I've always noticed a little creak noise here and there, but lately, my trailer has been noisier and noisier when I'm towing my boat. <BR> <BR>I'm assuming this noise is coming from my trailer tounge, although it's hard to tell from the drivers seat. <BR> <BR>The only thing I have noticed, is that there is a little bit of play on the latch of my trailer tounge (the piece that locks the ball into the tounge). Is this normal, or should there be litte-to-no play at all? <BR> <BR>Thanks

I hear the same thing with mine. I have an 86 supra and my trailer has seen its better days. It may be as easy as greasing your ball and reciever. I havent done that to mine yet but It may help.

Does it clunk when taking off from a stop?

Jack, <BR> <BR>Check the hitch area for any signs of fatigued welds. I had a trailer where the "cup" pulled completely apart from the rest of the hitch (this was on a Unique Functional Products (UFP) swing-away tongue). Never did much research into it, but based on my [limited] materials knowledge, it was a poorly penetrated weld that gave. The trailer was never loaded beyond allowance. Anyway, just check for that kind of thing. <BR> <BR>I've also had the bolt of the swing-away shear off. The threads of the bolt were inside the hitch, which is not right. Force is never supposed to be exerted to the threads - only the shoulder. <BR> <BR>Either of these things is definitely potentially deadly if it fails catastrophically while at speed. I got lucky and the cup thing happened at 3MPH and I noticed the broken bolt when the boat was sitting in my drive way. <BR> <BR>On a side note, in my experience, trailers always make a ton of noise. Mine sounds pretty clapped out right now. <BR>Danny

I always think it's interesting when I see a big, good looking 4wd truck with a nice shiney tow ball on the back. Do they ever use it? Mine was shiney for about a week. Then it got noisy &amp; I greased it. Now I keep it covered because it'll make a mess of things if anything touches it. <BR> <BR>Mine is making the clunk now days. My to-do list includes bleeding the brakes. Maybe next winter I'll check &amp; replace the brake pads too.

If your trailer is "clunking" taking off from a stop, it is probably the shock absorber up inside the tongue. It acts in conjunction with the brake actuator (on some models). These go bad just like regular shocks and occasionally need replacing. We usually have these in stock at our shop. <BR> <BR>I've never had luck with grease. It just makes a mess.

Thanks, everyone, for the insight.

i've never greased the ball either, it gets nasty enough on its own. <BR> <BR>check your brake fluid level and you also might check the receiver/hitch on your truck. they can get sloppy sometimes too.

The clunking can also occur from the need to re-bleed the brakes. I had a similar situation and after I bled the brakes (boat was new to me at time) it went away.

If you have a lot of slop in the reciever/hitch pin, it can make some noise too. I've been thinking about getting one of these <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1-2-SILENT-LOCKING-TRAILER-HITCH-PIN-1-1-4-CLASS-I-II_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ65Q3a12Q7c66Q3a2Q7c 39Q3a1Q7c72Q3a1205Q7c293Q3a1Q7c294Q3a50QQ_trksidZp 3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem4836b69db7QQitemZ3101555 82903QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessori es" target="_blank">silent hitch pins like this</a>. Looks like it might be a bit of a pain to assemble, but once it's there, it would stay. <BR> <BR>Hey Salty, what is it that is nasty? Rust? Flaking chrome? Old grease from when your trailer was assembled? I clean mine up, then put clean grease on it maybe once a year, then keep a cover on it anytime I'm not pulling a trailer.

Could also be the trailers spring packs under the axle. Mine made a whole lots of noise a few months before one side snapped sending my wheel/tire up into the fender.

bill....yep....rust and whatever grime, chrome dust. nasty to rub against. i never thought of putting a cover on it.

These look like they would help solve the problem. <BR>No experience with them, and a little pricey, but if it works... <BR> <BR><a href="http://www.schuckhitches.com/hitches.htm" target="_blank">http://www.schuckhitches.com/hitches.htm</a>

Yea, just clean up the ball, and inside the tongue on your trailer. Then regrease it. Doesn't have to be done very often &amp; it definitely helps. I just use one of these. <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/718425.gif" alt="Upload"> <BR>But the guy who comes up with a cool looking ball cover has free advertising on trucks all over the country. Everyone of us have tow rigs, and I'd be willing to bet that over 1/2 of us leave the receiver in there &amp; just need a cover to keep from getting greasy or knockin our knees on it. <BR> <BR><a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Chevrolet-w-Bowtie-CHROME-Aluminum-Hitch-ball-cover-NEW_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ65Q3a12Q7c66Q3a2Q7 c39Q3a1Q7c72Q3a1171Q7c293Q3a1Q7c294Q3a50QQ_trksidZ p3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem1c097f76cbQQitemZ120418 432715QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessor ies" target="_blank">Something like this with WakeWorld on it would sell like crazy around here.</a> <BR> <BR><a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/Dice-Truck-Trailer-Ball-Hitch-Cover-BULK-WHOLESALE_W0QQitemZ200298361666QQcmdZViewItemQQptZ LH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2ea2b67342&amp;_trksid =p3286.c0.m14&amp;_trkparms=65%3A12|66%3A2|39%3A1| 72%3A1171|293%3A1|294%3A50" target="_blank">Or how about a group buy on some dice?</a> <BR> <BR>Lots of others out there too, golf balls, soccer balls, footballs, deer head, fish, etc.

yeah, it clunks when taking off from a stop, and creaks when I'm doing anyhing other than maintaining a constant speed in a straight line.