Hello all.
I have a restoration on my 14' 1977 Starcraft Holiday going on right now. The link to my progress is in the Starcraft forums but I have begun work on the trailer first.
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=430263
It's a 1977 vintage Shorelander or Shore Station ?
I took the whole trailer apart and have been working on it for the last week and a half. I am limited to a couple hours a night so it will take another week or so to finish. I'm doing a ground up restore. I already purchased a new 2k lb axle from tractor supply. One hub was old school with bolts rather than studs and lug nuts, and the other hub was packed with dirt. Both rumbled when spun. The bearings were certainly bone dry and i don't want to trailer my soon to be beautiful restored Holiday on a POS trailer.
The springs seem to need replacing. If I'm going to spend so much money and time and sweat on rebuilding the trailer ground up then i may as well get new springs.
Do i have to replace with original length or can i move the leaf spring shackles closer and go with the 24" type found at tractor supply which are approximately 10 inches shorter ?
What length are these springs. The seem to be tired from all the years of the boat sitting on them. I don't know if they were originally 31 inchers or if they are considered 30's or 32's ?
The trailer took a hit on the right fender which tweeked the frame a little bit. I have easily bent it back by hand with a large crescent wrench and plan on reinforcing the frame with extra steel. The rear portion of the trailer is made from cheap thin c channel steel.
I think the hit the starboard fender took is reason enough to replace at least the right side spring, so i may as well do both. The springs seem to be fanning out. The bands that hold them together seem to be tired. I actually tapped one of the bands off with the end of a wrench. It slipped off fairly easily. I can't imagine they are supposed to do that ?
I just need to know the difference between the 24 inch slipper springs tractor supply sells ( http://www.tractorsupply.com/trailers-towing/trailer-parts/other-trailer-parts/trailer-springs/carry-on-trailer-slipper-leaf-spring-750-lbs-capacity-1750226 ) and the 30 something inch springs my trailer came with years ago. Frankly i would like to stay original to the trailer and get the 30 something inchers which would also require less work but i'm sure will cost more. I would assume the longer springs will give for a softer ride as well. But this is pure speculation.
Which should i get and what is the difference?
The boat claims to be 410 lbs bone dry from the factory in 1977. Add the trailer, 5-10 gals of gas, gear and outboard .. we are talkin less than a thousand lbs MAX towing on the axle.
The frame looks rough but its purely cosmetic surface rust with some pitting. Aside from the minor tweeking i did to straiten out the right side of the frame pictured on the top portion of the above picture, the trailer is structurally sound. I'm only reinforcing the box of the frame because i have left over square tubing laying around that is rusting away and i can't think of a better way to shore up that trailer some more than to weld more cross members to it. It will be better than new when i'm done with it.
Thanks for any and all responses, and suggestions. I'm open to anything anyone has to say.
I have a restoration on my 14' 1977 Starcraft Holiday going on right now. The link to my progress is in the Starcraft forums but I have begun work on the trailer first.
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=430263
It's a 1977 vintage Shorelander or Shore Station ?
I took the whole trailer apart and have been working on it for the last week and a half. I am limited to a couple hours a night so it will take another week or so to finish. I'm doing a ground up restore. I already purchased a new 2k lb axle from tractor supply. One hub was old school with bolts rather than studs and lug nuts, and the other hub was packed with dirt. Both rumbled when spun. The bearings were certainly bone dry and i don't want to trailer my soon to be beautiful restored Holiday on a POS trailer.
The springs seem to need replacing. If I'm going to spend so much money and time and sweat on rebuilding the trailer ground up then i may as well get new springs.
Do i have to replace with original length or can i move the leaf spring shackles closer and go with the 24" type found at tractor supply which are approximately 10 inches shorter ?
What length are these springs. The seem to be tired from all the years of the boat sitting on them. I don't know if they were originally 31 inchers or if they are considered 30's or 32's ?
The trailer took a hit on the right fender which tweeked the frame a little bit. I have easily bent it back by hand with a large crescent wrench and plan on reinforcing the frame with extra steel. The rear portion of the trailer is made from cheap thin c channel steel.
I think the hit the starboard fender took is reason enough to replace at least the right side spring, so i may as well do both. The springs seem to be fanning out. The bands that hold them together seem to be tired. I actually tapped one of the bands off with the end of a wrench. It slipped off fairly easily. I can't imagine they are supposed to do that ?
I just need to know the difference between the 24 inch slipper springs tractor supply sells ( http://www.tractorsupply.com/trailers-towing/trailer-parts/other-trailer-parts/trailer-springs/carry-on-trailer-slipper-leaf-spring-750-lbs-capacity-1750226 ) and the 30 something inch springs my trailer came with years ago. Frankly i would like to stay original to the trailer and get the 30 something inchers which would also require less work but i'm sure will cost more. I would assume the longer springs will give for a softer ride as well. But this is pure speculation.
Which should i get and what is the difference?
The boat claims to be 410 lbs bone dry from the factory in 1977. Add the trailer, 5-10 gals of gas, gear and outboard .. we are talkin less than a thousand lbs MAX towing on the axle.
The frame looks rough but its purely cosmetic surface rust with some pitting. Aside from the minor tweeking i did to straiten out the right side of the frame pictured on the top portion of the above picture, the trailer is structurally sound. I'm only reinforcing the box of the frame because i have left over square tubing laying around that is rusting away and i can't think of a better way to shore up that trailer some more than to weld more cross members to it. It will be better than new when i'm done with it.
Thanks for any and all responses, and suggestions. I'm open to anything anyone has to say.
