posted 08-14-2002 09:14 AM ET (US)        

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Team - I am running a single axel under a 1974 21' Outrage sporting a 1985, 185 Johnson. I'm planning to do some longer distance hauling and am wondering if a double axel setup would make any difference in handling, load balance, etc... BTW - Motive force is provided by a 2001 Chevy Blazer.

Thanks, Al

posted 08-14-2002 12:50 PM ET (US)            

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Don't have first hand experience trailering large Whalers, but have towed a 23' SeaRay on a tandem trailer.

As a rule of thumb, any boat over 19-20', and total boat/trailer package weighing over 3500lbs should be on a tandem, with brakes!.

My two cents,
Soggy

posted 08-14-2002 02:54 PM ET (US)         

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Many trailer lines limit single axle trailers to 2800lb carrying weight, which is what you get with 14" Load range C trailer tires.

I would think you should have a tandem, with 13" load range C tires, giving a carrying weight of about 4200lbs. Going to tandem 14" tires gives carrying weight of 6000lbs, more than you need, but some people prefer the 14" tires. Stongly recommend Goodyear Marathon radial tires, and "180" on this forum sells/ships them to Whaler/Forum guys at a great price.

posted 08-14-2002 03:50 PM ET (US)            

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I've wondered about this myself. You can buy a single axle boat trailer from many places that will use 225/75/15 tires with a gross vehicle weight of 5200 lbs, leaving about 4000 for boat capacity. But these seem a lot less popular than getting two axles with smaller 13" wheels to carry the same weight. On utility trailers a single 5000 lb axle is not uncommon - some go even higher with 16" wheels but these are not so common.

I've been viewing trailers in anticipating buying a used Outrage like yours and am leaning towards a single axle. The benefits I see are less maintenance (half the bearings and tires to deal with) and lower drag. I don't know if the lower drag of the single axle would be noticeable or not, but I know the maintenance would be.

Do people choose the double axle for redundancy primarily, or what is the reason?

posted 08-14-2002 04:04 PM ET (US)            

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I should have clarified I'm looking at the old-style Outrage, which has a total carried weight of around 2500 lbs (1600 hull + 500 motor + misc).

I know why LHG has a dual axle trailer given that he is carrying a lot more weight with a 25' Outrage. But it seems like for a 22' or less Outrage (80s style) a single axle should be adequate.

posted 08-14-2002 05:48 PM ET (US)            

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Russ - you described my trailer pretty well, i.e. the 15" wheel size. The other factor in play here is the trailer geometry. With the 15" wheels, I have somewhat of a "tongue low" attitude which makes it necessary to submerge nearly the entire wheel to get the boat off of the trailer. This may be related to other factors also.

I have read through the reference section on trailer dynamics and intend to determine tongue / axle loading once the mechanic finishes with the big Johnson. :-0

Al

posted 08-14-2002 08:17 PM ET (US)            

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I have a tandem axle trailer under my 20-Revenge.
Beside the obvious advantage of carrying the weight on more axles and tires, the tandem axle trailer tows better. It will have less sway and less risk of oscillating out of control compared to a single axle.

I would think about an 18-foot hull is the dividing line with Whalers between single/tandem axle trailers.

Take a look at a 21-Outrage on the road--it is a pretty impressive rig. Cf: 57-07 http://continuouswave.com/whaler/cetacea/cetaceaPage57.html#57-07