Trailering long distances

[gomer]

Is there any special precautions I should take when trailering my 14ft jonboat a long distance? (1000+ miles roundtrip) Should I get bearing buddies? A spare tire is obvious...

[roger23]

Is there any special precautions I should take when trailering my 14ft Jon boat a long distance? (1000+ miles round trip) Should I get bearing buddies? A spare tire is obvious...

check your wheel bearings before you leave bearing buddies YES Check your tires if they are the small ones and old replace them.sure do want a spare or two if the tire goes many times the rim will be junk make sure the ball nut is tight trailer latch is working

[gomer]

thanks!

[steelymike]

If the trailer has the little wheels replace them with bigger ones. The bigger wheels will not be making nearly as many revolutions as the little ones. Take the old ones along as spares.

[ESOX]

Make sure the trailer wiring harness on the tow vehicle is soldered, not those unreliable crimp on connectors that seem to only get problematic when an Ohio State Trooper is behind you admiring your Michigan plate.
I HATE going through Ohio.
I also reccomend LED trailer lights, but if thats not an option, make sure you carry a box of spare 1157's.

[ESOX]

A conversation on the side of an upper peninsula road about 30 years ago-
Me- "Where's the socket that fits these trailer lugs?"
My buddy "It doesn't matter. The jack won't fit under the trailer axle, I don't get it, it fit at home."
Me- "You mean it fit when the @#$%^& tire had air in it at home, and now, by some strange alignment of the stars, when the tire is flat, your bulldozer jack somehow just can't be squeezed under there?"

We ended up finding the socket after emptying the truck out, digging a hole in the shoulder deep enough that we could back the trailer over the jack, and changing the tire.
What fun we had in our youth.:)

[WALLEYE MIKE]

Grease it with HI-Temp grease won't hurt. Its got a much higher melting point than regular wheel bearing grease.

[shametamer]

what size tires, Gomer? in prolonged heat and long distance the small tires 'go' quickly at highway speeds...a second spare might be a good idea..lots of areas do not stock every size you might need. We trailer 800 to 1800 round trip all the time but we have 14 inch tires , 2 spares, 2 jacks, rollstops, t-bar and a lug wrench..plus a grease gun, extra trailer lights and safety chain...anything short of a rollover becomes a 5 or 10 minute pit stop....

[ESOX]

Another tale from the past about trailering long distances....
It was 1979, A buddy and I were departing for an extended trip with no real itinerary other than it would include the famed muskie waters of northern Wisconson, Minnesota and western Ontario. As we were turning around the truck towing his dads 18' jon boat, his Grandpa came hustling down the gravel drive and said "You guys might need this." opened the cap of the truck and dropped a cardboard box inside that landed with a thunk on the last vestige of clear space left in the bed of the truck.
Knowing the old man, who was quite a character, we figured it was a gallon of Old Granddad. A few weeks later, we had managed to get further north than there are muskie to be found, but the pike and laker fishing was as good as one hope for without doing a fly in. One day we found ourselves just beyond the middle of nowhere in north western Ontario when we were thankful beyond words for the package we had gotten, for it contained a spare spindle and hub assembly.

[enfield]

Let's see:

Take along:
Spare tire
jack
jack handle
grease gun
bulk grease
12" adjustable wrench
hammer
wood block (for seating seals)
wood dowel (for punching out seals)
Permaseal (for gluing in seals in Dexter axles)
Socket & wrench or lug wrench to fit lugnuts
tire pressure gage

Before leaving:
check tire pressure (including spare)
torque lug nuts
pack the wheel bearings (new seals) unless recently done
make sure the lights all work

stop after 50-100 miles and check your tires, lights, hub temperatures (OK for hubs to feel warm to the touch, but not hot).

Oh, I also used to carry a complete spare hub assy (less grease), including lug nuts, bearings, washer, castle nut, cotter pin,dust cover and seals.

You also should be very familiar with how to repack bearings.

Did I miss anything?

[sullyxlh]

whatever tire you use,stay away from carlisle(sp) tires http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/showthread.php?t=143691&highlight=carlisle+tires

[kroppe]

All of the above is good advice. A bit belt and suspendersish, but good advice nontheless. In the past 2 seasons I have trailered my boat 5,000 miles and haven't had any issues. If you know where your trailer is maintenance-wise, you will be able to address any potential problems.

Best advice is to give your trailer a thorough going-over before you leave, and take care of any questionable items. A spare is a necessity. If you know you have good bearings, it's very very unlikely you will have a problem with them.

[FishTales]

With all the good advice here, it sounds like it is safe to leave the kitchen sink at home. :lol: :lol:
Rich

[dtg]

Gomer, I would just double check the lights, have the bearings looked at, if old, replaced, bearing buddies installed and DEFINATELY, bring two spares, if your current tires are the cheap ones and old replace them and still bring two spares. If you're going into Canada be aware that buildings, let alone occupied ones with spare parts are 100's of miles apart, and traffic is seldom seen. On Saturday, you may see a couple of people coming back South on their way home, but after Saturday, you may run into a logging truck every hour or so, if you're lucky. Oh yeah and watch your speed if your 40 miles from a town, the OPP, yes are down down with OPP:lol: (Ontario Provincial Police) like to hide about 40 miles from any town and absolutely NO radar detectors allowed, they will be obsconded with and you will be fined.

[spice64]

A conversation on the side of an upper peninsula road about 30 years ago-
Me- "Where's the socket that fits these trailer lugs?"
My buddy "It doesn't matter. The jack won't fit under the trailer axle, I don't get it, it fit at home."
Me- "You mean it fit when the @#$%^& tire had air in it at home, and now, by some strange alignment of the stars, when the tire is flat, your bulldozer jack somehow just can't be squeezed under there?"

We ended up finding the socket after emptying the truck out, digging a hole in the shoulder deep enough that we could back the trailer over the jack, and changing the tire.
What fun we had in our youth.:) My God thats funny.

[waterfoul]

You only need to bring two things:

Cell phone
Credit card


You can fix anything with that might go wrong with these two items. If by chance you are heading to an area without cell coverage might I suggest the following instead of the cell phone:

Matches, wood, and a blanket to send smoke signals.
A roll of quarters for the pay phone.
A CB good buddy!

[Hunt4Ever]

Get the spare hub. It is probably less than $40 and will greatly shorten the turn time should you need to replace a bad bearing.

Possibly a few road flares. You WANT people to see you on the side of the highway as far away as possible.

I blew a trailer tire (yes, a carlisle) a week or so ago, east of Grand Rapids on 96. It was a good one, the guy behind me took a bit of shrapnel (sp). Changing a tire 4 feet from the expressway is scarry. Lucky for me a State Trooper came by, asked how I was doing and if I needed help. I said "no, I'll change this and be on my way, but if you wouldn't mind just sitting behind me with your lights on that might get people to move over and slow down". He did just that and it worked.

Drove to Grand Rapids, found a Belle Tire off of 28th Street and put two new tires on. Don't know what kind, other than they were not Carsilies, they were the only two they had. Kept one old tire for the spare. I'll be replacing that this week.

I only have enough time to fish, I don't add extra time for mechanical problems.

[gomer]

thank you everyone for your help.

My trailer is pretty small (but fairly new) and the tires are "4.8 x 12". They are about 20 inches in diameter. The bearings are good, I have spare tires, working trailer lights (with extra bulbs), and extra grease/greasegun. I plan to check the bearings every time we stop to get gas to be sure.

For those of you wondering, I am going to North Carolina to chase some backwater salt fishies in the sounds behind the Outer Banks. Should be a good trip, we leave saturday!

Oh and I am aware of all the things that go along with using a boat in salt water so I don't need to hear that drill...:)

[kroppe]

Have fun Gomer, and don't forget to post the pics!

[roger23]

thank you everyone for your help.

My trailer is pretty small (but fairly new) and the tires are "4.8 x 12". They are about 20 inches in diameter. The bearings are good, I have spare tires, working trailer lights (with extra bulbs), and extra grease/grease gun. I plan to check the bearings every time we stop to get gas to be sure.

For those of you wondering, I am going to North Carolina to chase some backwater salt fishies in the sounds behind the Outer Banks. Should be a good trip, we leave Saturday!

Oh and I am aware of all the things that go along with using a boat in salt water so I don't need to hear that drill...:)

I would not over load the trailer I had a trailer with that size tires they did not wear very good I would replace them every couple years they seemed to be poorly built did not seem to matter who made them I probably only put maybe 1500 - 2000 a year on them

[enfield]

With all the good advice here, it sounds like it is safe to leave the kitchen sink at home. :lol: :lol:
Rich

Suit yourself, but it won't be my boat you see sitting along the freeway with one wheel off the trailer.:coolgleam

[FREEPOP]

Bearing buddies are the only way to go. 5 year manual repack and inspection recommendations. The spring actions makes a 3-5 lb positive pressure in between the seals so water and crud can't get in.

and yes, check the bearings every fill-up by touching with your hand. If they are warm it could spell an up coming problem. I've trailered to Colorado and back 3 times with only two flats (knock on wood)

[Jason Adam]

Get the spare hub. It is probably less than $40 and will greatly shorten the turn time should you need to replace a bad bearing.


Best advise on here(No offense to anyone else). Buy a spare hub assembly ready to go.

[bklompy]

amen to the spare hub but to make it easy you can get a mount that holds the spare hub and tire all in one think ill be getting one for the lund before i go to lake erie and it also helps to get you wheels balanced helps take out vibration further reducing problems

[DonP]

Let's see:

Take along:
Spare tire
jack
jack handle
grease gun
bulk grease
12" adjustable wrench
hammer
wood block (for seating seals)
wood dowel (for punching out seals)
Permaseal (for gluing in seals in Dexter axles)
Socket & wrench or lug wrench to fit lugnuts
tire pressure gage

Before leaving:
check tire pressure (including spare)
torque lug nuts
pack the wheel bearings (new seals) unless recently done
make sure the lights all work

stop after 50-100 miles and check your tires, lights, hub temperatures (OK for hubs to feel warm to the touch, but not hot).

Oh, I also used to carry a complete spare hub assy (less grease), including lug nuts, bearings, washer, castle nut, cotter pin,dust cover and seals.

You also should be very familiar with how to repack bearings.

Did I miss anything?


WHAT????????? :yikes: No duct tape? :D :lol:

[enfield]

OK, OK

Duct tape to make things stop, and WD-40 to make things go (and to clean your hands with after repacking the bearings).

[FishTales]

OK, OK

Duct tape to make things stop, and WD-40 to make things go (and to clean your hands with after repacking the bearings).
OK, so maybe we should take the kitchen sink along. :lol: :lol: :D
Rich