Help with Trailer Set Up in Southern California

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rnln
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Help with Trailer Set Up in Southern California

Postby rnln » Mon Mar 14, 2022 6:00 pm

I plan to convert the trailer for a REVENGE 22 to a bunk trailer from a roller trailer and to lower the trailer several inches.

Seeing a similar size trailer with bunks will help to precisely set up my trailer.

I am located in southern California.

jimh
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Re: Help with Trailer Set Up in Southern California

Postby jimh » Mon Mar 14, 2022 7:24 pm

If only two bunks will be used, set up the the bunks so they fit just inside the runners of the hull. The bunk surface should be oriented so that it is a perfect fit to the V-hull, that is, the hull should not sit on a sharp edge of a bunk timber. Typically the bunks will be mounted on pivoting brackets.

floater
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Re: Help with Trailer Set Up in Southern California

Postby floater » Tue Mar 15, 2022 8:23 am

I am in the same boat. When you switch to a bunk trailer are the bunks equidistant front and back? Or do you turn the front of the bunks inward a bit?

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Phil T
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Re: Help with Trailer Set Up in Southern California

Postby Phil T » Tue Mar 15, 2022 10:07 am

Floater -

At first install them parallel and load the boat. Inspect the hull's fit. You can then make final adjustments.

I presume you will have keel rollers (two rollers per crossmember) for easy launch and retrieve.
1992 Outrage 17
2019 E-TEC 90
2018 LoadRite 18280096VT
Member since 2003

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Phil T
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Re: Help with Trailer Set Up in Southern California

Postby Phil T » Tue Mar 15, 2022 10:09 am

Jim - Can you drop a link to your trailer setup, empty and loaded.
1992 Outrage 17
2019 E-TEC 90
2018 LoadRite 18280096VT
Member since 2003

jimh
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Re: Help with Trailer Set Up in Southern California

Postby jimh » Tue Mar 15, 2022 10:32 am

I will describe the arrangement for my REVENGE 22 trailer in a narrative and with some illustrations

The E-Z-LOADER trailer is a c.1992 model TEZ 19 - 22/24 5200-lbs, a tandem-axle trailer, and it uses a combination of keel rollers and bunks. I have replaced all the original black hard-rubber rollers and stops with new "poly" yellow-orange rollers, new brackets, new shafts, and mostly new hardware.

There is only one set of keel rollers and they are mounted on the forward main crossmember of the trailer frame. (A crossmember is a transverse structural support that crosses between the two main longitudinal supports of the trailer.) The bunks are mounted so they begin at the boat transom and extend forward along the hull until the V-hull shape begins to change from a nearly constant moderate deadrise to a much deeper V shape.

The keel rollers are installed in pairs, two rollers on one crossmember. The brackets sandwich the crossmember and are held in place with straight bolts, not U-bolts. To raise the height of the rollers above the crossmember, I have drilled two holes through the crossmember (on its exact vertical centerline so as to minimize any loss of strength). The lower mounting bolts pass through the brackets and through the crossmember. The upper mounting bolts pass through the slots on the bracket and just lay atop the crossmember.

drilledCrossMember.jpg
Fig. 1. The crossmember of the trailer frame has been drilled to permit the roller bracket to be mounted higher. An identical bracket and roller are on the aft side of the crossmember, but not easily seen in this view.
drilledCrossMember.jpg (35.94 KiB) Viewed 1583 times


rearRoller.jpg
Fig. 2. The rear roller of a pair. The upper mounting bolts just lay atop the crossmember.
rearRoller.jpg (64.74 KiB) Viewed 1579 times


My trailer's bunk arrangement is somewhat unique. There are four bunk supports in total. These are arranged in two sets, port and starboard. The bunks are attached in pairs to a frame. The frame pivots to fit the bunks to the hull shape. The distance between the bunks on the pivoting frame is adjustable.

trailerBunks.jpg
Fig. 3. The bunks are position so the outer bunk is well clear of the hull runner. The inner bunk is as close to keel center line as practical. Note the longitudinal tube that supports the bunks and allows them to pivot to meet the hull shape. This is an unusual feature.
trailerBunks.jpg (104.03 KiB) Viewed 1588 times


The outer bunks are arranged to fit inside the hull runners, and particularly to clear the venturi cover on the through-hull drain on the starboard side. This prevents the drain cover from being crushed if the were loaded onto the trailer with the bunk right under the drain.

The inner bunks are as near to the keel centerline as the trailer brackets allow.

The two bunks can move on their pivot. This automatically distributes the weight on each bunk.
rollerMount.jpg
Fig. 4. The bunks end when the hull shape changes to a deeper-V toward the bow. Note the other through-hull vent cover; the bunks should clear this obstacle, too.
rollerMount.jpg (65.84 KiB) Viewed 1576 times


The overall height of the boat on the trailer is controlled by one factor: the clearance between the hull chine and the top of the fender. This is generally the controlling influence for any boat on any trailer if the beam of the boat is wider than the distance between the trailer fenders.

fenderClearance.jpg
Fig. 5. The hull chine clears the trailer fender top by about 1.5 to 2-inches, depending on how evenly the boat comes onto the trailer.
fenderClearance.jpg (33.93 KiB) Viewed 1589 times


On my boat-trailer rigging, the separation between the top of the trailer fender and the boat hull chine is about 1.5 to 2-inch. I have seen some rigs with even less clearance, about an inch.

The absence of a keel roller at the far rear crossmember of the trailer is not a serious defect, in my opinion. When launching or loading, the stern of the boat enters the water and its buoyancy creates a lifting force that reduces the weight of the boat on the aft part of the bunks. The boat comes off the bunks very easily and slides onto the water easily--sometimes too easily .

The buoyant force of the hull toward the stern as it immerses in the water tends to push the forward part of the hull down hard onto the keel rollers. This is where the keel rollers excel. The boat just rolls on the keel rollers, and the downward force on them does not prevent movement of the boat.

bowWinch.jpg
Fig. 6. The bow winch is positioned so it pulls upward on the hull. This reduces friction when loading. After the boat is fully forward, the stem should rest in the bow winch roller, as shown. Before highway towing, a second strap is installed to apply a strong downward force to the bow eye to reduce any tendency for the hull to bounce up when encountering a highway bump.
bowWinch.jpg (99.02 KiB) Viewed 1582 times


The single bow roller seen in Figure 6 is important. It forces the hull to rise as it approaches the winch stop-roller. This reduces the force that must be exerted on the bow eye to get the boat into proper position. While the stern of the hull is still immersed in water, its buoyant forces are trying to push down the bow. This roller prevents that movement. The bracket is a bit clunky; it works, buy a cleaner solution should be possible,

You can read more about my trailer set-up in a very similar post at

TRAILER SET-UP
https://continuouswave.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4759

You can read more about my various renovations of the trailer hardware in a post at

TRAILER REFURBISHMENT: 1992 E-Z-LOADER
https://continuouswave.com/forum/viewto ... =6&t=3874l

jimh
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Re: Help with Trailer Set Up in Southern California

Postby jimh » Tue Mar 15, 2022 2:10 pm

The proper set-up of a trailer for a Boston Whaler boat is discussed in a 22-year-old article in the REFERENCE section see

Trailer Rigging For Boston Whaler Boats
https://continuouswave.com/whaler/refer ... ailer.html

floater
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Re: Help with Trailer Set Up in Southern California

Postby floater » Tue Mar 15, 2022 4:02 pm

That is a great refreshed write-up with pictures.

My boat trailer does not have the pivoting double bunk set-up.

I will be launching the 1988 Revenge 20 W-T on Easter weekend. I will start test-fitting the new trailer.

JIMH--did you buy that double bunk bracket? Or did it come with the trailer?

If my single bunk set-up doesn't work for me I will try to find a set of double-bunk pivoting bunks.

jimh
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Re: Help with Trailer Set Up in Southern California

Postby jimh » Tue Mar 15, 2022 7:31 pm

floater wrote:JIMH--did you buy that double bunk bracket or did it come with the trailer?

I did not buy the trailer. I got the trailer with the boat. I presume the unusual bunk arrangement is a feature of the E-Z-LOADER trailer.

I think E-Z-LOADER still makes this particular model trailer.

If you very CAREFULLY browse the E-Z-LOADER website (which is really awfully designed) you will see that there is an option for the "four-bunk adjustable" set-up "with pivoting bunks." I would give you a URL to this, but the design of their website is so awful that there is no way to link to that option. You just have to scroll around through ten or fifteen other options to find it.

Another option is for dual keel rollers with pivoting suspension to insure equal loading.

They still make the model TEZ 19-22/24' 5200, but the 2022 model has TORSION suspension on the axles, which is probably a very nice improvement.

ADVICE: building a boat trailer by buying parts is very expensive. Buying a new trailer with all the options you want is much less expensive in the long run.

floater
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Re: Help with Trailer Set Up in Southern California

Postby floater » Wed Mar 16, 2022 8:04 am

Thanks for the information.

I will be adding more keel rollers; now my trailer only has one keel roller on the middle crossmember.

jimh
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Re: Help with Trailer Set Up in Southern California

Postby jimh » Wed Mar 16, 2022 11:11 am

Conversion of an all-roller trailer to a bunk and keel roller trailer was the topic of discussion in this thread in 2013:

https://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/020608.html

rnln
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Re: Help with Trailer Set Up in Southern California

Postby rnln » Thu May 19, 2022 2:46 pm

My trailer proj is considered done for now. I want to say thanks to JimH and everyone.