Performance Trailer Question

[MBGNole]

My 2001 Pathfinder 1900V came to me with a tandem Performance trailer. I know these were sold with Pathfinders, so I believe it to be the boats original trailer. I like the trailer, but the boat sits bow down on it. When the trailer is hooked to my truck, it is so low in the front that water runs forward toward the bow. As you can imagine, this makes it difficult to wash and it would be very bad in a heavy rain. In order to get the water to drain out the scuppers, I have to put the jack wheel on a 4x4 stand and raise it as high as it will go. Of course doing this in my shop create quite a mess.

I plan on raising the front bunk supports, but before I did, I wanted to check here and see if there is any reason the trailer should be set up this way. The boat loads ok, although the fact that I have to watch to be sure the bow doesn't go under the bow roller, is another indicator that it might benefit from raising the front bunk support.  

Thanks in advance for any input.

[Wanaflatsfish]

I would think any good trailer shop can easily adjust the bunks.

Hard to see in the photo, but, I'm assuming it's not welded - if that's the case, they'll need to remove the boat, and lift the bow bunks a bit.

Are your axles ok?  if not, might be a good time to do some work there as well.

 

dc

 

[THE OUTLAW]

Flip your hitch receiver over , so it goes up , instead of down .

🇺🇸🏴‍☠️ 

[Ron in Atlanta]

9 hours ago, MBGNole said:

I have to watch to be sure the bow doesn't go under the bow roller

In the vast majority of cases, when the bow comes in under the bow roller, it means that the trailer has been backed too far into the water.  Now I know that is counterintuitive, you would think that a trailer backed deeper into the water would allow the boat to float higher but here is what actually happens...if the trailer is backed down to the correct position, as the boat comes in to the trailer it hits the forward bunks are RISES UP thereby ensuring that the bow is ABOVE the roller.

We can not see from the photo but as Mr. Outlaw has suggested, the trailer should be level fore and aft.  You can measure the distance to the ground from the main beam up front on the trailer and the same main beam at the back of the trailer.  The distance to the ground should be the same.  If not, flip over the hitch receiver or replace it with a new one with a ball height that will make that trailer level to the ground.

If all else fails, find a hill near your home where on a rainy day, you can drive the boat and trailer up the hill slowly allowing the water to drain before storing in the shop and making a mess.

[SCFD rtrd.]

I agree with all the above. The first step is to make sure your trailer is level while connected to the tow vehicle. Adjusting the boat on the trailer (if necessary) comes after you level the trailer. If the trailer is not level while towing, the weight distribution is not balanced. This will cause the tires that are carrying most of the weight to wear unevenly and can cause the axle to bend permanently. A rig that is not balanced while towing can cause swaying and can cause the brakes on the light axle to lock-up while breaking. As suggested, it may be as simple as flipping your hitch receiver over to raise the ball height. 

Looking at the pic, it appears that the winch stand is close to being correct. Every rig is different. But again, this comes after you level the trailer while connected to the tow vehicle. 

[MBGNole]

Thanks guys for the help. I should have put this in the original post, but the the trailer does sit level when on the truck. When I took the photo in the original post, I naturally leveled the camera with the boat, which makes the trailer look like it is sitting low in the front.

The problem is, with the trailer perfectly level, the deck is angled down as indicted in the photo below (bow is to the left side of the photo).  I have to raise the tongue of the trailer 6 inches above level to get the deck level and 12 inches above level to get water to begin to flow to the scuppers.

I am going to take it to a good boat trailer shop and have them tweak it for me. 

Wanaflatsfish- thanks for checking on the axles. The axles are good and I rebuilt all the hubs. I cleaned up the hub exteriors, but they do still look a little rough. The bearings, races and seals are all good to go though. On my soon to do list are the springs, which are pretty rusty.

Ron- You are probably correct on the depth placement. I am just learning this rig and had sunk it a little deeper this time to see how it loaded. The previous time, I had to winch the boat several feet. I do hope getting the bunks dialed in will help me find that sweet spot. It should be a very easy boat to load.

[CorkDork]

I have an 02 19V with the original continental trailer. My center v guide is located close to where the front of your forward bunks are. When I back down the ramp, I go back just far enough to cover the pad with water on the center v guide. Seems to be the sweet spot for loading and helps with strong current situations. Flipping the receiver over also improved my set up.  

[Wanaflatsfish]

On 1/22/2021 at 11:42 AM, MBGNole said:

The previous time, I had to winch the boat several feet. I do hope getting the bunks dialed in will help me find that sweet spot. It should be a very easy boat to load.

Don't forget to add some liquid rollers on the bunks....makes all the difference in the world when unloading and loading....just NEVER TAKE OFF THE STRAP UNTIL THE BOAT IS READY TO LAUNCH AND IN THE WATER.....

 

DC