Winterize Your Trailer Too

[Jim Jenkins]

New boat in '08 w/ trailer eqipted with the oil bath bearings. I am familiar with these bearings on road trailers but not from the prospective of winterizing, specifically a boat trailer.

Talked with Chad @ Merritt Marine to learn any tricks for the oil bath trailers. Chad shared that for storage, fill the hubs full of the 80-90W oil. Then prior to any travel in the spring, drain the hub back down to the fill line. The goal is to keep the bearing coated with oil to prevent any moisture contact with the exposed bearing above the fill line. About half full on the sight glass.

Also the trailer owner's manual says we should put the trailer up on blocks to take weight off the bearings and tires during the months of storage. This I did with my '02 170 CC and never had any bearing issues during the six years of use and many long trailer trips to Fla. & NC coast.

A break down on the road from a trailer problem is no fun. Been there, done that with a heavy '88 boat on a tandem trailer. Had spare bearings then and now in my tool kit. Hope I just haul them around for years to come.

 

[Bob5292]

Filling the oil bath hubs makes sense. I like to jack the trailer so your tires don't rot or develop flat spots. I use my boats every two or three weeks so its not an issue for me, but I did have a trailer sitting in grass over the winter and the tires were toast.

Bob

 

[bottomfeeder]

Never thought about the bearings rusting from non-use. If you jack up the trailer one could just rotate the wheels every week or two to re-coat the bearings. Unless you have moisture in the hub, I wouldn't think rust would be an issue, but better safe than sorry. I too have had a few trailer breakdowns and they ruin a trip with their greasy roadside repairs. The bias ply tires are the type that really take a set when stored on the ground for a length of time. I thought radials didn't do this, but at least it is a good idea to take the pressure off of the springs. Not only is it a good idea to have all the essential tools and spare parts for just about everything on the trailer, it's a lot more economical time and money wise not to have to hunt down and pay the high prices for the right parts and tools at Joe's podunk auto parts and wacky taffy store to get the that trailer down the road again.

 

[HighTechRedneck]

I have had flat spots in a car radial. my way of getting out of winterizing my boat and trailer is to USE IT . The fish are always there. I only have a 2 month down time january and some of february in which case I start the boat and roll it around a bit.