Trailer Refurbishment . . .

[tpenfield]

My 19 foot O'Day sailboat came with a pretty decent Load-Rite galvanized trailer, but it does need a little bit of work.

The rollers are old and the black 'hull marking' kind


One of the rollers is missing,


And the tires are shall we say 'end of life' . . .


I think that galvanized rims are OK. I have towed the boat about 150 miles on these tires, but don't plan on taking any more chances with them

I ordered a set of Kenda Load Star tires, along with a spare tire & galvanized rim combination, which should be here next week.

Today, I when about replacing the rollers, I got 4 sets of Non-marking (Yellow) rollers. Well it turned out that it was easier said than done. The existing hardware was really rusted and had become one with the aluminum roller mounts. So, something that I thought would take a few hours will probably take about 12 hours.

Here is a picture of the remains of the rusted snap clips after I broke if off. About 1/2 of them are like this.


Here is the rusted hardware . . .


The inboard hole was fine as the clip could still swivel , but the outboard clip was rusted solid. For some of the rollers I was able to extract the remaining bits of the clips, but for others, I had to drill a new hole.

I managed to get 1 set (4 rollers) done, but have 3 more sets to go. I also need to get a couple of bow stop rollers for up front on the trailer.


We are supposed to get some snow tomorrow, so the rest of it will probably have to wait a week or so. I just hope the wheels will come of without too much trouble, so I can replace the tires, etc.

 

[dingbat]

I had the same issue. Gave up trying to remove the old clips to reuse the old holes and just drilled new. Saved time in the long run

 

[NHGuy]

Ted, at least try some penetrating oil like PBBlaster or such. Give it a couple days.

 

[tpenfield]

I have been working slowly on the trailer rollers, grabbing some time here and there. I am trying to save and re-used the holes to the greatest extent possible. So far, I have bee successful using a scribe tool to dig out the rust and remains of the clips to a point where I can pull the remains out and clean up the holes. No rush on this project as my focus is switching towards the prep for the powerboat. The sailboat and its trailer are not as time critical.

 

[Bondo]

I have been working slowly on the trailer rollers, grabbing some time here and there. I am trying to save and re-used the holes to the greatest extent possible. So far, I have bee successful using a scribe tool to dig out the rust and remains of the clips to a point where I can pull the remains out and clean up the holes. No rush on this project as my focus is switching towards the prep for the powerboat. The sailboat and its trailer are not as time critical.

Ayuh,.... Douse the clips with Fluid Film,....

It'll leach into the crevasses, 'n release the rust,....

I don't envy you guys playin' in the brine,.....

 

[Silvertip]

Tri-Flo is also an excellent rust buster. Use a dremel tool to cut off the clips flush with the axle. Then use a drift punch to drive out the shank after a good soak with any of the stuff listed. Support the axle or place it in a vice for best response from the hammer whack.

 

[tpenfield]

UPDATE:

I have not done much with the trailer lately, as the 'big' boat has been getting all of the attention in preparation for the season. I did manage to mount new tires on the rims this weekend. :thumb:

I had not tried to replace a tire on a rim ever before, and figured that I will give it a try to learn about it. I tried a few 'home cooking' methods of breaking the bead on the old tires, with not much luck. I finally went and got a 'manual tire changer' tool from Harbor Freight. I mounted it on my deck so it would be secure.



The lower part of the tools is to break the bead on the old tire and the upper part of the tool is to put the new tire on the rim.

The bead breaking worked great . . . The new tire mounting was more challenging and it seemed to take a lot more torque to 'pull' the bead over the rim than the rim lever could give. Fortunately, I bought a second rim tool, so I could cheat it a little bit.

Here are the 2 tires mounted on the rims. I will let them sit for a few days to make sure they hold air. Initially filling them air was a bit 'exciting' as you don't quite know when the bead is going to 'POP' in place . . . kind of startling at first.



These are pretty decent tires . . . Load Star K550. I also bought a cheapo knock-off tire/wheel to use as a spare tire. I probably will do only about 200 miles per year on these tires, but I wanted to get something that would be good and last a while.

And if they wear out, I now know how to replace them

 

[bonz_d]

Wow, a man with his own private tire machine. Impressive!

 

[tpenfield]

Quick Update:

just noticing that I started this thread back in March of this year, and its been a few months since my last update. . .

I have the new tires (wheels) mounted on the trailer and have been working on completing the new rollers. Having a couple bursts of productivity over the past few weeks, I got 14 rollers done and only 2 left. I tried to 'save' most of the existing mounting holes in the roller spars by grinding and chipping out the remains of the steel clips. I had to drill new hole for a few of them. I'll post a few pictures once it is all set. timing should work out as the boat (O'Day Mariner Sailboat) is about ready to go back on the trailer, after having the keel and hull bottom work done.

 

[tpenfield]

Project Update:

I have been slowly chipping away at replacing the wobble rollers on the trailer and finished off today.

In total, I replaced the 16 wobble rollers, the 2 bow stop rollers, . . all with the non-marking kind. Replaced the tires and added a share tire/wheel.

I managed to remove the clip remnants from most of the roller clip holes that were rusted up. I only had to drill a new hole for a handfull of the rollers.

Here are a few pics of the trailer all done . . .













Now I just have to get the boat ready so it can go back on the trailer

 

[gm280]

tpenfield, I am certain you could find your trailer now in the dark with those "yellow" rollers installed. Nice job and it does look good. :thumb:

 

[tpenfield]

tpenfield, I am certain you could find your trailer now in the dark with those "yellow" rollers installed. Nice job and it does look good. :thumb:

Thanks :thumb:

 

[Lou C]

Looks good Ted the one under my H-200 is very similar. L/R galvanizing holds up very well, mines a '94.
Did a bunch of work to it over the years. Longer tongue. Longer roller bars, heavier axle etc...

 

[tpenfield]

Looks good Ted the one under my H-200 is very similar. L/R galvanizing holds up very well, mines a '94.
Did a bunch of work to it over the years. Longer tongue. Longer roller bars, heavier axle etc...

Thanks, Lou. I am hoping the leaf springs hold up with occasional dunks in the salt, since they are not galvanized. If need be, I could switch to a torsion axle.

 

[dingbat]

I am hoping the leaf springs hold up with occasional dunks in the salt, since they are not galvanized.

I just changed out the OEM springs on my 1997 LoadRite last spring. That's more than I can say about the rear axle. On number 2 at this point.

 

[Lou C]

I found that the OEM springs seemed to hold up better than some of the aftermarket ones....

 

[Lou C]

When I got a new axle, I had one made by Champion Trailers in Slidell, La. It is much heavier duty than the OE axle, the wall thickness of the axle tube is 1/4". Came with Super Lube hubs, love them......

 

[tpenfield]

Yes, Champion Trailers . . . they are on my short list of suppliers and I have bought components from them in the past. I have not taken a good look at the axle itself, but probably should. The sailboat has a weight of about 1400 lbs, so not all that heavy for single axle trailer.

I do like the fact that my trailer is rollers instead of bunks. I am on the 'waiting list' for a town mooring, not sure how long of a 'wait' that will be, so I'll be doing day launching until then.