New trailer?
 

I am in the process of shopping out new trailers, mine is at the end of its life (repair cost not worth it). Looking at a couple different options based on pricing. I really want to upgrade to a tandem, which throws the price up considerably.

I am not looking at a fancy trailer just something reliable that will last. I have a place that makes some quality aluminum trailers with adjustable bunks. I have no experiences with these and wanted to get thoughts???

The dealer told me they would fit my boat for a fee or I could do it myself, he said it was pretty easy if you are semi mechanical and that adjustments would be fairly minor. He also added the if I pre-fit by measuring bunks on my existing trailer it would help even more.

So are adjustable bunks something I should stay away from or good-to-go?

I am looking at the adjustable trailer in the $4100 range and a custom welded bunks, painted steel trailer in the $5500 range. And they just go up from there. I have yet to hear back from the Moomba dealer on a quote from Boatmate (factory trailer).

Any other options? (I have shopped around an not found any used ones).

My guess is an aluminum or galvanized trailer will last alot longer then any painted trailer. They won't look as pretty though.

Got word from the dealer about Boatmate

Single...$4400
Tandem...$5200 Out the door.

every trailer i have had was a boat mate, and every one was new, and everyone had the worst install of bunks. the carpet was falling off, and the screws where falling out, the 2 had bad brake system as well. i am not trashing boat mate, but it is a shame that they cost so much and they really need to take the time and come up with a better bunk system

Does anyone seem to make a good trailer?

- They are all really expensive. Think about it; it's some freaking painted square tubing welded together, simple brake setup, simple axle/suspension setup, yet go for 5k+ easy
- All the steel ones rust, and quickly. Sure they get wet when they are dunked, but your average car spends more time getting wet than a trailer. Your average car sees way more salt than a fresh water trailer will ever dream of seeing. Yet you can easily find a 10+ year old car with no rust - good like finding a trailer of that vintage without rust.
- Bunks all seem to be total ****. Carpet always falling apart, wood rotting out, etc. Again, these things aren't exactly cheap

Sounds like going in the trailer business = heavy profit margins. Sell a cheap ass product for a fortune. Sorry to rant, but it's insane how poorly trailers seem to be made across the board.

Prices seem high for what you get, even a basic no frills commands a high high price.

I have a boatmate and it works great. The Nati guys in Dallas order their trailers from Roadrunner (located in Lewisville, TX)

http://roadrunnertrailers.com/

I put in a call into them, they will do a couple hundred less than Boatmate, but the drive sucks for me and I really hate to pick up a trailer site unseen, even a new one.

I got one new 2years ago from phoenix. Aluminum wheels, tandem, all led, swing toung, reverse lights and back up brake lockout solenoid, and had custom crossover beams made for it to make it fit in a 7' garag, all painted to match the boat color. Got it for just about 5k like 5100 iirc. When i got into options, they were cheap compared to the base trailer so i just loaded ot up. Unlike most manufacturers that use like 2 x 1/4 strips for the uprights to the bunks, phoenix uses full boxed 2x4 steel the whole way up on every support which sold me with them. you see several threads a year or the flimsy metal bending or breaking or wrecking the welds. i know his one wont do that. The price seems ballpark to what you are looking at so give them a call. They probably have the bottom dimentions for your boat all ready in their computer. i think it was phoenixtrail.com

Not sure how bad your trailer is currently, but I had a 2001 DHM trailer sandblasted and repainted this spring (I also looked at replacing it), then redid all the bunks and steps and replaced all the lighting with LED (did that work myself) and I think it cost me $1500.

It was in pretty rough shape (lots of gravel roads) and now It looks brand new.

Had a few places check out my trailer it is pretty much not worth it to repair, looking at 2K+

The most expensive of the bunch.

i tow my boat, sometime 3 or 4 time a week. hundreds of miles not just down the road. I have 3 bent bunk holders (from the factory) all the bolts are falling out of the wood, had to repair them at the river last week. the carpet is falling off 3 of the bunks and half of the botls where put in on a angle, not even close to being straight. Its bull Sh@t. I am happy that this brand new 2012 trailer does have working brakes. my 09 had rusted fender boats that where loose, but not able to be tightened or loosened. lol i think your best bet is to have one made by a quality company that cares about there build quality

Does anyone have experience with "universal" trailers, where you adjust the bunks to fit a specific model?

My boat came with a aluminum I-beam that is adjustable. It works well but I do miss the bling factor of the high end boat mates with tubular step bars 18-20's etc.
But mine is very light.

5 grand holy cow. My old galvanized is a thing of beauty! I paid an extra $400 for a galvanized trailer upgrade for my Malibu but that was back in 2001. Every old steel trailer I have owned developed some form of cancer. The galvanized trailer never looked "good" under the boat the it looks the same as it did when it was new. After a few dips in salt, I know if it was one of those pretty steel trailers I would be shelling out some coin.