am i limited because of my weight?

[achoefs]

Re: am i limited because of my weight?

ya the tires are the first place to start. ill lower them five pounds first and ill go from there with the pressure. and im almost definite that the springs are meant for a heavier boat ( was meant for light duty boats and some heavier) the springs are anywhere from 30-40 yrs old. so im going to replace them. the fabrication on this level is pretty easy. i have access to a welder and a machine shop so if i really want to get involved i can. but before i do ill look into the springs first

Whats going on.... solution
the tires are filled to recommended pressure= so ill lower the pressure
the roads i cant help since im driving slower than recommended (where applicable)
springs are old, rusty and for heavier boats= so as everyone stated ill look for softer springs....if non ill live with it till i can come up with a better solution

but first ill try the tire pressure.. i dont know why i over looked that

 

[jeeperman]

Re: am i limited because of my weight?

There is the type of bounce caused by springs too stiff.
And the type caused by springs too soft where the suspension oscillates up and down a few times after hitting a bump.
Sounds like springs are too stiff per your posts.

I would look at lighter capacity springs.
I would also convert to a leaf spring that has the eye at the front and a slipper end at the rear. The longer the spring the better it will ride also.
Since you have a welder you could go with the above style spring with a minor change to front spring bracket relocation and adding the slipper end bracket.

Adding shocks to an oversprung trailer is not going to help, it will make it all worse.
Shocks are to slow down the rate of suspension oscillations. You already have virtually none.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: am i limited because of my weight?

Take you rmotor off and put it in the boat over the axle.
Maybe move the axle forward?
I'd just live with it and go boating before I'd go through all that modification, unless you are trailering 20 hours a week.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: am i limited because of my weight?

I read that non trailer rated tires can cause bouncing, (especially non suspention). Trailer tires have a stiffer sidewall to prevent bouncing, but the way you explain your trailer is dribbling down the road it's probably another issue but worth a mention.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: am i limited because of my weight?

i'm not sure why more boat trailers don't use torsion axles... I've never owned a trailer with torsion axles until recently, only leaf spring. At least from what I can tell in the rear view mirror, the torsion axle trailer handles bumps as well as the vehicle pulling it! At least from my experience, it also handles different weight loads vastly better than a leaf spring, which tends to be very specific in its weight range.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: am i limited because of my weight?

Torsion axles are fine on a single axle trailer. They are often used on tandem and tri-axle trailers as well but they suffer from one very nasty fault. They do not have the walking beam (more commonly called an equalizer) that leaf spring systems have. Ever seen a tandem axle trailer with torsion axles with the wheels on one axle or the other totally off the ground? Happens a lot. Those trailers must be towed dead level, especially if loaded near the maximum. Since there is no equalizer, the load shifts drastically to the rear axle with a bow high attitude or to the front axle with a bow low situation.

 

[achoefs]

Re: am i limited because of my weight?

ya the trailers we have at work are twin axled and the guys dont know how to properly load them so they tend to burn through more front tires than normal.

i did bring the trailer to a trailer dealer so they are trailer rated but i agree with a previous post that it is maybe filled up more than they should be (its at recommended) but could use a drop in pressure to see what happens.
i just got it mid summer so i do want to use it more often since there are multiple lakes around here and up north (got it so that i wouldnt have to go fishing with my father in law)

 

[H20Rat]

Re: am i limited because of my weight?

Torsion axles are fine on a single axle trailer. They are often used on tandem and tri-axle trailers as well but they suffer from one very nasty fault.

yep, the one drawback, but as far as total # of trailers is concerned, single axle trailers vastly outnumber other types in the boating world. (As far as the op's style trailer, definitely single axle!) With that said, there are very few torsion single axle boat trailers. They exist, just very rare.

 

[mike343]

Re: am i limited because of my weight?

Before you do anything else take your bathroom scale out and measure the trailer tongue weight--I'd guess it's very small and maybe even negative. Get it up to close to 100lbs and your problem will go away.

You may have to move the axle to the rear.

 

[Bob's Garage]

Re: am i limited because of my weight?

Some older trailers have their axles mounted on a separate "angle iron" frame that the trailer frame rides on. This permits the axle to be adjusted forward or back to accommodate different load weights.

If yours happens to be of this type, you might try moving the axles to the rear, closer to the engine, to put more weight on them. This will tend to increase tongue weight, so you may have to play with it a little.

Don't move them forward tho, as that will further lighten the back of the trailer and you will start fishtailing as well as bouncing.

Bob

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: am i limited because of my weight?

try moving the axles to the rear, closer to the engine, to put more weight on them. This will tend to increase tongue weight

bob,
that would mean that the boat got heavier by moving the axle....

moving the axle back would not put more wieght on it but rather would put less on it and more on the tongue.....


I can't believe this is still going.... light load on heavy springs... it's gonna bounce on bumps...

 

[Bob's Garage]

Re: am i limited because of my weight?

Yeah, you are right! Don't know what happened, Brain fart?

Anyway, it should still increase the weight on the axle. I am suggesting this because the load is so light, and the larger load is the engine on the transom.

I am thinking there may be too much weight to the rear of the axle causing a light tongue weight.

Please don't confuse what I said to mean that the weight will be behind the axle, but on and forward of the axle.

This will tend to shift weight to the tongue as the axle, being the fulcrum, would change it's relationship to the back (handle) of the trailer (lever).

And if you could move the axles all the way back, it would increase the weight on the tongue, course you couldn't use the trailer, it would be like using a wheelbarrow backwards, LOL.

I may not be expressing myself well tonight, but I think the essence is correct.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: am i limited because of my weight?

it should still increase the weight on the axle.

still not true.... moving the axle back will in no way increase the weight or load on it.......

It makes no difference where the mass of the engine it located.... picture it this way.... if you lift a load from the balance point you lift the whole load..... If you move toward either end the weight you are lifting will begin to transfer toward the other end and your load will become lighter

in this instance the front of the load is attached to another fulcrum on another load so moving forward of the balance point will increase the load because you begin to also lift the tow vehicle through negative tongue weight thus a 500 lb trailer with 100 lb neg tongue weight nets 600 lb on axle.....

At the balance point with no tongue weight the same theoreticle axlle carries 500 lbs but moved back such as to produce a positive tongue weight leaves 400 lbs on the axle..... 200 lbs on the tongue and 300 lbs on the axle.... you could continue the math (in theory not practice) to an infinate distance behind the trailer and come up with 500 lbs on the tongue and 0 lbs on axle

 

[achoefs]

Re: am i limited because of my weight?

ya i cant move the axles any ways. the tongue weighs about 109.

 

[achoefs]

Re: am i limited because of my weight?

[/QUOTE]...I can't believe this is still going.... light load on heavy springs... it's gonna bounce on bumps...[/QUOTE]

completely agree with previously stated. jsut have to see whats out there for other springs

 

[Shizzy]

Re: am i limited because of my weight?

did you try it with a few pounds of pressure taken out of the tires? I have a similar setup and mine bounces a bit as well.

Mine rides much nicer with most of the gear ahead of the axle and a few pounds of air out of the tires.

I did notice a huge difference with lowering the air pressure. I run it about 5-8lbs under max pressure. 90% of my towing is at 30-45MPH or very short Highway trips (5-10 minutes) so thats fine. when I am going to take a longer road trip at high speeds I air them up to the max for saftey reasons.

 

[achoefs]

Re: am i limited because of my weight?

i have and i drove it for about 20miles the other day and it feels a lot better. but i think ims till going with springs as well since they are so old