Trailering 400 miles thru the northeast. Ideas/Suggestions/What to look for?

[haulnazz15]

Re: Trailering 400 miles thru the northeast. Ideas/Suggestions/What to look for?

I wouldn't be concerned about the mfg of the trailer. There are hundreds of trailer mfgs, so it's difficult to really make any judgements about the build quality/condition from that aspect. I think your are well-prepared, just follow most of the advice on this thread with checking the bearings, tire condition and pressure, and make sure your turn/brake lights work. Have a spare set of tie-downs in case it doesn't have them, and take your time going home with periodic stops for bearing/tire inspections. Magnetic tail lights, tire repair kits, and a 300pc tool kit are probably excessive, imo. We aren't going on a cross-country trip across barren desert, it's a 300-mile trip across a highly-populated region of the US. Most problems aside from complete bearing failure, trailer structural failure, or multiple tire blow-outs can be handled by dropping into an Autozone/Walmart or similar at the next town you come to.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Trailering 400 miles thru the northeast. Ideas/Suggestions/What to look for?

Yea, there are many, many brands of trailers, but they most all use common components from a few manufacturers.

 

[Brian 26]

Re: Trailering 400 miles thru the northeast. Ideas/Suggestions/What to look for?

Any ideas on this ESPO trailer?

I wouldn't worry about that, it's probably just the abbreviation that is on the title. EZ-Loader Sport model maybe. I'm sure it's a name brand trailer just something weird they put on the title. I once had a newer Stratos boat that had "BVXL" or some goofy thing under the Make on the title.

Now if the trailer title said "HMDE" I'd worry! (home made)

 

[Starcraft5834]

Re: Trailering 400 miles thru the northeast. Ideas/Suggestions/What to look for?

Happy trip Dave,, Sig had a great tip....after 20miles stop and put your hand on the tire.. or especially the hubs.. if they are burning hot, so are your bearings.. I'm a bearing expert . Blown a few on the road..that's a sound you dont forget.. .. as a result, I installed a new axle and hubs. I can tell you I trailered my boat from NE PA to the Thousand Islands and back,, non stop each way, upon arrival my hubs were not hot to the touch at all.. hope that boat is the right one,,,if you have problems, there's not much this crew has not done,, ie-- been there, done that....this forum is resource #1

 

[agallant80]

Re: Trailering 400 miles thru the northeast. Ideas/Suggestions/What to look for?

I live in Raleigh and drove about 400 miles to MD to trade in my old boat and pick up the new one. Plan your fuel stops, its not easy to get in and out of some of the smaller gas stations so if you see one that is a good fit and you are close to needing gas just do it then. Also a ubolt on the trailer came off about a mile from the dealer. If you hear a strange noise check it out, don't ignore it.

 

[Dave K.]

Re: Trailering 400 miles thru the northeast. Ideas/Suggestions/What to look for?

Without a doubt one of the best things I did when I became a boat owner in 2007 was Get On This Forum!

Exceptional experience and knowledge!

My trip is Sat Jan 4th barring another nor 'eastern.

TY for all the advice and help!

 

[limitout]

Re: Trailering 400 miles thru the northeast. Ideas/Suggestions/What to look for?

Without a doubt one of the best things I did when I became a boat owner in 2007 was Get On This Forum!

Exceptional experience and knowledge!

My trip is Sat Jan 4th barring another nor 'eastern.

TY for all the advice and help!

oh, one last thing

if you bring a teenager or your old lady with you on the trip, they can drive you nuts the whole time so you aren't bored

seriously though its good to have an extra set of eyes and ears around to assist you since they can keep a closer eye on the boat and trailer while you will be busy driving

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Trailering 400 miles thru the northeast. Ideas/Suggestions/What to look for?

if you bring a teenager or your old lady with you on the trip, they can drive you nuts the whole time

Or he can bring you and really drive him nuts...

...sorry, couldn't resist!

 

[SigSaurP229]

Re: Trailering 400 miles thru the northeast. Ideas/Suggestions/What to look for?

This shouldn't be a probelem as the bayliner with trailer, and no fuel should be clocking in right around 3200 lbs well below the tow capacity of the explorer, assuming that you have the class 3 hitch, 3.73 axle, and upgraded tranny cooler.

More weight is better when towing. I would go ahead and fill the fuel tank on the Bayliner as well, more weight helps with traction in snowy conditions.

How familiar are you with towing?

Honestly that is a "new trailer" compared to what most on here are pulling I wouldn't sweat it to much.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Trailering 400 miles thru the northeast. Ideas/Suggestions/What to look for?

More weight is better when towing. I would go ahead and fill the fuel tank on the Bayliner as well, more weight helps with traction in snowy conditions.

Strongly disagree.... more weight on both axles of tow rig can help in snow but more weight on the trailer not so.

definitely don't add fuel of anything else extra to the boat in the interest of an easier tow

 

[lrak]

Re: Trailering 400 miles thru the northeast. Ideas/Suggestions/What to look for?

More weight is better when towing. I would go ahead and fill the fuel tank on the Bayliner as well, more weight helps with traction in snowy conditions.

I disagree. The lighter the better in snowy conditions. If traction is a problem you don't want to throw more weight in there to make the trailer slide wide in a turn. If traction is a problem the surge brakes aren't going to be working well as the tow vehicle can't stop quickly either. I've never had a problem towing a 400lb utility trailer/snow blower in the snow. Towing a 6000lb cargo trailer behind a 4000lb truck in the snow gets more "interesting" than I like.

 

[SigSaurP229]

Re: Trailering 400 miles thru the northeast. Ideas/Suggestions/What to look for?

I disagree. The lighter the better in snowy conditions. If traction is a problem you don't want to throw more weight in there to make the trailer slide wide in a turn. If traction is a problem the surge brakes aren't going to be working well as the tow vehicle can't stop quickly either. I've never had a problem towing a 400lb utility trailer/snow blower in the snow. Towing a 6000lb cargo trailer behind a 4000lb truck in the snow gets more "interesting" than I like.

From my personal experience it is much much much easier to tow a full load in the snow than it is a light load.

Try pulling a trailer loaded with 7,000 lbs of pillows in it in the middle of the snow as opposed to a trailer with 42,000 lbs of baked beans.

The heavier the load the better in the snow. If its ice it doesn't matter you aren't moving.

Why would more weight help the vehicle hold the road and not the trailer? Especially a RWD vehicle. The same principles apply.

More downward force on the axles equals more traction on the tires.

The trailer will not slide out wide unless you take the turn to fast adjust your speed and distance to the conditions.

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Trailering 400 miles thru the northeast. Ideas/Suggestions/What to look for?

Growing up in Michigan and living in Alaska for a few years, it was common to add weight to the tow vehicle for traction. Never did I hear anyone purposely adding weight to what they were towing.

I have to disagree with you on this one, SigSaur.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Trailering 400 miles thru the northeast. Ideas/Suggestions/What to look for?

sig, with those weights you can only be talking about a tractor trailer... WAY WAY WAY different than a passenger vehicle with a tag trailer

the tractor trailer often has close to 40% tongue weight and a fifth wheel hitch so a large amount of what's added to the trailer goes mostly on the drive tires and a little on the steer tires of the tractor and also the empty tractor has lots of weight on the 2 steer tires and not a lot on the 8 drive tires so unlike an empty ford explorer it does VERY poorly on snow and ice when empty

 

[four winns 214]

Re: Trailering 400 miles thru the northeast. Ideas/Suggestions/What to look for?

Lots of good suggestions in this thread. One I didn't see (or missed) is to carry a spare hub already prepped with greased bearings and seal installed. In case of bearing troubles, it's much easier to slap that bad boy on than to perform a roadside bearing job. Especially in January in the NE. Hubs are cheap and they can be bought pre-made.

Regarding the tires, they may not show dry rot, but here's what happened to me: On my first long-distance tow with a five year-old new-to-me boat with good looking tires, one exploded after about 70 miles on the Interstate. I mean flat blew the steel belts through the middle of the tread. If I wasn't so lazy, I'd post a photo. The tire shop that replaced the tire said they'd seen such before and said the cause was prolonged periods of being parked with tires that weren't kept well inflated. I elected to replace all the tires. Thank goodness for the spare.

 

[DaNinja]

Re: Trailering 400 miles thru the northeast. Ideas/Suggestions/What to look for?

Lots of good suggestions in this thread. One I didn't see (or missed) is to carry a spare hub already prepped with greased bearings and seal installed. In case of bearing troubles, it's much easier to slap that bad boy on than to perform a roadside bearing job. Especially in January in the NE. Hubs are cheap and they can be bought pre-made.

Regarding the tires, they may not show dry rot, but here's what happened to me: On my first long-distance tow with a five year-old new-to-me boat with good looking tires, one exploded after about 70 miles on the Interstate. I mean flat blew the steel belts through the middle of the tread. If I wasn't so lazy, I'd post a photo. The tire shop that replaced the tire said they'd seen such before and said the cause was prolonged periods of being parked with tires that weren't kept well inflated. I elected to replace all the tires. Thank goodness for the spare.

Good tip about tires on trailers that are parked for prolonged times. I paid that stupid tax at least once.

 

[SigSaurP229]

Re: Trailering 400 miles thru the northeast. Ideas/Suggestions/What to look for?

sig, with those weights you can only be talking about a tractor trailer... WAY WAY WAY different than a passenger vehicle with a tag trailer

the tractor trailer often has close to 40% tongue weight and a fifth wheel hitch so a large amount of what's added to the trailer goes mostly on the drive tires and a little on the steer tires of the tractor and also the empty tractor has lots of weight on the 2 steer tires and not a lot on the 8 drive tires so unlike an empty ford explorer it does VERY poorly on snow and ice when empty

Maybe it is a different distribution, BUT the principle is still the same more weight=more force holding the trailer to the road. More weight in snowy weather never hurts.

 

[buckhorn7]

Re: Trailering 400 miles thru the northeast. Ideas/Suggestions/What to look for?

I would wait until the roads are dry or you will have sand,salt,road grime all over your boat and trailer.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Trailering 400 miles thru the northeast. Ideas/Suggestions/What to look for?

Maybe it is a different distribution, BUT the principle is still the same more weight=more force holding the trailer to the road. More weight in snowy weather never hurts.

unless you are in really extreme crosswinds the trailer doesn't NEED weight to hold the road... it simply follows the truck but the more weight on the trailer the more it can push/pull the truck thus making things worse.. trust me on this one... heavy truck and LIGHT trailer is way way better than the other way around

I do have a god caparison for ya too, having made THREE 2000 mile round trips through all road conditions including high winds, heavy drifting, and icing,

All three trips out were with empty trailer from home to the north east and with 28' cruisers back..... for two of the trips the truck was a 10,000 lb 4x4 dual rear wheel 7.3 diesel and while it handles the loaded trailer ranging from 8500 - 11000 lbs very well in all conditions I can say without a doubt that it was easiest when the 30' trailer was empty... the heavier it got the more throttle was required and the more I would spin getting up to speed and the longer it took to stop.
The empty trailer was hardly noticeable.

On the other trip the truck was a 6800 lb 3/4 ton suburban 4x4 6.5 diesel...

It pulled one of the lighter boats which had no engines or drives ... about 8500 lbs with the trailer.... It was really working with that load and was a handful at times when the roads got particularly bad in the mountains but it did pretty well overall..... With it the empty trailer was much more noticeable than with my dually but was MUCH easier to handle than when loaded

On the 3 trips with 3000 miles of empty towing the trailer never once misbehaved even on ice.

 

[TD_Maker]

Re: Trailering 400 miles thru the northeast. Ideas/Suggestions/What to look for?

I just trailered my dads pontoon from Kentucky (through the mountains) to mt home in Florida. In fact, I pulled the trailer (Up to Kentucky) picked up the boat and towed it back home. Before I ever left Florida, I replaced the wheel bearings, and inflated the heavy tires to their proper PSI. I also replaced the lights with LED Lights I purchased at Wally World. I was ready to go. The trip up was uneventful. The trip back had a curve ball though. One of the tires developed a giant bubble (or bulge) on the side. I switched to the spare tire, and got her home that evening.

Then, I re-read your posting. You have no way to check the trailer good before you pick her up. In your case, I would bring the following: A floor jack. 4-way wrench. Heavy pliers or channel locks. Socket Set. Adjustable wrench. Small hammer. Screw drivers, Grease Gun and grease. Electrical tape. Wire nuts. Pressure Guage. Without looking at the wheel bearings, you would have no idea what size it uses, so buying new ones ahead of time would be impossible. I would also look seriously at wheel chocks and jack stands if possible. I would also bring a set of those ratcheting type straps to hold the boat on the trailer.

Keep the load under 60 mph, and you should be fine. Good Luck.