Although a boat's trailer is not part of your boat, it often plays a big role in the boating and towing experience. And a boat trailer's trouble can derail your day on the water. Boat trailer maintenance is just as important as boat maintenance itself.
Boat trailers have to be built tough. The constant weight of a boat, the strain of a bumpy road and harsh salt water are just a few of the things your boat trailer has to withstand. Regular cleaning and maintenance by the boat owner and periodic inspection and service by professional trailer service company will ensure your boat trailers are kept in good working condition for longer.
Fortunately, with a little basic maintenance, and periodic service by professional, the boat owners can avoid the most common issues related to the trailers, and have your trailer ready for the launching ramp.
In this blog, we will take a look at some of the typical maintenance and replacement items on your boat trailer.
Rusty Hardware
Hardware should be checked for rust periodically. While some exposed components can be cleaned with a wire brush and a spray of penetrating oil or waterproof grease, when the parts become so distressed that the rust is flaking off in layers, it’s probably a good idea to replace the affected hardware.
Leaf Spring Maintenance & Replacement
The majority of boat trailers feature some form of leaf spring suspension system. This is to prevent your boat from bottoming out on the trailer frame every time you hit a pothole or bump in the road.
The stacked leaf spring sections can appear to be tight and solid enough at rest, but they flex when under a load. That’s where the problems start to occur. When you are down at the ramp, materials like sand, grit and salty water can get trapped in between the flexing spring leaves when your boat is launched or retrieved. A freshwater wash down rinse will help to lessen the potential for corrosion, but won’t blow out the grit that’s trapped in between the spring leaf layers that are shut tight.
A periodic inspection routine for your trailer’s leaf spring suspension system is recommended. This includes looking for rust, cracks, daylight beaming through the stack of springs, flat spots, the U-Bolt/clamp hardware connections or missing leaf parts in the spring set.
Wheel Bearing Maintenance & Replacement
The wheel bearings are critical to enable your trailer wheels to travel the road safely. Depending on your amount of use, it’s generally a great idea to repack your wheel bearings at least once a season. This is also an option to grease and add dust cap to your trailer’s wheel bearings. It is an easy way to protect your bearings by keeping water out and ensuring enough grease is in the hub during trailer operations on the road.
Mudguard Maintenance & Replacement
Mudguard set over the trailer wheels keep the mud, salty grit and other road gunk from peppering the bottom of your boat hull with a gory mess. Mudguard can get crunched during trailer manoeuvres down at the ramp or in your driveway, but these can be easily replaced.
Jockey Wheel Maintenance & Replacement
If your jockey wheel is not working up to expectations, you will have a difficult time lifting the coupling ball assembly on and off the hitch of your tow vehicle. You can replace the jockey wheel which are typically mounted to the trailer’s front beam with a pair of U-bolt clamps. To keep the new one working smoothly, a periodic squirt of penetrating oil or light grease should keep it working for many seasons.
Coupling Ball Maintenance & Replacement
The coupling ball on the front of your boat trailer is a simple, yet critical component that keeps the boat connected to your tow vehicle. To maintain its working order, it should be sprayed with a coating of penetrating oil on occasion and then greased with a light film of waterproof lube. If the coupler housing gets dented where the ball cannot insert, or if the locking mechanism won’t close down and lock up tight, it’s time to replace the coupler with a new one.
Trailer Winch Maintenance & Replacement
The trailer winch is yet another simple-but-critical component part of your boat trailer. Keeping these rust-free and greased ensures trouble-free service. If anything is defective, remove and replace immediately.
Roller Maintenance & Replacement
When the rollers lose their surface finish and start leaving black streaks all over your perfectly waxed hull, it is time to replace them. To keep the rollers in good shape, an occasional spray on the inner bearings with penetrating oil or silicon should keep them rolling for longer.
Brake & Signal Light Maintenance & Replacement
Both the brake and turn signal functions need to be checked before and after every trip, to ensure their full operational status. These typically get totally immersed in saltwater, so they can be easily cracked, and have compromised wiring connections, etc. And if they become dysfunctional, it’s time for repairs and replacement.
Trailer Tyres
There are two ways to checking on the condition of your trailer tires: the first is specifically observing the amount of tread that is remaining on your tire and the second is to check the sidewalls of your tires for any unsightly cracks. Not all tires are created equal, so go to a professional trailer service for the recommended trailer manufactures' tyres.
Boat Trailer Maintenance Checklist
Most of the trailer’s component parts like wheels, bearings, rollers, bunks, winches, jockey wheel and lights can be “easily” removed in theory and replaced by do-it-yourselfers. Here is our Boat Trailer Maintenance Checklist which can be done regularly by Boat owners:
Check your tyre pressure.
Don't forget to bring along a spare tyre.
Periodically check your tyres for wear and age.
Use wheel bearing protectors.
Keep your trailer brakes clean.
Have your brake pads or shoes inspected every few seasons.
Check the brake fluid reservoir in the master cylinder.
Apply lubrication to your trailer's coupler.
Check all of your trailer lights every time you hook up the trailer.
Keep the trailer light connection on your tow vehicle covered when not towing to prevent corrosion.
We are Your Professional Boat Trailer Service
Sometimes it’s not as easy; the biggest problem with removing modular items like those mentioned above is that the steel bolts and nuts that retain them to the trailer frame rust in place after seasons of saltwater dunkings and exposure. At GoTu Trailers, we provide a full inspection and service on all make and models of boat trailers, so if you are not confident about doing D-I-Y maintenance work on your boat trailers, why not give us a call, and we offer a no obligation quotation service too, so you know exactly how much it is going to cost you before you get it serviced by us.
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