Trailer came with boat....question....

[JMAC]

The Rhodes 18 that I bought this winter is now at my folks place in CT and I'm going down to pick it up in a couple of weeks. The trip back to Maine is 330 miles. The trailer is a bit old with one rusty spot in a steel channel section. I plan to bolt in a piece of oak that will span that area. I believe that the wiring needs replacing. My big concern is the bearings. Should I pry off the caps and replace the grease? Or can I retrofit with bearing buddies? Any and all suggestions welcome.

[StevenBauer]

Trailor parts are cheap. Why not buy two new hub assemblies and replace both of them. You'll end up doing it eventually, anyway.

Steven

[Bert Langley]

Not knowing how the trailer was maintained I would definately at a minimum pull and repack the bearings. If it were mine, I would probably replace the bearings, keeping the old ones for spares. I make it a yearly thing to at least repack the bearings. It is not much of a job, but makes you take the time to examine the trailer and look for any problems. I don't have an opinion regarding bearing buddies, but yes you could use them.

Also, make sure you have a spare tire, and that the lug nuts on the trailer can be removed (NOW is the time to be sure you have a lug wrench that fits the trailer nuts, not when you are stuck along the road somewhere). You also do have a jack that can be used on the trailer right?

Wiring needs to be looked at and if necessary replaced, but most railer wiring problems can be traced to not having a good ground.

I am always amazed at the number of boats I see every year alongside the road while the owner is running around somewhere looking for a tire etc. I really try to take a belt and suspenders approach and always have spare tire, and extra bearings, along with a good jack and a lug wrench that I know fits. I also make sure each year that the lug nuts and bolts are in good shape and that the nuts are not so rusted in place that I can't get them off.

Trailering boats is not a big deal, and with a little thinking ahead you can be ready for most things that can go wrong.

[Ken Hutchins]

Since there is a rust problem make sure you check really carefully all of the axle, I had one on a utility trailer break off from rust just inside of the wheel. Lucky for me it was within a few miles of home and I had a piece of pipe, steel welder etc to make another axle, but changing the axle beside the road at night was no picnic.

[Dick Wynne]

Does the trailer have a transverse leaf spring with the hub assembly attached directly to it (only!). My last trailer was like this. At 55mph one day the spring snapped at a point invisible behind a mounting bracket, sending one entire wheel/hub assembly off into the woods. As this was a single axle trailer bearing my pride & joy at the time, a severe list resulted & it was a bit scary, but the boat survived unscathed.

[ssor]

The reason firemen wash the engine trucks every day is for inspection. They get a close look at every square inch of the rig.
If you have any doubts about any part of it, fixing it before you hit the road will be easier by far than when you are on the interstate twenty miles from the nearest exit.

[Keith Wilson]

Trailer tires that have been sitting around for a long time tend to deteriorate and fail at unpleasant times. If I were going very far, I'd have at least one spare tire, maybe two, unless the tires are essentially new. It's true that trailer parts are cheap. Depending on how adventurous you want to be (and also if you'll be using the trailer later) replacing both wheels, including tires and bearings would not be at all a bad idea. Unless there are other obvious problems, I wouldn't worry much about anything but the rotating parts. It takes a LOT of rust to weaken a frame member significantly; I carried my Townie on a trailer that had more rust than paint for years, and aside from being hideously ugly, it worked fine.

[seayou77]

JMAC, I noticed a few years ago, due to a law requiring brakes on all trailers that Ct. had a wealth of useable boat trailers hanging in the far reaches of the boat yards there. I am going on my observation alone and it's been a while.
Moving boats can be a risky business, might put boat and trailer on a car hauler, behind a Rentatruk, their insurance could be worth the cost.

[hikingchrs]

Where is all of your sence of adventure I recomend praying to the gods and do nothing to the trailer. Travel late on a sunday when parts stores are closed also... J/K all the advice above would be wise to follow.
Chris

[wolfietuk]

I towed a 20' boat from CT to Charleston SC last year. The trailer had old tires so I paid the seller (bought on ebay) to put new tires on it. It had bearing buddies on it (wouldnt do a long trip without them, it is an easy retrofit on most trailers) and pumped in grease everytime I stopped. Be sure to check the axel, and more importantly the springs. Drive it around for a few minutes and feel the hubs. they should be just a little warm (like holding your sweeties hand) any hotter and you could have a porblem.
Rick