3 QUICK TRAILER RELATED QUESTIONS

I am a young boat owner (26 years old) and am trying to be a little more responsible with it then last summer, which is when I bought it. That means actually spending a few $ on maintenance, AND, not being such a lazy ass about stuff. The first objective on my list is to get the trailer all dialed in and running properly. After looking it over, I came across 3 things that concerned me. Now, I'm hoping to get some answers about them from some of you wiser, more responsible owners. Here they are:

1. I noticed grease has spewed over of few of the wheels, in kind of a circular pattern. What is most likely causing this? Is it something I could
fix, OR, have fixed fairly cheaply?

2. Is there a way to bypass the mechanism that doesn't allow me to back up my trailer without putting that stupid pin in there? I have surge brakes and a 7 round pin plug (that was converted from the original 4 flat plug with a Wal-Mart adapter). I've been told that there's a wire that can be connected to my reverse lights that will activate a cellinoid when I go in reverse.

3. (Kinda trailer related) When I trailered my boat last summer, I didn't quite get the nose of the hull completely on to the roller. It's about 3/4 inch off of it. For future reference, should it always rest on the roller?

FYI, I have an '05 Malibu Wakesetter with an Extreme tandem axle trailer. Feel free to share any info pertaining to all/any of the questions. And as always, thanks so much in advance for the help...

1) As far as the grease goes that could be bad. Just this last weekend I had the rim (hub and all) come off the trailer due to not greasing enough (i guess). I would definitely grease the hub bearings etc. Maybe pull the rim off and make sure everything still looks good. I didnt feel anything in the truck when this happen but a lady stopped me and told me the wheel was wobbling.

1. There are seals in the axles that are supposed to keep the grease from coming out. They may need to be replaced. The seal cost under $10.

2. Does your trailer have a 5 pin plug? If it has the back-up solonid it should have 5 pins. IF it does you need the reverse light wired to the 5th pin.

If you are not mechanically (electrically) inclined any trailer shop can fix those situations. You don't have to wait on a boat shop.

3. I always try to have the boat touching the roller.

patrick, a trailer shop can run a whole new wiring harness that will sit down under your bumper by the hitch. I'm guessing you have a 98 or older truck, that doesn't have the backup wire.

I had one run and new harness added like i'm talking about above on my 97 dually chevy. Cost $50 total.

nevermind i see you live in CA. Probably be $100 for you to get it done. California is out of control costs.

(Message edited by tj_in_kc on June 12, 2008)

Check the seal on the wheel bearings.

Get your truck wired properly for what you tow. No need to bypass anything..just wire it properly.

If my boat isnt all the way on the roller it rocks up and down on the road. When you hit a bump the boat rocks back and starts coming back down as the trailer is coming up and they both slam together. I feel it in the truck...it feels like someone dropped a bag of sand in the bed of my truck. If you can avoid that I would recommend it. Thats just extra stress on the boat...the fiberglass will give before the steel trailer will.

just out of curiosity how often does everyone grease their bearings? I had a few go bad last season due to not greasing them enough and now i can't remember how often the people who fixed it said to grease it. i think he said every 4 to 5 times it goes in the water.

have had number 1 happen when too much grease was added.

Get a set of bearing buddies and you want have to worry about how often to grease the bearings, the indicator will tell you when it is time.

when you want to back up and override the brakes, just plug your plugs in backwards, (flip them). Works for my 06 VLX trailer, wish I knew that when I bought it!

I had to put a 5 wire plug i got from U-haul. Spliced into the old 4 wire plug wires and tapped into the reverse light. Total cost around $8 for the plug and 30 minutes of my time. They said they could wire it for $15 however i did not want to wait an hour for them to get to it.

After greasing your hubs, wipe off all excess grease if you want to keep it neat as if not when you put your trailer in and out of the water and the grease gets runny it is going to sling onto your wheel. Best way is to not overgrease but to grease often. If you are at all mechanically inclined you can add that 5-pole plug in 5 minutes or less. Get some sctoch locks and get up under the back of your truck. All the factory wires are right there and easy to get to. This and a few cable ties is all you'll need. I keep my boat in gear with about 1500 rpm's when I get it loaded to push the tie hook firmly against the roller as someone cranks the winch. This way you take out all slack and it will stay tight against the roller once you get it out of the water. Don't ram the boat but go easy once you make contact with the roller. It will work every time.

What is your tow Vehicle and is the 7-way round on the truck or the trailer?

I have several different trucks we pull with as we are a dealer. The Ford trucks have the 7-way and you can just buy the adapter from about any auto parts store to plug right into it and everything should work find. If it doesn't, you'd need to swap your blue and purple wire on the truck plug side in the wiring harness. Or you can buy a 5-pole new plug from the auto parts store and wire it in directly to your wiring which is also very easy.

If you do not have the bow tight against the roller it can slap up/down against it as you drive. My buddy had an ugly gel coat repair after doing that. Gel coat shop told him "happens all the time, make sure it's tight."

If you do not have the bow tight against the roller it can slap up/down against it as you drive. My buddy had an ugly gel coat repair after doing that. Gel coat shop told him "happens all the time, make sure it's tight."

1) As far as bearings go, if you are getting grease only on the front of your wheels you might just be overfilling them. Check the back of the wheels too and if it's the brake axle check the rotors. You definitely don't want a bunch of grease on your brakes. If you have a lot of grease on the inside of your hubs/rotors your seals are probably shot. To check if your seals are bad slowly put some grease in through the grease fitting and check the back of the hub to see if any grease comes out. If the seals are bad, replace them and check the races and bearings as well. Also, remember not to drop the trailer in the water as soon as you get to the ramp - let the hubs cool off for a few minutes. Good Luck!!