Replacing corroded trailer crossmember

beernutz

beernutz

Member
Aug 16, 2009
427
Mobile, AL
Boat Info
2000 190 Signature BR
Engines
5.0L EFI 240 hp Mercruiser
I have a year 2000 ez loader trailer which I believe is a model TEZ 17-20/22'. The bottom of the forward-most crossmember piece has corroded and the crossmember as well as numerous nuts/bolts needs to be replaced. I have ordered the replacement crossmember from ez loader's online catalog: http://estore.ezloader.com/product.asp?0=210&1=246&3=2648

I plan on putting the boat in the water then working on the trailer to replace the crossmember but I've never tried something like this before. Does replacing a crossmember just involve removing the support bolts and the bolts connecting the crossmember to the bunk, then removing the crossmember and replacing it with the new one?

Also what is a good method for quickly removing old, corroded nuts and bolts? Is there a cutting tool that is recommended? I have used my Dremel and a special metal-cutting disc previously for this but it took quite a while per bolt and I'd like to remove the bolts as quickly as I can.

Here are some pictures of what I'm dealing with. Any advice is much appreciated.

http://img703.imageshack.us/g/img0785j.jpg/
 
Are your brake lines inside the crossmembers?

Have you verified that the other crossmembers are not rusted, also? Take a small hammer and tap firmly on the bottom of the other crossmembers and see what happens. If one is bad, the others are never far behind.

Are you planning on trailering the boat with that crossmember like that? From the picture it looks like it's about ready to snap in half as soon as you get out of your driveway. It also looks like the bunk hardware is due for replacement. If it were me, I'd take it off the trailer in my driveway. Based on the pics, I wouldn't trust trailering it. I'm hoping the best for you, but my gut is telling me you might be in for a bigger job than you're thinking.

Dremels are great little tools... "little" being the key word. What you want is something like a 4-1/2" angle grinder. Relatively inexpensive, small enough to handle easily, but a quality-built one will have plenty of power to do what you want. Look for one in the 8amp+ power range.

Trailer parts replacement is pretty straight forward - put it back on the same way you took it off. Double check, but the heavy bolts may be grade 5 - are you buying the hardware on your own, or are you buying the EZ Loader hardware kits?
 
Lazy Daze said:
Are your brake lines inside the crossmembers?

Have you verified that the other crossmembers are not rusted, also? Take a small hammer and tap firmly on the bottom of the other crossmembers and see what happens. If one is bad, the others are never far behind.

Are you planning on trailering the boat with that crossmember like that? From the picture it looks like it's about ready to snap in half as soon as you get out of your driveway. It also looks like the bunk hardware is due for replacement. If it were me, I'd take it off the trailer in my driveway. Based on the pics, I wouldn't trust trailering it. I'm hoping the best for you, but my gut is telling me you might be in for a bigger job than you're thinking.

Dremels are great little tools... "little" being the key word. What you want is something like a 4-1/2" angle grinder. Relatively inexpensive, small enough to handle easily, but a quality-built one will have plenty of power to do what you want. Look for one in the 8amp+ power range.

Trailer parts replacement is pretty straight forward - put it back on the same way you took it off. Double check, but the heavy bolts may be grade 5 - are you buying the hardware on your own, or are you buying the EZ Loader hardware kits?
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply first off.

The other crossmembers don't appear corroded but I'll try the hammer test you recommend to be sure.

My plan is to trailer the boat to the closest launch which is about a 20 minute ride and do the repair there after putting the boat in the water and securing it. I realize I'm running a bit of a risk to pull it but I think I'm going to roll the dice once all the parts I need are secured. I will be taking a close look at the bunk hardware too as it does seem to also need replacement. Can I just replace what is in there now with stainless steel screws? I haven't bought these yet.

I was thinking of buying a battery powered reciprocating saw to cut the bolts. There is a porter-cable one at Lowes for around $100. I bought the replacement crossmember and the heavy nuts and bolts which I also want to replace from the ez loader estore.
 
An acetylene torch is the best way to remove bolt heads but you need to know how to handle them. A 4 inch grinder does well if the bolts or nut are in the open. I must agree with Dennis on transporting with the rails the way they are. If you can find someone with a portable welder have them weld a plate in each side of the beam to support it before leaving for the water.
 
A zip saw is also a good idea.

SS hardware is fine. But galv hardware will be just fine, too. The trailer is on borrowed time - no need to spend any extra money where you don't have to. The new galv hardware will easily outlast the rest of the trailer. Double check that the bunks are solid enough to accept new screws in the same holes. You might consider simply flipping the bunks end for end if need be.

I must say, though, I can't emphasize enough how dangerous trailering that could be. The boat could fall through the trailer... The pieces of trailer that break off will cause major damage to cars behind you - and more than likely those pieces will cause an accident.

If you find that the rest of the trailer is good... Welding a plate is a great idea. Another would be to sister a couple of plates on either side with bolts, if you don't have access to a welder.

Be sure to verify about your brake lines.
 
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For cutting off bolts etc, a sawzall or hand grinder with metal cutoff discs works well. Depends on how easy it is to get at them. If you're going to throw sparks protect your boats gel coat and trailer paint. I'd try wrenching them off first. Squirt some WD40 on them and give it a shot. If the trailer were mine I'd raise the bow of the boat an inch and change that cross member at home rather than waste time welding on reinforcements, etc to the old one.
 
If the crossmember wasn't galvanized, and if it wasn't so corroded welding a scab plate would be fine. Besides the health risk, welding galvanized is difficult under good conditions. Something this far gone may just burn up if you try to weld it, and even if you can get something to stick, the weld might be so contaminated as to be worthless. A mechanical connection my be the only thing you can do.

What you need to do is to stabilize the crossmember so you can get the boat off. My suggestion would be to use two pieces of angle. The size should probably be on the order of 2" or 3" . Thickness would be about 1/8" . The idea is to duplicate the same amount of metal as the box tube of the cross member - two 3" angles create a 3" square tube. However in this case the critical dimension is not the height of the crossmember, but the width (front to back distance). The idea is to take the two angles and sandwich the box. Something like this: _I[]L through bolting them together.

To determine the length of the fix, you have to tap on the crossmember, going from the crack towards the side rails looking for solid metal. You are going to need to put in at least two bolts per side spaced about 3" apart. Keep in mind, the idea is to bridge the damage, but if it is too long you will be making the vee shallower and that might cause problems getting your boat off.

You are probably going to need a drill with a 3/8" or 1/2" chuck and a couple of bits. This can be pricy, so you might try and rent this first. One of our local HDs rents tools. You might check to see if any of the stores near you do as well.

Henry
 
I ordered all the replacement parts from ez loader. The parts service area was very helpful, sending me a schematic of my trailer with all the part numbers marked so that I could use their online ordering system.

I bought a Harbor Freight cheapo reciprocating saw to cut any bolts I can't remove the normal way. I've lined up a boater friend to help with the replacement.

I'm going to get up early on a Sunday to drive to the launch where I plan to remove the boat and do the work. I'm hopeful of no problems on that 20 minute drive but if I do have one at least the traffic will be minimal and my friend will be following me in his truck as a lookout.

I considered trying to drill into the crossmember to add a brace before the drive to the launch but I worry I may do more harm than good and actually make the crack worse.

I do appreciate the advice so far. I'll take some pictures of the process and post again after the repair is done.
 
Well, I'd say you were "nutz" for wanting to trailer it... but that might already be a "given", based on your title. :smt001

But, in all seriousness, take it real easy - avoid hard stopping, too. Can your buddy follow you in his car?

Good luck!
 
Lazy Daze said:
Well, I'd say you were "nutz" for wanting to trailer it... but that might already be a "given", based on your title. :smt001

But, in all seriousness, take it real easy - avoid hard stopping, too. Can your buddy follow you in his car?

Good luck!
Click to expand...
Thanks Dennis. I will be careful and yes the plan is to have my friend follow me to the launch.
 
Woohoo, I finally got my replacement crossmember and other parts from ez loader yesterday. http://img691.imageshack.us/g/img0799of.jpg/ Ordered on the 14th and got them on the 22nd via UPS ground from Spokane to Alabama so not too shabby.

I've decided to change out all the screws and two of the plates which hold my bunks to the trailer. As I was thinking about doing this I was wondering if the bunks on a new trailer are set to a particular angle or are they free to pivot? In the picture below, I'm talking about the uppermost bolt which attaches the bunk support mount to the bunk brace. Is it tightened to set the angle of the bunk permanently? If it is set to a particular angle I want to figure that out before the bunks come off so they be put back on at that same angle. IMG_0785sm.jpg
 
Snug it down so it feels right on the edge of you being able to move it / not move it. Even if you went super tight, I'm sure the weight of the boat would still move it.

The only time the angle is "set" is with a custom/semi custom trailer where the supports are welded to a fixed angle that matches the hull.

To better answer your question... don't worry about it.
 
Thanks Dennis. I really do appreciate the advise. I am all set to do the repair Sunday morning. That is not a minute too soon as the weather here has been incredible lately (sunny with a high of 80 today) and its killing me not to be able to take the boat out in it.
 
beernutz said:
the weather here has been incredible lately (sunny with a high of 80 today) and its killing me not to be able to take the boat out in it.
Click to expand...

That's it... rub it in, Nutzy!!! :smt001

It's rainy, dark, gloomy and about 40* here.

But, seriously, hope it goes well for you!
 
Whew! It wasn't a piece of cake or even a piece of cupcake but I did get the crossmember changed with a big hand from my boating friend Harold. I drove the boat to the launch at 9am this morning and put it in and tied it off out of the way. I then pulled the trailer into an empty spot and started work. The cheapo reciprocating saw I bought from Harbor Freight worked ok for the first 3 or 4 bolts I had to cut but unfortunately I ran out of both of the batteries I bought for it and still had at least 6 more to remove. Then to add insult to injury it started to rain--bah humbug.

It was around 11 so I called my wife and she agreed to come to the launch to watch the boat and called my buddy and he said I could bring the boat to his house to use his electrical reciprocating saw and his grinder to remove the remaining bolts. All that took about an hour, then almost another hour to replace the crossmember and put in the new bolts. Oh and ez loader shorted me on some of the parts I had ordered from them so I had to make a run to Lowes. Thanksfully Lowes had what I needed. Anyway it only took 4.5 hours start to finish but at least its done. Or I should say it is mostly done as I didn't have time to replace the two bunk support mounts I bought from ez loader. That will have to be "Trailer Repair: The Sequel."

Pictures below for anyone still interested.
Me on the saw:

We had to use a 2x4 to spread the two sides of the trailer enough to get the new crossmember into place:

All done, thank heavens:

Shiney!:

More shiney:

The trailer handled just fine with the boat on it:
 
Yes, that 2004 Pilot has been great and has been a more than a serviceable tow vehicle for the year and a half we've had the boat. Its got 120k miles and still kicking. I'm going to hold onto it until Honda finally (come on already) releases a hybrid Pilot which I will be all over like a fat girl on a pork chop.

Thanks OlSkool, I am very glad too. It is very good to have friends and even better to have talented helpful friends who have better tools than you do.
 
[video=youtube;ImidRwcS7rQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImidRwcS7rQ[/video]
Fun with the grinder!

Edit: I should add that it looks from the pictures and video that I was doing all the work when at Harold's house but that is far from the case. When he wasn't taking the pictures or video he was grinding bolts off--he ground off more than I did--and he also cut the 2x4 we used to spread the two sides of the trailer apart enough to put the crossmember in. I'm probably leaving some stuff out too. If you're reading this Harold, thanks again.
 
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