trailer upgrade time for a 1986 268weekender

[Lazy Daze]

Oh... forgot to mention... if you're ever in a similar situation and need to "re-center" the boat by yourself... tie two long ropes on each aft cleat and run them up to the front of the trailer before you launch. Or, make the transom tie-down on the high side VERY tight and make the low side VERY loose. Many times, that will allow it to even itself out as it bounces down the road.

 

[lime4x4]

I'm planning on finding out what my actual tongue weight is. Pic#12 was taken when i picked up the trailer. It has since been adjusted to match my hull. Actually it only lowers my rear by 1.5 inches. Most hd's that i've seen the rear sits slightly higher then the front when empty. My hd sits level when empty. The little bit that i've towed the boat with this truck does really well. It's not all over the road even when i hit bumps or dips in the road. i use to tow the boat with a 97 suburban and sometimes it would get squirly on me but not the truck.

This is a complete new trailer setup from scratch. Yes the bunks may need adjusting to the boat but the first thing should be finding out were the boat needs to sit on the trailer. When I look at the first pic of truck and trailer I gotta say it appears there is too much tongue weight. It doesn’t look so bad if you look at the rear but it tells when looking at the front of the truck. I really think first step should be to identify tongue weight(go to a scale) and then position the boat load on the trailer properly. This will also aid in selecting the correct ball mount so that the trailer rides level. I have a HD¾ like this, and my 280DA w/trailer is 4-5,000# heavier. My front end isn’t raised up like this and the truck absolutely needs no help from air bags. I can’t see moving anything unless it’s known where it has to move to. The lower the boat sits on the trailer and the farther back, the easier it will be to load. I would avoid doing anything that raises the boat and instead add center bunks or rollers if needed. It may be an illusion but in post #12 those centering bunks look off center or something. IMHO

 

[lime4x4]

Yeah thought about that after i did it..lol. I'm just so used to the old roller trailer. That one i could just back down the ramp till the stern floated and when i pulled out she was centered.. I live 15 20 min from the lake so it's not bad for me to go out there and make adjustments and such. i'll get my current height measurement then c how much room i have to play with.. I know last year going down 95 past mid county the posted height for the bridge gave me almost 2 inches of room. Thank god there wasn't any bumps to make the boat bounce up a little...lol

Oh... forgot to mention... if you're ever in a similar situation and need to "re-center" the boat by yourself... tie two long ropes on each aft cleat and run them up to the front of the trailer before you launch. Or, make the transom tie-down on the high side VERY tight and make the low side VERY loose. Many times, that will allow it to even itself out as it bounces down the road.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Hopefully you're a good bit lower now that you have a bunk. 2"? Jeesh... that's definitely cutting it close!

 

[lime4x4]

i haven't measured yet but it on my list. That factory radar arch is tall then i have the 4 inch high nav light on top yet

 

[lime4x4]

Ok i had some time to play this weekend. I got the trailer setup for electric over hydrulic braking. Swapped out couplers. I no longer have access to a scale to weigh the boat. I did have the boat weighed 2 years ago and it was 9300lbs with the steele trailer. So i subtracted the weight of the steele trailer and added the weight of the new trailer. So i should be around 8500 lbs. Used the bathroom scale method to weight the tongue i'm just over 1k of tongue weight. So i'm thinking of moving the boat back some more. I can move the boat back another foot before i have to relocate the bunks. Here is a pic of it sitting level. Venture says 22 inches of hitch height i'm at 18 inches and the truck and boat sit level. I can put a 4 foot level anywhere on the trailer frame and it shows level

 

[firecadet613]

Looks good

 

[Getaway]

Very nice!

 

[lime4x4]

memorial day weekend will give the new truck and trailer a test run. Going 150 miles on way to the cheseapeke bay for 3 days. Not expecting any problems but we all know how that goes.