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How To Avoid Boat Trailer Failure!
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Aug 16, 2024
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View Video Transcript
0:00
Boat US has done a survey that shows that 44% of trailer assist dispatches are because of tire failure
0:16
and we've got some tricks to show you how to avoid being a part of that percentage
0:21
The next biggest reason they had for assistance was for wheel hub failures and then for brakes and axles
0:27
These big failures are the cause for needing roadside assistance though, and the next most common trailer failures that you will see are for the lights and for the bunks
0:38
To avoid having an issue with lights, we just need to test them periodically throughout the year
0:43
In order to test them, you need to know how they work, and we'll cover the entire trailer light system in an upcoming video
0:51
Because we are going to be doing a restoration of this trailer here going over all the systems, which is the
0:57
is why this week's contest prize is going to be a C-deck fish ruler that we got whenever we ordered
1:03
all our trailer parts from boat trailer parts.com. But for a quick overview, trailer lights will
1:10
generally only have four or five wires going to them. There will be a white wire that has
1:15
the end of it covered with rubber. This is going to be the ground wire and the system uses the
1:21
trailer to connect all the components via this white ground wire. Then you'll have the brown wire
1:26
which is the running lights, tail lights, license plate lights, and side lights. It's the power wire for all of them
1:33
Then we have a yellow wire, which is the port side or left-hand side of the trailer lights
1:45
Meaning the brake and the turn signal lights. Next to that will be the green wire, being the starboard or right-hand side of the trailer lights, the brake and turn signal lights for that side
1:54
You can tell these apart by remembering, in the USA, we drive on the right-hand side of the road
2:01
The yellow line in the middle of the road matches the yellow wire for the left side of the trailer
2:06
There is also usually grass on the right-hand side of the road, matching the green wire for the right-hand side of the trailer
2:14
The five-wire plug has a blue wire for accessories, which is usually used for activating the brake siloids on trailer brake systems
2:23
And we'll cover that entire system? in an upcoming video as well so don't forget to hit that subscribe button
2:29
Testing the lights throughout the year and doing quick visual walk-around inspections
2:33
will help to avoid having a trailer light failure issue. Now when it comes to the bunks, you will see that most of the time the carpet tears off
2:46
or the boards rot out. But you will also find that the brackets that hold the bunks in place will also rust out and fail
3:03
Just keep your eye on these and when it comes to fixing a trailer bunk it is extremely easy For most trailers you can just remove the old or broken bunks and carpet then measure the boards and cut a set of pressure treated boards down to the correct size
3:18
Before bolting them back on, you'll want to wrap them with new carpet
3:22
Carpeting the bunk is really easy and you just want to know these three things
3:26
Number one, cut the carpet about three or four inches, longer than both sides of the bunk
3:41
Then when installing it, staple the carpet down on one side all the way down the board
3:45
which is the second point in making sure you use stainless steel staples
3:55
If you don't use stainless steel staples, the staples will rust away in only a couple of seasons and the
4:01
carpet will rip right off the bunk in no time. You can use any kind of regular old
4:05
staple gun and place the staples about four inches or so away from each other. Then
4:13
wrap the carpet around the bunk and pull it tight. Stapling it again on the same side of the board with a carpet wrapped around it, keeping
4:30
all the staples on the underside of the board where they won't be in a position to
4:34
scratch the boat as time goes on. The third and last thing to do to make this carpet job look real good is to flip the board
4:50
up like this and then cut the carpet in two places. Basically just cutting from the
4:55
corner of the board out and leaving a little carpet flap like this
5:00
We'll flip the board over and make the same
5:30
Then we can fold these two flaps in over the end of the board and staple them down
5:35
Then cut the bottom carpet down to only be able to cover the end of the board and flip it up and staple it down
6:00
Now we can pull the carpet down from the top and cover the entire end of the board and staple it on the bottom making you look really clean and ready to bolt back onto the brackets of the trailer
6:19
If you want to avoid doing this every other year, just periodically check the staples on the underside of the carpet and shoot a couple new ones in whenever you notice they need it
6:29
As long as you use stainless steel staples, you can get a lot more use out of the carpet
6:34
When it comes to the axles and the brakes, we need to do a very little. visual inspection of them. There isn't much to the axles besides just looking at them and inspecting
6:43
them for rust. Keeping an eye on the rust and realizing when it is time to install a new axle
6:48
is the best preventative maintenance that you can do. The brakes on the other hand, the same applies
6:54
with the visual inspection. You want to check out the pads and make sure that they aren't worn down to
6:59
the metal. You can see them from the back and if you see that they are metal to metal against
7:03
the caliper, then it's time to put some new pads on. You all
7:07
Also want to keep an eye on the brake lines. Most lines are kept in place by zip ties
7:12
and over time the zip ties will become brittle and break off. What you can do is simply install some new zip ties
7:19
whenever you see this happening during your inspection. Now some tips and techniques that you will find helpful
7:24
for doing some maintenance on the hubs. If your trailer has what are called buddy bearings
7:29
or depending on what actually you have on the trailer, you will be able to use a grease gun to just pump grease into the hubs
7:35
without having to take the cap off. Otherwise, you will have to just tap around on the cap to knock it off
7:41
and use a grease gun to pump grease into the axle, which comes out the back inside of the hub
7:47
Pump the grease in until it comes out the bearings in the front of the hub like this
7:52
Pumping the grease into the hub will prevent the bearings inside of the hubs from failing
7:56
causing some serious damage if it fails while you are doing 60 down the highway
8:01
If you don't have the grease fittings, then it's just back to the old handpacking method
8:05
It's good to loosen the lug nuts before getting the tire off the ground, otherwise if you have an impact gun, you don't need to worry about loosening your nuts
8:13
which is relevant to how many lug nuts you have on the hub. Here are the patterns for 4-bolt, 5-bolt, and 6-bolt lug-nut patterns
8:21
You might have to use a dead blow or a hammer to get the hubs off the axles
8:26
depending on how long they have been on there. Once they are off, you can take out the bearings and hand-pack them
8:32
Unless you want to buy a hand-packer, but hand-packing is just a long
8:35
so easy that I've never had to use that handy packer. To hand pack a bearing, just get some gloves
8:41
on and put a glob of grease in one hand. Then take the bearing in the other and rotate it
8:47
round your finger while dragging the edge of the bearing down the glob of grease. Just keep dragging it
8:53
down the grease and rotating it until new grease comes out of the other side. New bearings are
8:58
always easier than old bearings, but for old bearings, just use some break contact cleaner to get as much
9:05
old grease out of the bearing as you can, and then the method is the same as a new bearing
9:10
When it comes to staying out of the 44 of trailer failures on the road being the tire issue you can tell a lot about a tire by just visually inspecting it and referencing a tire wear chart I put this chart in the description below
9:25
You'll notice that most wear patterns have to do with either an issue with air pressure, overloading
9:31
alignment, and locking up or skidding. Use this chart to help you detect a potential problem with your trailer
9:38
You can't do much about locking up or skidding if you have to stop, you gotta stop
9:42
a lot of the alignment issues can be related to having good hubs and bearings behind the wheels
9:48
leaving us with only two main things to be concerned about, the air pressure and the load weight
9:53
Making sure that the tires have the right pressure in them is key to avoiding a blowout on the side of the road
10:00
Most of us keep an air pressure gauge in the glove box, so by simply checking the air pressure of the tire
10:06
and making sure that it is filled up to the max pressure that is found on the tire will save a lot of unforeseen headaches
10:12
With that and not overloading the tire, you'll be in good shape
10:17
On a side note, a little bit about the numbers on the side of the tire and what they mean
10:21
there are two types of tires that are found on most trailers. But some of you are probably wanting to know about how to get that fish ruler
10:28
So drop a comment below and let us know about a trailer story you've encountered
10:32
and include a hashtag trailers for a chance to win the ruler
10:37
You'll notice that most tires have a number like ST 225 slash 75
10:42
D15, the ST simply means special trailer, meaning like a boat trailer use
10:50
Then the 225 number is the width of the tire in millimeters, and the 75 is the height to width ratio
10:57
That basically just means that the side wall of the tire is 75% of the tire's width
11:03
Then the D means diagonal, but just remember it means bias, and the other common letter is
11:09
R, which means radial. The 15 is just the root. rim size letting you know it's got a 15 inch rim
11:16
The D and the R is something that a lot of people aren't familiar with
11:20
A R or radial tire has steel belts in it in the sidewall
11:25
This makes them stronger and you can say more heavy duty. They are theoretically more resistant to say hitting curves and things like that, but they
11:33
cost more money. The steel also runs cooler which can also lead to a longer lifespan
11:41
Whereas the D or bias has nylon belts in it instead of steel belts
11:47
Bias tires are usually cheaper and they are actually more resistant to sitting for a long
11:51
period of time because of the nylon. Once the tire warms up, it will generally reshape itself to a point, whereas the steel
12:00
it really won't do that. The radial tires are better suited for long distance travels though, whereas if you don't
12:06
have to drive very far to the ramp, the bias tires will do you just fine because they will be
12:11
more cost effective and that is why we put them on the trailer here we hope you are all
12:16
being safe with the COVID-19 virus and want to thank you for hanging out with us this week
12:21
and we look forward to seeing you next week
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