Boatmate Trailer: Cracked swing tongue
 

Has anybody else seen this on their swing tongue? We just noticed it yesterday and judging by the light surface rust on the crack it hasn't been there too long. After we noticed it at the lake, it was a very long 10 miles home. I couldn't hardly imagine the possible outcome if the other half of the swing tongue would have let loose.

The boat is an '05 Centurion Elite-V and it's a tandem axle trailer. I'm the original owner.

I'll contact Boatmate right away on Monday but I just wanted to check around if others have seen this. BTW - Other than this, the trailer has given me no issues what-so-ever. It pulls great and loads easy even on uneven landings.

Thanks!

Wow, sorry to hear! I just did a quick search and found a similar thread on MalibuCrew and 2005 Boatmate trailer (see http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/...ongue-cracked/)

According to the guys there, definitely call Boatmate first...sounds like they have good customer service?

That thread from themalibucrew.com shows failed weld, but still in the same area. Interestingly with mine it is a fractured plate.

WOW. Talk about a design flaw. That should not happen. I wonder why they would design the right side of the tongue to not meet up flush with the hinge. There is basically a stress concentrator where the fracture starts simply because of the geometry, and the fact that the weld also ends/starts there could have also contributed some residual stresses.

No bueno! good luck, glad you caught it early!Let us know what happens

There was a crack on my '06 trailer when I first got it, it was blue too. It was much smaller and on the top if I remember correctly. Got it replaced and no probs since. Good thing you caught it before it caught you.

Resolved
 

Boatmate is sending me a new (unpainted) tongue free of charge. They did offer to paint it for a nominal fee but the lead time was too long so I'll get it painted here locally. Thanks Boatmate!

Good Deal.

Maybe they should be contacting all of the Boatmate customers/dealers!

I am not surprised, Boatmate really stands behind their products. Glad you caught it in time.

Glad that BoatMate got you hooked up!!

Is that a boatmate part or a part that they get from another manufacturer

"Glad that BoatMate got you hooked up!! Is that a boatmate part or a part that they get from another manufacturer "

They didn't say if was an in-house assembly or if it is purchased.

Boatmate does not manufacture that part. I believe is is a UFP part.

I don't own a boat mate trailer and have only heard good things. I am not sure I agree that they are backing up their product. Am I alone? 7 years and the tongue is basically falling off. I am glad they are sending you the part. If it were me, and I know it is not, I would still be pissed and want more from them. I would want them to pay for the welding and paint. That in my opinion would be the minimum I would expect. Worst case, that could have broken at freeway speeds and literally killed people. This looks to me like it has nothing to do with a maintenance failure or any failure on the owners part. Yet, he has to go find a place to get the work done, not go boating until it is fixed, and pay for the labor. Good on them for the part, but I think that is the easy way out. Maybe this is just normal practice, but I don't like it. I have had much older boats and much older trailers. We should all expect more out of boat trailer manufactures.

IMO they have stepped up and replaced something no charge which is out of warranty, its customers like you that cause of the cost of everything to go up with unreasonable expectations.

Your right, this happens all the time and I am the problem. My bad. I should just lower my expectations and maybe expect a trailer to only last one season. What was I thinking. A trailer tongue should fall off at seven years. I am such an idiot. Thanks for showing me the light.

You're welcome

Lawsuits due to bad QC in manufacturing critical parts that can kill people cause costs to go up too. Glad the owner was on top of his game, and boatmate should cover the cost of painting it...

From what I see there is no welding involved for the customer to reinstall that piece. The cracked piece is on the foward part of the tongue, not the trailer side so all he has to do is reinstall the bolt and run the wire and brake line through. Granted I am sure they didnt sent a surge break as well so all of that will need to be swapped over and probably rebleed the brake lines. Defintely a mornings task to do all of this but not a total day lost. Boatmate did offer to paint for a small fee, but there would be lead time, as there is on all custom trailer products.

I do agree I would have probably raised hell about having to replace everything and get it painted etc, however the trailer is indeed out of warranty and as bad as it sounds, id be happy to get pretty much anything for free when a product is out of warranty. However, you do get more with honey then you do vinegar...At the end of the day, its getting fixed for a little cost and the customer is happy. Thats all that matters