Rebuilding My Trailer

[Offshoreman]

When I bought my 2008 boat and 2008 trailer, the trailer had very little use, but also very little maintenance. The leaf springs were rusty, and a few bolts and screws were not looking good. So far, I have replaced the winch strap, surge brake coupler on the tongue and have installed new Kodiak stainless brakes. All of it was a simple swap of parts. However, I went with poly brake lines (hoses) rather than rubber or steel. And I painted all of the metal parts (except the stainless ones) with cold galvanizing then top coated with Rustoleum paint. I even painted the coupler and brass brake line connections.


Now, on to the leaf springs: I bought new ones, painted them with cold galvanizing then top coated them with Rustoleum. I also got new tie plates, U-bolts and fasteners and painted them all the same.

Once installed, I'll spray the whole thing down with an aerosol white lithium grease. I did that on my last two trailers and one of them, now 14 years old, shows very little rust or corrosion, and it is exclusively used in salt water. There are a few other ways to long-term protect the metal of your trailer when used in salt water, but this has been my method.

I'll post some photos when I get the boat to the marina and start the leaf spring replacement job.

 

[Genelie]

Looking forward to your pics. My trailer looking real bad. I always spray down with salt away but even that over the past 16 years is taking its toll

 

[Offshoreman]

Good for you for using a Salt Away. I use Salt Terminator. Maybe that's just a west coast thing, I don't know. But it sure helps.

After 16 years it's time for some new parts. It may be a while before I can get my trailer work done. Nursing some wounds... But when I get to it I'll post some photos.

 

[Harper]

I just rebuilt my trailer, replacing springs and associated hardware, along with the four wheel hubs. I used all stainless steel bolts and nuts, and sprayed everything generously with Fluid Film. https://www.fluid-film.com/boating-applications/

Since doing that, I've also found this product, which also looks very promising.. http://corrosionx.com/corrosionx-heavy-duty.html

 

[Dave LeGear]

This one also works well for dipping screws and other fastening parts into before installing them

http://www.sharkhide.com/mpinfo.html

 

[Offshoreman]

Ok, I'm closing in on it. I've inventoried every bolt and fastener on the trailer. I went to Bolt Depot and ordered 316 stainless bolts, washers and nuts for each location. I have purchased the leaf springs and painted them a couple coats of cold galvanizing compound and a couple coats of gray Rustoleum. They have new bushings too.

I replaced the badly rusted disk brakes last year with Kodiak Stainless brakes right after bringing it home.

Once I have a weather window, I'll put her in the marina and get to tearing it down. I'll post some photos (If I can remember !! )!!!

 

[Offshoreman]

Well, I got started today. Dropped the boat at the marina, parked on the driveway and started tearing into it. It really isn't much to remove a bolt and replace it with another. It's things like switching from drum brake to disks that has a few challenges. Ensuring you're getting the correct size and weight capacity of leaf springs... Stuff like that.


Here's a few things that I did or am doing that makes a difference:

1 - The bunk towers bolted to the top of the I-beam trailer frame; they're designed to drain water. They have a hole drilled in the bottom just for that. Then, they bolted it flat on top of the frame essentially closing off the hole making it a salt depository. Dumb. So, I took them off, cleaned them up and put a washer at each mounting hole between the tower and frame so it can drain.

2 - I also am using a waterproof grease (Lucas wheel bearing grease) to have a barrier between metal surfaces and on all fasteners and their threads. Yeah, it will go away in time, maybe a few years, just in time to do this all again. Except the fasteners will come right off.... No, it isn't pretty, but it's a salt water boat trailer in the Northern Pacific, not like those shiny blingy trailers in Florida (Ha).

3 - Prior to install, I mean months ago, I bought new leaf springs and painted them with cold galvanizing compound. After a few coats, I applied a top coat of Rustoleum. Kind of defeats the cold galvanizing, but if water makes it through the Rustoleum, it will hit another layer (cold galvanizing). I also paint up the tie plates, U-bolts and any other parts. Then, I install and promptly hose everything down with white lithium grease out of an aerosol can. NO RUST!! I've done this before and many, many years later the springs still look good and are functional.

4- I bought new galvanized brackets to attach the wooden bunks to the risers. I bought heavier ones because they're galvanized better. Then painted them up the same way as above. All stainless fasteners there and white lithium grease.

White lithium grease, once set up and "dry" it doesn't come off in the water. It doesn't leave an oil slick on the water.

And that's about it. Just tedious, take one off and replace with another. Oh, and I found that the aft end of one of my bunk boards was completely rotten. I'll replace it too, more on that later.

Here's some photos. And check out that rusty bracket on the bunk board. It was just hanging on by the rust! The fasteners had fallen out at some point.

Trailer maintenance…. Turns out it’s a thing!

 

[Offshoreman]

And as far as the rust on the towers is concerned, it was all that CLR and a plastic brush would remove. I didn't want to damage the galvanized coating, which appeared to still be in good condition...

 

[Pilotman]

Great minds think alike, i went a slight other route. I replaced my hardware including leaf springs and painted them with cold galvanized paint and painted EZ liner on top (flexible truck bed liner). Boat doesn't hit water til late March April but im hoping for great results. I also did this with my hitch. Looks great! The Ez liner is a smooth thin black rubberized paint.

 

[Offshoreman]

Really, it's about protecting the metal from the corrosive nature of salt water. Using those types of products, corrosion resistant metals like stainless or galvanized, and keeping things lubed up nice will allow your trailer to live a good long life. I'm far less concerned with appearance in this particular case, and far more interested in day-to-day reliability and longevity.

 

[Dave LeGear]

Good Deal and so far looking good Brother!

Next time, I would advise ditching the Horse and Buggy technology leaf springs, and much of those rust and ride concerns while getting better handling by using a set of these: http://www.rollsaxle.com/index.htm

And though harder to find now, some cypress bunks and only have the carpet wrapped 3/4 the way around so they can dry out might come in handy.

Another step many forget is the having the Tires and Rims balanced. Less stress and strain on the entire system that way and mostly on the wheel bearings

Keep us posted!

 

[Offshoreman]

I agree, beautiful trailer. A few hundred dollars now for maintenance and when it gets to the end of its life span jump on the rollsaxle.

 

[Dave LeGear]

Or just their axles on your present frame like I did many years ago

 

[Anchor Point]

Let me know when you’re done Martin. You can rebuild mine next.

 

[Offshoreman]

Sounds good! Now that I've practiced on mine, I know how much to charge for the next one.

 

[Anchor Point]

A lot!!!

 

[Offshoreman]

Yeah, I'm pretty stiff and sore.

 

[Offshoreman]

Interesting springs. Have not seen those before.

 

[Offshoreman]

Here's something I do. I find that the snap together wiring connectors are inherently a poor connection. I have a 1999 Pacific Trailers trailer under a diesel pilothouse and had to rebuild the wiring in 2001. Corrosion was causing lights to flicker or not light reliably.

So, at the snap together connectors (I'm not sure what they are really called), I cut the connector out, used a plain butt connector and soldered the connection. I put clear silicone sealant on the connector and then heat shrink. The silicone oozes out of the heat shrink and at least in my experience, no more connection issues. That 1999 trailers' lights still work great today. Well, I've had to replace a light from time to time, but no faults in the wiring. Here's some photos of a connection that failed on my 235's 2008 EZ Loader trailer. (I just fixed it this morning). It's the connection adding the center clearance light on the back of the trailer.

 

[Anchor Point]

You can do the same thing with liquid black tape. Works great. I’m sure the silicone works good as well