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Old     (pcolajosh)      Join Date: May 2007       01-06-2010, 8:50 PM Reply   
I bought my 1999 X-Star (205V) in the spring of 2007. It had been a freshwater boat and stored in a dry dock marina for most of its life. The trailer was in nearly new condition. I ride in brackish water (unfortunately, I’ve only averaged about 50 hours a year for the past 3 years) and have always spent at least 15 minutes washing down the trailer as best I could every time I launched and loaded. I only used fresh water for the rinse, so that’s my bad. I’m sure Salt-Away or some other corrosion preventative agent would have helped things somewhat. Anyways, what I’m saying is that I’ve tried to take care of my trailer. In retrospect, I don’t think that a closed tube steel trailer should EVER be dunked in saltwater. Not even once! Hidden corrosion is no joke.

First year, no problems other than a busted stud that turned into a total nightmare due to the hex head stud that rusted in from the backside.

Second year, standard issues. Lights inop, brakes sketchy. Complete Kodiak brake job started. Long story short: new Kodiak rotors on, but no brake calipers. Waste of $500.

Third year, brakes still inop, but had gotten used to it. (3 mile tow to the launch at low speeds), lights fixed with an extensive rewire/LED upgrade. ($100)

Ultimately, this was the ultimate polishing of a turd. The trailer had a catastrophic failure as the main beams bent down at the rear spring perches. I’m no engineer, but this looked like an overstress of the metal after going over some potholes? This left a 1” gap at the transom between the boat and the trailer bunks. All in all, this is a fairly benign catastrophic failure compared to a couple I’ve seen online (broken tongue, snapped axles, exploding springpacks) but for me, it was a big deal.

So after a ton of research into the trailer world, I went with a Load-Rite ski boat trailer and I couldn’t be happier. Going into this trailer search, I had some specific desires: a trailer that could handle saltwater (since I’m not a fan of the galvanized look, this means aluminum), tandem axles would be nice, good looking wheels, a good brake system, and a price as low as possible. I also wanted to go with a relatively large company with a good reputation in the industry. This is a summary of my findings, your mileage may vary.

There are only 2 manufacturers that produce an aluminum trailer for inboards: Phoenix and Load-Rite. Phoenix cost was $5700. Load-Rite cost was $3500. I only checked one dealer for Phoenix, so there may be some serious variance, but it seemed like the Load-Rites were just cheaper all around. I checked prices with 5 dealers and the high was $4600. It was a no-brainer for me. Here’s my trailer info: 7000# tandem axle. Stainless steel hardware package. Stainless steel brakelines. Aluminum wheels, including spare and mount. LED lighting. Fully adjusted to my boat (a 4 hour process for me at the boat ramp).

Overall, compared to the factory trailer, this one seems overbuilt for the application. Everything is very heavy duty and well built.

Some gripes:

Load-Rite is an exclusively East coast outfit. Their dealer network leaves a lot to be desired. They don’t sell directly to the public, but I’ve heard that they will help you out if you need parts for one of their trailers and you don’t have a dealer nearby.

The lug nuts are chrome plated garbage. They’ve already started to rust a bit on the edges, and I just got the trailer (built just weeks ago) on Tuesday.

My trailer didn’t come with any owner’s manuals, parts breakdown charts, etc. This would be helpful down the road with bearing or seals replacements. Is that a 1.89” or a 1.98” or 2.12” or whatever those things are sized at. If you work at a trailer place, you probably know them by sight. I don’t.

All in all, I am very happy with my new trailer. It pulls nicely down the road (tracks better than the single axle) and actually makes my boat look better! While expensive, it was a bargain compared to a new galvanized MC trailer.
Old     (pcolajosh)      Join Date: May 2007       01-06-2010, 10:32 PM Reply   
It fits!Upload
Old     (bill_airjunky)      Join Date: Apr 2002       01-06-2010, 11:38 PM Reply   
Nice. Looks like ya done good.

So why 4 hrs? Couldn't you just do the adjustments using the old trailer?
Old     (brett564)      Join Date: Jul 2006       01-07-2010, 3:47 AM Reply   
Good topic here, but what about the galvanized appearance is bad for you?
Old     (bill_airjunky)      Join Date: Apr 2002       01-07-2010, 8:28 AM Reply   
Doesn't help you now, but Extreme sells galvanized, painted trailers. Not sure of their cost but I'm sure their not cheap.
Old     (polarbill)      Join Date: Jun 2003       01-07-2010, 9:01 AM Reply   
It's not the prettiest but it sure looks like a long lasting, get the job done, very reasonable price trailer. I think you made a good choice. They must not make a lot of inboard boat trailers. The tongue sticks out really far.
Old     (pcolajosh)      Join Date: May 2007       01-07-2010, 7:51 PM Reply   
BuCoo, nothing against galvainized, I just like the shiny aluminum look a bit better. Matches up with the tower and windshield frame I think.

Brett, the tongue is about a foot and a half or so longer than the factory trailer. It took a few turns to get used to the larger turn radius issues, but no problems now.

Bill, it took me 4 hours because I did the operation solo. With a partner, it would have probably only taken an hour tops. Here's the process: take measurements and set bunk spacing and angles loosely. Pay attention to center of gravity issues and hitch weight! Drop off new trailer at the marina. Launch boat off of old trailer. Park and verify the measurements as best as possible empty. Load boat on new trailer. This was by far the scariest part, worrying about damaging either the boat or the trailer in the process. Pull boat out of the water and see that the spacing, angles, boat height, etc is a bit off. Launch boat. Adjust bunks, winch, supports, guide poles, etc. Load boat again. Tighten everything up. Overall, the difficult bit was setting up the forward keel supports. The time consuming part was solo launching, docking, truck retrieving, etc. I'm glad it's the middle of winter because I had the marina to myself. It would have been a real pain to inconvenience others during this process. I'm sure I could have paid some professionals to do this entire process, but I'm glad that I did it myself. Saved a few bucks and got to know my trailer much better. I also have confidence that it was done well!

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