bouncer56
Cadet
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2013
- Messages
- 16
Here is the problem... We have just acquired a 1988 Bomber bass boat sittiing on a Fiberking classic trailer. The front of the trailer has a fixed hitch on the front of the trailer. It can not be taken off and switched. It came from Fiberking this way.
We were using a 1 7/8 ball which is the smallest we know of for this trailer hitch. When lowering the boat down onto the ball it will not lower unless you back off the nut underneath the hitch assembly to where there is only two threads holding the hitch assembly on. This of course is totally unsafe.
The boat hitch itself seems that it is to shallow to house a regular 1 7/8 ball. We tried a couple different ones we had and even bought a few different ones to see if it would work. The ball is going up into the hitch as far as it can go but when trying to push the lever down to lock it in, it will start to go down maybe a 1/2 inch and then as the fork underneath seats up against the underside of the ball it will not let it go any further. It's not even close to getting that handle pushed down to lock in.
It seems we would need a special ball that is smaller in size as per the length of it. If the ball was measuring from the top to where it starts tapering in were say 2 inches, we need one at an inch or inch and a half so it would go up inside the shallow housing of the boat trailer female part which would allow the fork underneath the hitch grab the under side of the ball and let the hitch lever push down to lock.
There is our problem that we worked on for two hours in the rain trying to get this boat back to the house. I would really appreciate any help if possible. Thanks in advance.
We were using a 1 7/8 ball which is the smallest we know of for this trailer hitch. When lowering the boat down onto the ball it will not lower unless you back off the nut underneath the hitch assembly to where there is only two threads holding the hitch assembly on. This of course is totally unsafe.
The boat hitch itself seems that it is to shallow to house a regular 1 7/8 ball. We tried a couple different ones we had and even bought a few different ones to see if it would work. The ball is going up into the hitch as far as it can go but when trying to push the lever down to lock it in, it will start to go down maybe a 1/2 inch and then as the fork underneath seats up against the underside of the ball it will not let it go any further. It's not even close to getting that handle pushed down to lock in.
It seems we would need a special ball that is smaller in size as per the length of it. If the ball was measuring from the top to where it starts tapering in were say 2 inches, we need one at an inch or inch and a half so it would go up inside the shallow housing of the boat trailer female part which would allow the fork underneath the hitch grab the under side of the ball and let the hitch lever push down to lock.
There is our problem that we worked on for two hours in the rain trying to get this boat back to the house. I would really appreciate any help if possible. Thanks in advance.
), disconnect the steering cable end back at the engine and see if the engine will turn freely by hand now. Also see if the steering wheel is still stiff or if it turns freely. This should tell you where the problem is. Assuming the problem is in the steering system you MIGHT get lucky and find a new cable, but chances are you'll be replacing the helm as well just because older cables are very hard to find.
