Boat/Trailer Project

[RB78]

Hi, guys. I'm new here - found you while searching for trailer repair information. I've obtained a 17' 1978 Rinkerbuilt runabout from a friend of mine living in a neighboring state. The boat is a project, and the trailer ... well, it's in need of TLC. It looks like it's a 15' EZ-loader 5.2 (stern hangs over end of trailer about 20") which has, through the years, been through several repairs. Can't find any ID info on the trailer, and have not received any responses from EZ-Loader.

The existing tires are 215/75R14, and are rotted though. Two of the 5 lugs are missing from one wheel (wheel fell off at one time), and the fenders are a crumpled mess. Lights are broken off, and there are no safety chains.

I have one day (July 10) to meet my friend & get the trailer in shape to drag home. My intention is to replace the lights, fenders, hubs & wheels, and add safety chains. I don't trust the existing hubs to make the drive home. Problem is, I've found zilch for info regarding which hubs were used on this trailer.

I found a set of pre-packaged 5 lug 4.5 hubs which are advertised for EZ-Loader trailers. Pre-installed bearings, pre-greased. Not at all certain they will work, but I've been told I can return them if they don't.

I am going to use a 205/75R14 6 ply tire. Not at all certain radials are necessary at this point. Can always replace the tires at a later date, if necessary.

Let's see if I can get a picture or two to load:

Anyone have any experience with EZ-Loader hubs? There are my main worry re: getting this trailered boat home.

 

[Lrider]

Re: Boat/Trailer Project

Hubs can be bought at most any RV/Trailer supply, you will need bearings and seals.

You will need to pull the hubs off the trailer to se what kind of condition the axles are in.

If the axle is usable take one of the hubs in (with the bearings) so you can get the correct replacement.

I suppose, if you have the equipment and time, you could replace the rusted out studs, not sure where you can find the replacement parts though.

Contact EZ loader with the vin # they can tell you exactly what you need

Good Luck

 

[RB78]

Re: Boat/Trailer Project

Thanks for the response. There is no ID number to be found, and no reponse to e-mails sent to EZ-Loader. I have a set of hubs with pre-installed bearings. With one day available to do this, I'm going to gamble that these new hubs will do the trick.

 

[Dave.Mishchenko]

Re: Boat/Trailer Project

Have you pulled one of the old hubs yet and measured the spindle? That will at least let you know if you got the right hub / bearing combo.

 

[Lrider]

Re: Boat/Trailer Project

The trailer VIN should be on the trailer registration/owners documents

 

[RB78]

Re: Boat/Trailer Project

Have you pulled one of the old hubs yet and measured the spindle? That will at least let you know if you got the right hub / bearing combo.

No, I haven't, and won't be able to until I return there on July 10th. I may well end up having to simply replace the broken lugs and repacked the bearings on the existing hubs.

I have just one day to do this, and my friend (the seller) lives a bit in the boonies. No nearby stores and parts places to run back and forth to.

 

[RB78]

Re: Boat/Trailer Project

The trailer VIN should be on the trailer registration/owners documents

Those documents don't exist. Wish they did. I'm buying the boat from my best friend (we've been friends for 44 years), and he bought it from a friend he has known for 20+ years. Their transaction was a paperless cash transaction. No transfer of title or registration, and the boat/trailer was not re-registered or re-titled. It simply exists in his driveway.

My purchase, at least, has a bill of sale. I'm paying him what my friend paid his friend.

Pretty old school way of doing things, but we're all old guys, so it's all good.

Just wish trailer manufacturers would standardize their process and record what part specs they used for a given model.

 

[woolznaz]

Re: Boat/Trailer Project

Have you considered renting a flat trailer (car-hauler style, with no side walls) and just using a come-along to pull the boat and trailer onto a road-ready trailer to get it home? Once you got it home then you could pull it apart and rebuild your trailer and take your time. I would think a boat of that size could be hauled that way and you would have a safe trailer to get it home. Just a thought. Good luck with the project.

 

[pinecrestwoods]

Re: Boat/Trailer Project

Have you considered renting a flat trailer (car-hauler style, with no side walls) and just using a come-along to pull the boat and trailer onto a road-ready trailer to get it home? Once you got it home then you could pull it apart and rebuild your trailer and take your time. I would think a boat of that size could be hauled that way and you would have a safe trailer to get it home. Just a thought. Good luck with the project.

Bing bing bing!!!!! A winner!!!!!!!!!!!

Much less hassle. Much less risk of wasting money on the wrong parts and compromising safety. Take a trailer, load it up, have a beer with your buddy (wait an hour) and drive home without busting your azz! Surely you know someone who will let you borrow a trailer- otherwise, rent one. Make sure you strap it down REALLY well. Boat strapped to trailer and trailer strapped to trailer. This way, you can sleep at night, rather than worrying about everything going smootly (which won't happen if your luck is like mine).

 

[Pelletmonster]

Re: Boat/Trailer Project

thats a good idea to PINECRESTWOODS......
I work at a trailer shop.. boat trailers mainly do not running ANY COMMON parts on the axles.. best bet to find out correct parts is pull a hub/drum look at bearing for bearing numbers, if not on bearing get yourself a digital caliper and measure where the Grease seal,Inner Bearing,Outter Bearing all ride on the spindle.ALSO a big thing on the hubs on boat trailers, if these are just IDLER HUBS and NOT DRUM BRAKES is the overall height on a hub, place hub grease seal down on a flat bench and get a accurate measurement from table to the top of the hub, run into that problem ALOT here at our shop now just bring those numbers (and/or hubs)to a local trailer shop they SHOULD be able to help you out, if not contact me through here and ill do my best to help ya out.. GOOD LUCK !!

 

[RB78]

Re: Boat/Trailer Project

Thanks guys. I have explored the option of renting a car trailer to bring this home but haven't had any luck locating one. I haven't locked in on any one plan, and stgill have 10 days to come up with a plan. All of your inputs are greatly appreciated.

 

[Fastway]

Re: Boat/Trailer Project

Do you know if the axle has a 4-bolt brake flange behind the hub. If it does, I would feel pretty comfortable taking 1-3/8 x 1-1/16 hubs with a 4-1/2 on 5 bolt pattern. Normally a trailer with 14" or 15" tires (which has a load capacity well above standard 1" or 1-16" straight spindle hub/bearing capacity) that have a GVWR hovering between 2500 and 3000 lbs. should use 1-3/8 x 1-1/16.

If you find out it does have 1" or 1-16" straight spindles, make sure you measure the Hub journal length thru the center from rear casting edge to front casting edge of the existing hubs. As EZ Loader has used a shorty hub (3-1/2" journal length vs standard 4") as long as I can remember. You should be able to pick the 1/3/8 hubs up at your local supply house, the others you may have to hunt for online. Hope this info helps a little.

http://www.easternmarine.com/1-3/8-x-1-1/16-Bearing-5-on-45-Stud-Hub-Kit-81090/

http://www.easternmarine.com/LoadRite-EZ-Loader-Short-Hub-BT-150A-1-150A-04-02/

 

[RB78]

Re: Boat/Trailer Project

Do you know if the axle has a 4-bolt brake flange behind the hub. If it does, I would feel pretty comfortable taking 1-3/8 x 1-1/16 hubs with a 4-1/2 on 5 bolt pattern. Normally a trailer with 14" or 15" tires (which has a load capacity well above standard 1" or 1-16" straight spindle hub/bearing capacity) that have a GVWR hovering between 2500 and 3000 lbs. should use 1-3/8 x 1-1/16.

If you find out it does have 1" or 1-16" straight spindles, make sure you measure the Hub journal length thru the center from rear casting edge to front casting edge of the existing hubs. As EZ Loader has used a shorty hub (3-1/2" journal length vs standard 4") as long as I can remember. You should be able to pick the 1/3/8 hubs up at your local supply house, the others you may have to hunt for online. Hope this info helps a little.

http://www.easternmarine.com/1-3/8-x-1-1/16-Bearing-5-on-45-Stud-Hub-Kit-81090/

http://www.easternmarine.com/LoadRite-EZ-Loader-Short-Hub-BT-150A-1-150A-04-02/

Thanks for the info. Helps a lot. This is what I picked up from a local distributor:

http://www.trailerpartsdepot.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=0014&eq=&Tp=

Don't know that they will work, but I can return them if they don't.

 

[RB78]

Re: Boat/Trailer Project

Heading down tomorrow to get this trailer in shape. Have everything I need except fenders. Thosed will have to wait until I get it home. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

 

[RB78]

Re: Boat/Trailer Project

It's home. I'm tired. More tomorrow.

 

[RB78]

Re: Boat/Trailer Project

OK. It's Saturday. Wound up going down on Friday to get the trailer done. Good thing, too. Raining today. Sunny and very hot yesterday. We started work on the trailer at 11:30. Immediately found bees building a hive in the stern. About 30 came out at me. OK. Zapped the bees. Didn't get all (too many leaves packed in the stern, but got most) and the rest flew away. For a while.

Started with the fenders. Did not bring my oscillating saw. Big mistake. Bolts were rusted solid. Took about an hour to get them off, whereas the saw would have been a few minutes. Here is what is left of the fenders:

You can see the old tires were rubbing against the inside of the fenders.

Next was getting the tires off. My friend had a jack, but no handle for it. Neither of us had a lug wrench. OK, off to Sears for jack and lug wrench. And some bearing grease. Sears is a 30 minute ride from his place. Get there and the Craftsman hydraulic jack prices are all screwed up. A 1.5 ton is $145. A 4 ton is $145. I see a 3 ton with a sticker price of $69. I call a guy over and tell him I want the 3 ton for $69. He isn't happy, but I get it.

Guess what? Sears does not carry lug wrenches or bearing grease.

OK, off to Wal-Mart. Get there 20 minutes later ... eventually find the lug wrenches in with the paper goods. What does a lug wrench have to do with toilet paper? Constipation, maybe?

No bearing grease, though. So ... off to find an auto parts store. Eventually find one, and get some green grease. Guys in there didn't know what green grease was for, so I let them read the label.

Back at the boat nearly 3 hours later where we pull the tires. Two different set of lugs, one using standard nuts, not lug nuts.

The right hub was frozen onto the axle. Had to sweet talk that one off.

Tried the EZ-Loader hubs I brought - and no where close to a fit. Friend calls a boat dealer he knows, and they have hub kits. Race to get the other wheel & hub off. The wheel with the standard nuts proved to be a pain. Nuts did not want to come off.

Where was my oscillating saw????

Finally get the wheel & hub off @ 5p.m., and the boat dealer closes at 6.

Friday evening at 5 p.m. and we have a long drive to get there.

We flew, and got there with 10 minutes to spare. And the guy takes one look at the old hubs and bearings & says "Oh, they're quite common. Everyone uses these ..."

Now, the hub kits I bought in NH cost me $40 each. The pair there cost me $150. But who is going to argue?

Takes another hour to get back to the boat.

We grease the axles a bit, and the new hubs slide right on. Piece of cake installing them. Wouldn't you know, though ... the buggered dust caps in the kits would not fit in the hubs. Not even close to the correct size. So, I slip on the plastic protectors installed on the hubs in the box. Figured I would lose them on the drive home, but did not:

They will work for now.

Tires fit. All is good in the world.

It's now after 7 p.m. Not a lot of sunlight left, and the lights and a half dozen smaller projects I'd planned still need to be done.

We started with the lights. And guess what? The connector did not mate with the connector on my truck. So, we figured we'd just pull the broken lights off and use that wiring.

And where was my oscillating saw?

The bolts were installed with double nuts - all of them stripped - and it took more than an hour to get them off with a bloody hacksaw. Skinny little bolts, but the toughest metal I've ever come across.

Get the new lights installed quick enough, temporarily hook them up to the old wiring - and nothing. That's because the old wiring had been cut off at some point in time, and stuffed into the tubing. Longest length was maybe 4' on the right side.

So ... string the new wiring along the outside of the tubing & connect it up to the light. Cut the female connector off the truck and splice in the female from the new wiring:

And, of course, the truck's wiring didn't quite match the new. Had lights and brakes, though. No turn signals. No big deal.

We are now well into dark.

Leave there at 9:30 p.m. and get back home about 11:30. Ride home was smooth, even with the pathetic roads in Massachusetts. The trailer handled very well.

Finall get home, and wouldn't you know it ... ? The street in front of my house is full of parked cars, with one biggun parked directly across the street from my driveway. That never happens ...

Took about 20 minutes to back the boat into my skinny driveway. But, it's there.

Finally had something to eat (and a couple of beers) about midnight.

All really is good in the world today.

 

[75TowerOfPower]

Re: Boat/Trailer Project

Looks great sounds good. You will love a tower of power. I love the sound so much i start it weekly just to hear it rumble.

 

[KStoon]

Re: Boat/Trailer Project

Funny. With me it would be wasps!