Brakes on boat trailer
 

On Mon, 22 Mar 2004 14:42:12 GMT, "Don White"
wrote:


DSK wrote in message
...
IIRC you're another sailor, right? Don't put a sailboat on rollers.
Sailboats are not built the way motorboats are. Rollers do not support
the hull well enough. Plus, you won't be power loading so you don't
really need them.

With regard to brakes.... get them. They will need to be rinsed after
every salt water use, and some maintenance once a year, but if they save
your life even once, they're worth it. We have hydraulic surge brakes
and they've saved us from a crash at least a dozen times. Other drivers
are just too erratic & selfish to count on the "leave extra distance"
theory.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Guilty as charged!
Yes, it will be a sailboat (Sandpiper 565).
I'm pretty well set on the brakes now.... and with the plastic covered
bunks, the boat should slip off fairly easily.
No power loading for me...everything smooth & easy.
I'd better start pricing the trailers. I can see $ 2K CDN floating away.

I just pased that last sentence as 2,000 Canadians floating away.

Need new glasses. :)

Tom

Brakes on boat trailer
 

Don White wrote in message
news:8XC7c.122424$IF6.4139680@ursa-
Guilty as charged!
Yes, it will be a sailboat (Sandpiper 565).
I'm pretty well set on the brakes now.... and with the plastic covered
bunks, the boat should slip off fairly easily.
No power loading for me...everything smooth & easy.
I'd better start pricing the trailers. I can see $ 2K CDN floating away.


D'oh! Just called the boat trailer manufacturer in Ontario that will most
likely supply a new gal. trailer if I buy the favoured boat. He tried to
talk me out of brakes at this weight. and they weren't needed, and if
ordered a bigger axle & wheels would have to be swapped in to accommodate.
They still deal with the drum brakes......which I don't want.
I also called the local Venture Trailer distributor. He also said stay away
from brakes unless you really need them.
Troublesome in salt water/air environment. They also deal only in drum
brakes.
What to do? I'll try another dealer. I may have to order the heavier axle
and then find the disc parts separately to install myself. (bad idea)

Brakes on boat trailer
 

Don White wrote:
D'oh! Just called the boat trailer manufacturer in Ontario that will most
likely supply a new gal. trailer if I buy the favoured boat.

Well that's a nice bit of change that just flew back into your wallet!

... He tried to
talk me out of brakes at this weight. and they weren't needed, and if
ordered a bigger axle & wheels would have to be swapped in to accommodate.
They still deal with the drum brakes......which I don't want.

Well, don't go to great lengths & spend huge sums to get disc over drum
brakes. The biggest difference IMHO is that the discs offer slightly
easier maintenance.

I also called the local Venture Trailer distributor. He also said stay away
from brakes unless you really need them.
Troublesome in salt water/air environment. They also deal only in drum
brakes.
What to do? I'll try another dealer.


BTW the reason why most people give trailer brakes a bad rap is that
their experience is with the low end of customers, who want to stop like
magic and won't do routine maintenance. A trailered load that heavy will
*definitely* affect your stopping distance and stability; brakes may
save your from a nasty wreck and IMHO that makes them worth the money &
the maintenance. A 65 mph jack-knife or tail-end crash is a guaranteed
bad day. Our trailer brakes have saved us about a dozen times over the
past ten years.


... I may have to order the heavier axle
and then find the disc parts separately to install myself. (bad idea)

It's a lot of work, but hey, at least you'd know it's done right. Wish I
had a good recommendation, but all the trailer dealers & shops I know
are down here in NC. Good luck!

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Brakes on boat trailer
 

On Mon, 22 Mar 2004 17:49:54 GMT, "Don White"
wrote:


Don White wrote in message
news:8XC7c.122424$IF6.4139680@ursa-

~~ snippage ~~~

D'oh! Just called the boat trailer manufacturer in Ontario that will most
likely supply a new gal. trailer if I buy the favoured boat. He tried to
talk me out of brakes at this weight. and they weren't needed, and if
ordered a bigger axle & wheels would have to be swapped in to accommodate.
They still deal with the drum brakes......which I don't want.

Ah - well, I guess we know all about that dealer then.

I also called the local Venture Trailer distributor. He also said stay away
from brakes unless you really need them.

Horsesh....er...what a load. While he's right if y ou have a 14 foot
jon boat with a trolling motor on a trailer, but something like a
sailboat is certainly heavy enough. Not to mention that they don't
"stop" as much as keep the trailer from wandering off on it's own when
the brakes are applied suddenly. As to mantainence, just keep them
flushed with fresh water after use and they will last you forever.
Well, maybe not forever, but certainly for a while. Discs will rust,
but the new stainless discs are fine.

Troublesome in salt water/air environment. They also deal only in drum
brakes.

Ah - well, I guess we know all about that dealer then.

What to do? I'll try another dealer. I may have to order the heavier axle
and then find the disc parts separately to install myself. (bad idea)

It's not hard, but it will take a while.

Good luck.

Tom

Brakes on boat trailer & LEGAL TBL
 

To everyone following this thread, I didn't notice any mension of the possible
legal tbl if you have an accident, maybe someone injured or killed and some
lawyer discovers that you didn't have trailer brakes even though the minivan
builder recommended them............$$$$$$$$$, and possibly your insurance
company will refuse to pay as a result of you not following that
recommendation!
Also some boat builders (BOSTON WHALER?) recommend against rollers on trailers.
Best wisher
Mike

Brakes on boat trailer & LEGAL TBL
 

CaptMP wrote in message
...
To everyone following this thread, I didn't notice any mension of the
possible
legal tbl if you have an accident, maybe someone injured or killed and
some
lawyer discovers that you didn't have trailer brakes even though the
minivan
builder recommended them............$$$$$$$$$, and possibly your insurance
company will refuse to pay as a result of you not following that
recommendation!
Also some boat builders (BOSTON WHALER?) recommend against rollers on
trailers.
Best wisher
Mike

Just dug out the brocure for my '95 Voyager. At that time all they said was
you could tow 2000 pound load with the V6 engine. It's the 2004 version
that recommends brakes on a trailer over 1000 pounds.
I assume they are covering their ass because of crummy transmissions and
weak brakes.

Brakes on boat trailer & LEGAL TBL
 

Brakes on boat trailer & LEGAL TBL
 

On 23 Mar 2004 13:50:05 -0800, (Curtis CCR)
wrote:

(CaptMP) wrote in message ...
To everyone following this thread, I didn't notice any mension of the possible
legal tbl if you have an accident, maybe someone injured or killed and some
lawyer discovers that you didn't have trailer brakes even though the minivan
builder recommended them............$$$$$$$$$, and possibly your insurance
company will refuse to pay as a result of you not following that
recommendation!
Also some boat builders (BOSTON WHALER?) recommend against rollers on trailers.

You probably increase you chances of being found negligent in an
accident if you have not equipped you trailer as recommended by the
maker of the trailer or your tow vehicle. Even a fair lawyer might be
able to convince a civil case jury that you were negligent and would
have been able to stop had you taken the care to properly equip you
vehicles. Not likely a criminal problem unless you broke the laws
regarding towing (example: Dodge recommends trailer brakes over
1,000lb, but the law may only require them over 2,000.)

Your liability insurance is going to pay if you are found liable -
hence the name "liability insurance." Your vehicle collision and boat
hull coverage will probably pay too. Unless there are specific
exclusions, most insurance still pay even if the proximate cause of
the loss was stupidity on the part of the policyholder.

You might expect you coverage to be cancelled, or have premiums
skyrocket after such a loss.

In Virginia any trailer with a gross weight of over 3000lbs must, by
law, have brakes. I'd suggest you check the local laws.

John H

On the 'Poco Loco' out of Deale, MD
on the beautiful Chesapeake Bay!