas, Liberty Marine Center in Grayslake, IL was more than willing and did a great job converting the trailer to bunks.

The boat now sits almost 12” forward on the trailer, and it tows so much nicer.

Thanks again for everyone’s input, and I hope this helps others.

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