My 1972 21' Starcraft Chieftan

[elkhunter338]

Re: My 1972 21' Starcraft Chieftan

I have a 21' Cheiftain i/o 140hp, Brakes depend on the state you live in and what you tow the boat with. That being said fully loaded mine is 4100lbs on the axles of the trailer and estimate another 500 or so lbs of tonge weight. I ran mine for 5 years with no brakes using a 2500 dodge with 4 disc brakes and felt comfortable. That said it depend on your tow vehicle, 4,000 lbs. I just added kodiak disc brakes to my trailer and it make a big difference, but the reason I added brakes was I bought a 8' camper for the pickup, which added another 2500lbs. So with the truck at 11,700lbs plus 4,100 = 15,800 lbs I needed trailer brakes for emergency stopping. Regular driving and downshifting on the hills I got by with no brakes with no problem, but in a rush stop those trailer brakes will sure help. for safety reasons I added brakes.
To add brakes your axles need to have brake flanges.
My old axles where 2,000lb with 5.3x12 tires (rated 1080lbs) I damaged 2 tires in 200 miles when I hit a small pot hole, just too much weight, the axles where rusted and I was running them at 100% load.
so I put 2 new 3,500 axles, new springs, bolts, and hardware and 15" tires and brakes on the trailer last winter. Much better trailer now.

 

[heyyou325]

Re: My 1972 21' Starcraft Chieftan

How fast do you want to stop. Normal stopping with the brakes good n your rig, should be no problem, depending on state law. Panic stop, and the back of the boat may try to pass the front of your rig. It doesn't really matter how big or heavy the boat is. Elkhunter has some pretty good info above. I have a T100 with a 21 foot holiday which is 2250 empty, including fuel. Trailer is rated for 2300. I bought a parts boat with a tandem axle trailer with surge brakes. Cost me all of $400. A trailer like the one I got around here is between $600 and $2300. Mine needs brakes bled, rehooked up, and wiring. I'm sure if you're patient you can find a trashed boat with a good trailer there. With brakes if you want them. And there are several different threads on painting here. Some I agree with, some I don't. Most of the restore threads deal with painting. You might want to read a couple to get different ideas. Good luck. I still think the boat looks great even if it is yellow.