Frank Acampora
Supreme Mariner
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2007
- Messages
- 12,004
A good news story:
Just got home from a 125 mile tow. When we picked up the boat it had both tires flat and no hub caps. We filled the tires and towed the boat about a couple of hundred feet just to see how bad the bearings were. It was a foregone conclusion: replace them, we won't get 2 miles. So, off to Wal Mart for two sets of bearings and a tube of grease.
We replaced the bearings right there on the tailgate of my truck.
We were prepared: We had steel and clamps to reinforce the axle--not needed, a small portable compressor to inflate the tires and spare--well worth the money we paid for it, various hand tools, and a set of magnetic lights--again, very good to have since the trailerd did not have any lights or mounts (and we were not told) A bottle jack was really handy.
The wheels did look heavily rusted but were sound and usable. At first, I though the trailer was way too small for the boat but the registration showed it at 1500 pound capacity and while this rig was probably just touching that limit, it certainly was not overloaded.
So, after about an hours's work, off we went from Rehoboth, De. to West Chester, Pa. At highway speeds, wheel hubs ran cool, lights worked, and trailer tracked well. It was an uneventful trip with no drama because we made the correct decisions before towing. The thirty dollars spent on bearings probably saved us well over a couple of hundred if we had broken down during the trip.
Just got home from a 125 mile tow. When we picked up the boat it had both tires flat and no hub caps. We filled the tires and towed the boat about a couple of hundred feet just to see how bad the bearings were. It was a foregone conclusion: replace them, we won't get 2 miles. So, off to Wal Mart for two sets of bearings and a tube of grease.
We replaced the bearings right there on the tailgate of my truck.
We were prepared: We had steel and clamps to reinforce the axle--not needed, a small portable compressor to inflate the tires and spare--well worth the money we paid for it, various hand tools, and a set of magnetic lights--again, very good to have since the trailerd did not have any lights or mounts (and we were not told) A bottle jack was really handy.
The wheels did look heavily rusted but were sound and usable. At first, I though the trailer was way too small for the boat but the registration showed it at 1500 pound capacity and while this rig was probably just touching that limit, it certainly was not overloaded.
So, after about an hours's work, off we went from Rehoboth, De. to West Chester, Pa. At highway speeds, wheel hubs ran cool, lights worked, and trailer tracked well. It was an uneventful trip with no drama because we made the correct decisions before towing. The thirty dollars spent on bearings probably saved us well over a couple of hundred if we had broken down during the trip.
