TRAILERS
Materials for trailers: stainless steel. Galvanized steel, alloy,
The best material to use on a marine trailer is galvanized steel as its galvanized coating prevents any sea water from contaminating the metal. Prevents rusting and structural damage to the trailer.
Using stainless steel would make it look great and make it strong but it would be highly expensive hard to machine and shape, would be extremely heavy and would constantly need polishing or a special coat witch would help prevent the sea water from contaminating the metal.
Aluminum would be very light weight metal which would make towing very easy. Although its not as strong as steel it is very malleable and easy to shape. Aluminum will not rust but will corode , the corosion wont be like the brownness rust is but more like a small pies of salt or white patches.
overall i would use galvinised steel as it has the protective galvinised coat and is strong and durable.
TRAILER TYPES
single axel: for light and small boats only. biggest boat you should carry on a single axle would be about 5000lbs and around 21'. newer single axle boat trailers comw with full led brake, park and revers lights. have either rollers or slides ,range between 8 to 25 rollers depending on how big the boat is.having more rollers makes it easyer to remove or load the boat . come with a jocky wheel wich veries in sizes for difreent sized trailers. come with a winching system that helps pull the boat out of the water. cables for these winches again vary with the size of boat bbeing towed. tow ball coupling is standerd for any trailer and comes in two sizes for the two diffrent sized tow balls that are on vehicals. Standerd a frame shape.
tandem axle : usauly used to tow larger boats from around 17ft to 27ft boats. These trailers are a lot more heavy duty compaired to a single axle trailer because it has to carry a heavy load. Having a double axle trailer would usauly need a baking system whether it be hydrolic padded or drummed brakes as towing a heavy trailer could wreack brakes on a car and could be extremely dangerous if towing at highish speeds as it it could cause the car to lock up. These tandem trailers come with geard winches to pull the boat onto the trailer as wind in winches would be extremely inaproprate as trying to wind in a 20ft boat that weighed a few thousand pounds would be imposiable. Tandem trailers also come with led lights and a dolly wheel like the single axle trailers as this is standerd for any trailer used for transporting. Bigger rims and tyers are used on the tandem trailer for more grip and control as there is more weight on the trailer. Tandem trailers also have rollers for moving the boat on and off the trailer. Keel rollers come on some of the bigger trailers for extra support and maneuverability. All of the rollers are adjustable to suit the difrent shapes of hulls.
SUSPESION TYPES
Leaf spring: sevrall layers of metal bolted together that alow abit of flexing so that the trailer has suspension, this type of suspension is not ideal for the marine industry as it can easily rust and sea water gets in between the layers of metal and rusts and corrodes. Although leaf spring suspension is not the best to use it is the cheapest form of suspension and is very common on boat trailers.
Spring and shock suspension : not used a lot on boat trailers but makes for a very safe and soft ride. Having spring and shock suspension means u need a bit of room to hold both these things. Shcok absorbers don’t realy last as long in the sea water so having these on a boat trailer is not practical.
BRAKES
Drum brakes: used on most small and older trailers as it is an old style of braking. Works by pushing several pads on a rotating disc inside the drum. Not the best style of braking if towing a rather large boat.
Disc brakes: a newer type of braking which is way more responsive and reliable than drum brakes. This brake system works by a rotor which spins at the same time and speed as the hub, a hosuing the sits on either side of the disc which holds two pads that compress on the rotor when the brake is applied, these types of brakes are a lot more safer, responsive and reliable than drum brakes and defiantly give the trailer a newer more sleek look
Having brakes on a boat trailer is a good idea if the trailer has tandem axles and is carring a large and heavy boat as it can help prevent the towing vehical from wrecking its brakes or locking up when having to suddenly.
TYERS AND WHEELS :
Different sizes of rims come with boat trailers depending on the size and weight of the boat being towed, size and weight of trailer, suspension type and what the buyer wants.
With small trailers they usually come with either 13 or 14 inch rims and tyers the rim should and most of the time is galvanized steel so it doesn’t rust in the water.
Bigger boats also use galvanized steel rims to prevent corrosion and rust, they usually run 14 to 16 inch rims as they are caring a heaver load than a smaller trailers.
Tyers on both types of trailers should be of a high profile so the trailer has a softer ride, using a lower profile can make it look good but make it very expensive for tyres and have a harder ride.
Also you can get the fussy “want to look cool” boat owners who want to put big shinny rims on there trailers. These types of rims usually don’t last very long in the salt water ,lose their colour and are a waste of money. Also having to provide tyres for these larger rims can be expensive and can deteriate a lot quicker than more standard rims and tyers .
HUBS AND STUBS
The hub is the rotor that comes of the axle which allows the rim and tyre to bolt on. The hub has several studs on it which very on the style of hub, usual a 4 or 5 stud pattern depending on what size of trailer it is as a 5 stud is stronger than a 4 stud as there are more studs for the brakes ( if there are any ) and the rim to attach to . hubs can come from 4 studs to 6 on a boat trailer unless exceeding more then two axles as it would improve the stregth.
