Boat trailer maintenance is a evil job. If you do not do it, the trailer gets back at you and takes delight in doing so. It strikes its revenge at the boat ramp when others are watching, at a intersection where you will cause a traffic jam, or on the interstate 1/2 way between exits that are 20 miles apart. It almost always a little thing that you can not fix out in the middle of no where.
I need to use my boat trailer about once or twice a year. With our boats at a dock at our back door, they do not need to come out often. My 20 year old British made trailer was built like a tank and nothing ever seemed to change the first 15 years. Then its evil little British sense of fair play showed itself. Little things at first. The handle on the winch snapped off at the boat ramp with the boat 1/2 on the trailer. With the help of 4 others waiting at the ramp we manually pulled it the last 4 feet, so I could secure the boat and get it out of the water and off the ramp. At home it was a quick fix. I went over the trailer from front to back, fixed everything that was needed and painted it. That kept the trailer happy for two years.
Lets take the boat to the Chesapeake for a 10 day sail. A 100 miles from home, on I-75 going over a overpass I felt the trailer shake, waggled back and forth then a thunk. Next I watched the left trailer wheel pass my truck headed down the overpass hill we were going over and as I pulled a dragging trailer to the side of the road. Before we headed out, I had greased the wheel bearings and had the tires checked and balanced. It was well balanced ..it rolled a 1/2 mile before it fell over. What I found on inspection was the wheels were held on with bolts. British whitworth fine threaded bolts.These naturally are not available in the USA. The salt water and air impact wrenches had damaged the threads and the bolts would not stay tight in the holes. It only took a week to get the trailer wheels rebuilt to American Standard with lug nuts. We sailed at St Petersburg before going home.
Next I had to replace the lights after they shorted out. Then the front jack that supports the tongue would not go up or down so it was replaced. Not much left to go wrong now.
When a friend ask if he could use the trailer to pick up a small flats boat to move it to his house before he got a trailer for it, I said sure...no problem. On a Sunday there are few tire places open to replace a tire that is flat on one side and he only had one brand of tire that would fit on that British tire rim. The trailer is still at my friends house and I am afraid to bring it home.
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