ARRRGGHH! Trailer help please

[troyo]

My boat has appx 800 lb tongue weight. I have gone through 2 Fulton 800 lb jacks in the past year. Can anyone recommend a better jack ? or am I doing something wrong. I am keeping it greased ?

 

[Pursuit2150]

Re: ARRRGGHH! Trailer help please

It sounds to me that the tongue Wt. is very high. It should be approx. 10% of the total weight. That would mean you are hauling #8000.The wt. can be adjusted by shiftinf the frame position over the axle(s).<br />Go to Yahoo type in Teds sailing page, and navagate he has a complete diagram,to caculate the shift.Right hand side near the bottom of the home page.

 

[fishthebay]

Re: ARRRGGHH! Trailer help please

You tongue weight is way to high. Shouldn't be more than a few hundred pounds.<br /><br />I would suggest trying to move your boat farther back on the trailer and re-adjusting the area where the bow stop is located. Usually the piece that extends up from the trailer frame that has the bow strop on it is held by a 4 bolt u-bracket.<br /><br />Move it back. If you can't move it back becuase your boat may be to long for the trailer, get another good used trailer.<br /><br />You are not only eating up trailer jacks, but killing your car. Check the rating on your hitch. It may max out of 5K or 7500 lbs, but I know that tongue weight should only be a few hundred.

 

[chumbucket]

Re: ARRRGGHH! Trailer help please

Pursuit 2150 send me email chumbaitn.j.@aol.com

 

[troyo]

Re: ARRRGGHH! Trailer help please

NEVER MIND ME ! I re-checked, and tongue weight is actually only about 300 lbs. I'm still wearing out the Jacks, though; I have gone through 2 Fultons, with 800 and 1000 lb. ratings. Any suggestions now that I have my facts straight ?????????????????///

 

[Pursuit2150]

Re: ARRRGGHH! Trailer help please

I think you still have to shift the axle forward to get a better balance.Go to the web page I suggested above.

 

[DJ]

Re: ARRRGGHH! Trailer help please

What IS your total trailer weight? Go to a truck stop and weigh it-NOT the scales on the side of the freeway. Costs about $10.00.<br /><br />Most folks grossly underestimate their weights.<br /><br />Remember to unhook it first.

 

[SCO]

Re: ARRRGGHH! Trailer help please

Trailers can get into uncontrollable oscillations if the weight goes or shifts too far back, and can turn over your tow vehicle or take you into oncoming traffic, so I recommend that you be properly armed with knowledge if you decide to mess with the cg location. Don't trust your registration papers, get it weighed at a local truck scale like djohns says. You can get your all up weight(tow/trailer/boat) and boat axle weight for less than 10.00 in these parts, and if inconvenient to unhook the trailer, measure the tounge weight later with a bathroom scale and add that to the trailer axle wt to get the total boat/trailer wt. When I bought my boat the single axle trailer had automobile tires that were overloaded by some 50%. I had to have those weights to figure that out.

 

[Pursuit2150]

Re: ARRRGGHH! Trailer help please

Troyo= Where is the jack located with respact to the coupler? Also is the trailer tongue approx. level when in the tow hitch? <br />How is the boat loaded inside,ie.misc. gear etc. It is not hard to get the total wt. Boatwt.+Eng.wt+fuel#gal.x7+batteries+<br />misc.gear+trailerwt=total.When towing are you having any road handling problems?