Don't do this to your jet!

[LVjetboy]

"Sorry to hear about the trouble Jer. Glad it wasn't worse. Coulda popped a hole in the bow."
Or even worse...left my jet on the ramp.
You can bet I'll fix it and post a picture. But this goes back to my general disappointment with what seems to be the norm in trailer manufacturing. Is Ellis a bad trailer compared to the norm? I'm thinking no, maybe better than some.
You have a boat sometimes more expensive than your tow vehicle, yet ride it on a POS trailer. Solid axles not properly aligned so the tires wear uneven and eventually vibrate the h*ll out of your boat. No shocks to cushion repeated pot hole blows to the hull. Crude wood bunkers that warp and distort your hull not to mention cheap non-locking bolts falling out. Wiring strung thru welder cut holes in the frame and no chaffing protection. Freakin' drum brakes on one axle set. And then to top it off an a-arm looking for trouble.
I used to tow a 1964 14 foot Crestliner single axle trailer. The wheels were undersized and tires blew every other year until I put bigger wheels on. They never blew again. Amazing how that works...design for application. Yet even that pos old timer trailer had shocks.
So here we are banging and vibrating our expensive boats down the road with cheap make do trailers and it just seems to me, trailer mfgs are a bit behind the power curve. I have little patience for poor design. Especially when a better design not all that more expensive if at all. I know there's tricked-out $$ custom trailers with all the bells and whistles. Not talking about that. I'm saying why not build trailers a bit better. How expensive a couple of shocks? I really hate hearing my jet bang around over an unexpected rough section of road.
And the bow eye thing? INEXCUSIBLE!! For a car, I'm guessing that would classify as a safety recall. Oh wait, trailers don't have that. My bad.
jer

[TBONE1904]

That's a bummer Jer. Don't feel bad, I've seen that happen many times.
Warning: Pulling out of the water too fast will do it every time! Don't let drunk people pull your boat out!!! I'm not saying LV was drunk(I'm sure he's smarter than that), but drunks are a sure fire way to have the bow-eye torn right out!
My drunk friend pulled me out way too fast and the arm pivoted back. Luckly I caught it happenning and yelled to stop. He stopped before it went all the way back. I decided to take over driving on the ramp, and just back it in and reset it. It did however leave some marks on the hull. None punctured the hull but you can tell there has been some contact there. Heatseekkers right we all thing even someone who has been drinking can slowly pull up the ramp.....NOPE !

[steelcomp]

LV posted:So here we are banging and vibrating our expensive boats down the road with cheap make do trailers and it just seems to me, trailer mfgs are a bit behind the power curve. I have little patience for poor design. Especially when a better design not all that more expensive if at all. I know there's tricked-out $$ custom trailers with all the bells and whistles. Not talking about that. I'm saying why not build most trailers a bit better. How expensive a couple of shocks? And the bow eye thing? INEXCUSIBLE!! For a car, I'm guessing that would classify as a safety recall. Oh wait, trailers don't have that. My bad.
Man, have you hit a pet peeve of mine!!! I hate trailering my boat, just thinking of the beating it's taking back there. I've tried several times to come up with a shock mount for mine, and I'm not done yet. I fixed all the other things you mentioned, except brakes. I have none, but boat is very light. I've had to stop short a few times, and the Expedition's oversized 4x discs have worked very well. Anything bigger and I'd have at least one set of wheels disc'd on the trailer. My wiring is solid...all new wire, tinned ends before crimp...no plastic crimp insulator, instead, double shrink on every one. Also ran continuous ground...no trailer ground for me. Wire runs through (Competitive's idea) 3/8 washers tacked to the inside of rails, on edge, every 24" or so. I installed grommets in every one. Adel clamps where needed. All new bolts on bunks, and I epoxied the carriage bolts in the wood so I could use nyloks. Checked axles for straight...they were right on. All stainless hardware as well, except for the bunk bolts, and the grade 5's holding the suspension rails to the frame. Added a couple more bolts there, too. When I re-painted, I disassembled everything...even spring packs. Sand blasted, two coats of poly-prime, sanded, re-filled at gusset welds, sanded, one more coat poly prime, then near a gallon of Dupont Nason 3.5 urethane black. Color sand and buff. I didn't want to do this twice.

[steelcomp]

My drunk friend pulled me out way too fast and the arm pivoted back. Luckly I caught it happenning and yelled to stop. He stopped before it went all the way back. I decided to take over driving on the ramp, and just back it in and reset it. It did however leave some marks on the hull. None punctured the hull but you can tell there has been some contact there. Heatseekkers right we all thing even someone who has been drinking can slowly pull up the ramp.....NOPE !
If you're drunk, you're not coming NEAR my rig, or my boat.

[TBONE1904]

If you're drunk, you're not coming NEAR my rig, or my boat.
Thats my point....Someone who just been drinking alittle still has a tendancy to speed up the ramp. I would never let someone drunk even attempt.

[LVjetboy]

"I installed grommets in every one. Adel clamps where needed. All new bolts on bunks, and I epoxied the carriage bolts in the wood so I could use nyloks. Checked axles for straight...they were right on. All stainless hardware as well, except for the bunk bolts, and the grade 5's holding the suspension rails to the frame. Added a couple more bolts there, too. When I re-painted, I disassembled everything...even spring packs. Sand blasted, two coats of poly-prime, sanded, re-filled at gusset welds, sanded, one more coat poly prime, then near a gallon of Dupont Nason 3.5 urethane black. Color sand and buff. I didn't want to do this twice."
Sounds like you covered it on your own, but why need to do all that? I think we consumers should demand more from trailer mfgs. Either that or just accept the fate of needing to do what you did.
----------------------------
TBone. An a-arm flippin around is bullsh*t. Unacceptable. Not something destined to happen as you imply, drinking or sober. Think about it. Why not keep it from flipping in the first place? A simple mechanical stop can do that for less than $20. Flipping around is not some universal towing principal and doesn't need to happen no matter the circumstances. You imply it only happens to someone who drinks. Are you sure?
Consider. Can you judge how fast to pull depending on trailer depth? How deep the trailer or ramp angle? What about water/wave conditions? How much faster did your drunk friend pull compared to your typically pull? How fast do you pull compared to how heavy the boat loaded or the trailer depth or the ramp angle? Lot's of variables.
You claim it depends on drinking? I'm wondering, if that, why did you let your friend, who you characterized as "drunk"...pull in the first place?
After my bow eye broke, I secured the bow with dock lines, drove 45 minutes thru the middle of Las Vegas on a Friday night, stopped at McDonalds ordered a couple singles with cheese for the wife and me, eventually at home, backed the Drag-n around the block, left then right and into a two car garage, one side blocked by junk. The amazing thing? I can do all that have done that many times over, but the simple task of pulling out the lake popped the eye.
Go figure.
jer

[Squirtin Thunder]

Jer,
I know that sucked !!! 4 years ago on the 3rd of July that happend to me. I had a real nice $2 piece of rope that a guy handed me at the ramp after it happend. Mine was a bit different one of the ears popped off on the trailer and thats all it took. Yes It was about 10pm and yes I was in NC and had to be in Clear Lake CA on the 4th, But I really don't think speed was the issue. I think it was a poor design. After Jake said the pink rope didn't match the boat and was kind of fem I oppeted for a Yellow one. Look at the bow Eyelet and you will see my rope. I also installed this winter a new 1/2 eyelet instead of the 3/8 one and glassed in a new 14" fitted 2x4 in the bow instead of the short 8" one.
Jim

[EXTREMEBOATS]

:cry: I can relate, im 200 pounds and 5'11'. Talk about the worst part of building low slung flats, getting my big ass up there to install the bow eye. I won't even start on glassing the deck to the bottom. I ask myself every time,"Do I really want to do this?" Well im still here, "DUH" Some day I hope to be able to aford a few mexicans. Thats what I was told they do out west...Mike :notam: :idea:

[kojac]

Jer,
Sorry to hear about your delimma.
When My new stealth arrived by truck it already had the bow eye broken while on the trailer. Tom said it was caused by the shipper?
My buddy's Trailer had all the elements that you talk about with his new trailer when his stealth arrived.
Wheels already misaligned and wore out the tires pulling it on the first hundred mile tow. Had to have the whole trailer reworked. Then upon leaving my house one evening he had to stop quickly and the stealth wound up going up over the trailer and into his truck. He called me we ended straining ourselves pulling his boat back on the trailer and secureing it to get his boat back home.
fiberglass repairs were required on the new stealth. repairs to the trail, plus repairs to the back of the truck.
Your right we need to demand better quality from our trailer suppliers.
One of my racer buddies said that trailering his boat to and from the races caused more stress cracks than any of the water or racing conditions he encountered.
Kojac.

[Cas]

same thing happened to me a couple of years ago with the flat bar type. I was teaching my wife how to pull the boat out, probably should've waited for a ramp that wasn't as steep. Then again, I blame myself for not instructing her better on just how slow it needed to come out. Other than having a bar that was shaped like a J, no damage.
Since then, I have a permanent tie down attached to the a-arm of the trailer. It's set at towing height so once it's attached, it's ready to go. Years ago, I had one of the little shocks and to be honest, I wasn't real fond of it. Thinking back, I think the shock had too much travel "up" than what it should have had. When towing on the freeway, the boat would seem to rise up after hitting a bump or two and it would just stay there. I also haven't seen those little shocks in quite a few years but haven't really been looking for them.
btw, my wife does a great job in pulling the boat out now, can't back up for sh*t though.