Trailer Restoration Under Way

[Cox]

I'm not sure if this should go under "trailers" or just straight into the "restoration" forum, but here goes. I bought this boat/trailer in September 2008. This is a 1986 Tracker Guide V16 and matching 1986 Tracker Trailer. I've gotten a great year's worth of fishing out of this rig and I have been looking forward to doing a basic restoration this off-season.

I am starting off with the trailer. For starters, the keel roller bracket which is welded to the winch post is bent off center about 10 degrees or so.

That means that every time I load the boat after a trip, the winch strap buckles instead of spooling flat as intended. I would have liked to have just replaced the keel roller bracket, but with it being welded on I decided to purchase the whole piece. Got a great deal on a brand new assembly that solved the whole problem. As you can see from the pics, the trailer is a little bit rusty, not too bad though.

The coupler is pretty shot and I would definitely like to replace it.

Also, while the jack works fine, the handle is all mangled up. The previous owner must have had some sort of serious mishap!

The trailer has post guide-ons. They have been adequate, but for loading in windy situations I feel like bunk-style guide-ons would provide more support and make the process easier in general so I plan to replace those as well.

So, pretty simple plan. Remove boat from trailer, remove all old hardware, go to town with a wire brush, prime, paint, and put on new hardware. the problem is that the weather hasn't cooperated much. Ideally, I would have liked to have floated the boat and worked on the trailer. Unfortunately this pesky thing called work seems to get in the way of having ample time to get it done without having to "dunk" the freshly painted trailer. Maybe that wouldn't have been that big of deal, but I wanted to do everything I could to make sure this turns out the right way.

Finally today, with the help of many threads on this forum, I started the task of removing the boat from the trailer in my driveway.

 

[Cox]

Re: Trailer Restoration Under Way

I put together a couple home-made stands for the boat to sit on while I take care of business with the trailer. Used some ideas from previous posts. It wasn't fun doing this job in the rain but I hope to get a lot done this weekend so I just went at it in hopes that this step being complete will put me ahead of the game come tomorrow morning.

In the beginning, I couldn't believe how hard it was to get the stern of the boat off of the trailer using a 2-ton jack (this isn't that heavy of a boat). Of course, if you remove the transom tie-downs, that helps:redface:

Once I removed head from rear-end, I was off and running. I had the use of two 2-ton jacks which enabled me to jockey my stands around back and forth as I inched the trailer out from under the boat. Pretty windy day in Chicago today and I have to admit, I was a little worried about the stability of my tin tender once removed from said trailer. As it turned out though, I was surprised just how sturdy it was resting on it's new home for the next week or so.

 

[Cox]

Re: Trailer Restoration Under Way

I removed the old guide-ons, the winch, post, and keel roller assembly, and the old jack once the boat was out of the way.

I hope to get everything else (tires/lights) off tomorrow morning and spend the first half of the day getting prep'd for the paint work. With any luck, I'll have some pics tomorrow or Sunday of a trailer that has at least been primed and is ready for some final coats.

 

[arimatation]

Re: Trailer Restoration Under Way

Looks good. I am going to take the boat I bought off the trailer as well. I will have to do it on a sloped driveway though.

 

[Cox]

Re: Trailer Restoration Under Way

Primed and painted the trailer over the weekend.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I definitely could have taken more time to prep it before painting but it looks a helluva lot better than it did. I put new padding on my bunks and rolled it back into the garage. I'm going to let the paint dry as much as possible before I start putting everything else back on.

 

[Knightgang]

Re: Trailer Restoration Under Way

Looks good... hope it all comes together as you planned.

 

[arimatation]

Re: Trailer Restoration Under Way

It looks way better...You did a good job.

I have galvanized I'm doing up as well. I bought tires/rims, bearings and hubs. Got some new lights as well. I am going to touch up some areas of rust with cold galvanizing paint.

Did you have help getting the boat off the trailer? I am going to take mine off as well. I just need to do it carefully, only have one chance!

 

[dwco5051]

Re: Trailer Restoration Under Way

Great looking job on the cribbing to hold the boat when it was off the trailer.

When I was in the Navy one of my jobs was as assistant dockmaster on a floating dry dock. You ought to see the plans and procedures to hold up a Dallas class nuclear sub. Lazer transits and all to hold the thing within a 1/16".

Now to the neat part. I once unloaded an 18' !/O runabout in the front yard onto a bunch of old truck tires. Took me a couple of hours to flip the trailer and weld new brackets to replace springs and axles. Took me a day and a half to get the darn thing back on the trailer

If you want to try this at home first assemble the needed tools;

A lot of chain
Two come-alongs
A garden sprayer loaded with soapy water (Don't ask to borrow this from your wife, she is already mad enough at you)
Murphey's oil soap for on the bunks

Who could have imagined the coeffecient of friction between rubber tires and fiberglass was such a large number

 

[Cox]

Re: Trailer Restoration Under Way

Thanks for the feedback thus far and thanks for looking!

Arimatation...I was able to do it by myself. Wasn't too bad. In your earlier post you mentioned possibly having to do it on a sloped surface. That would definitely make me a bit more nervous, at least to the point that I would want to have a helping hand for sure. Also, I don't know how comfortable I would be with using the homemade stand for it on a slope for any length of time. Don't get me wrong, it's really solid....but adding in the element of pitch changes things some. I suppose it would depend on how much of a pitch you're talking about.

Good luck!

 

[Cox]

Re: Trailer Restoration Under Way

Thanks to those who have taken the time to check out my trailer project. Here are some updated pics taken today while at the lake for some fall fishing. I'm nearly done having recently added the new bunk-style guide-ons. I picked up my swing-away tongue/coupler yesterday and look forward to installing it tomorrow. After that, last thing to do is re-wire and I can look forward to my spring boat restoration!! I will post some final pics once the swing-away is complete. I've seen a couple of posts on this forum of folks that have installed the same product with success. Hopefully I will find it just as practical. Take care.

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

Re: Trailer Restoration Under Way

Very nice I see you went with a new winch stand

 

[Landscaping Wiz 808]

Re: Trailer Restoration Under Way

WOW! The trailer looks great Cox! I have a couple of questions:

In your first post you showed a picture of the interior of the boat, what are those things on the backrests of the seats? They look like fishing rod holders.

What is the swing-away coupler for? Is it so it'll fit in a garage or a security feature?

Again, great job man, I look forward to seeing the finished boat resting on it!

BOB

 

[Cox]

Re: Trailer Restoration Under Way

"Very nice I see you went with a new winch stand"

I went to BPS and found the newer (by nearly 25 years!!) model of my boat/trailer and ordered the same set-up. It was really cost-effective to order direct from Tracker as opposed to buying some of the stuff on the shelves at most retail outlets. What a major difference having this set-up though. Everything from loading/unloading to how secure it is over the road.

"WOW! The trailer looks great Cox! I have a couple of questions:

In your first post you showed a picture of the interior of the boat, what are those things on the backrests of the seats? They look like fishing rod holders.

What is the swing-away coupler for? Is it so it'll fit in a garage or a security feature?

Again, great job man, I look forward to seeing the finished boat resting on it!"

BOB


Bob...the weird mounts on the backs of the seats are umbrella holders. The previous owner had them mounted there. I can't say I've used them a ton over the past year, but I have taken advantage of them a few times. Came in real handy one particular time for the sun while I was out on a cooling lake. It can get pretty brutal out there on clear days.

The swing-away is mainly to help fit into the garage better. I need a new coupler and some new safety chains anyway so I figured since it comes with those I might as well kill two birds with one stone. We'll see how it goes.

 

[foodfisher]

Re: Trailer Restoration Under Way

Just something that caught my eye. The guide on bunks, If you hit one too hard, it looks like they could pivot on the rail and puncture the boat bottom. Too long after the 90* bend?

 

[bigbad 4cyl x2]

Re: Trailer Restoration Under Way

i spent a long time grinding out pits from the saltwater usage of my trailer. in the end i had it sand blasted ,which i should of had done in the beginning . and then i painted it with vinyl lux primer ,then chromate primer ,then perfection topcoat , it hasn't bubbled through in 5 years now . if i did it all again . id disassemble it . and then have it sand blasted and powder coated

 

[lowkee]

Re: Trailer Restoration Under Way

Nice restore! I love to see trailer restores, as the difference is usually amazing and it takes so little time. It was almost refreshing working on my trailer. If only the boat were as easy as the trailer

 

[Cox]

Re: Trailer Restoration Under Way

Just something that caught my eye. The guide on bunks, If you hit one too hard, it looks like they could pivot on the rail and puncture the boat bottom. Too long after the 90* bend?

I see what you mean. Maybe as simple as taking cutting them down on the horizontal underneath the frame. Anyone else have any thoughts as to what would be the best thing here?

Thanks for the insight foodfisher.

 

[Cox]

Re: Trailer Restoration Under Way

I installed the swing-away coupler today. Seemed to make more sense enjoying the unseasonably warm Chicago weather working outside rather than watching my beloved Bears get their arse's kicked yet again

It was too late for pics by the time I was done. To be continued.

However, I was curious about something for those that have used this product, the Fulton swing-away coupler. The directions make mention of the end-user "galvanizing" or "priming and painting" the tongue. I guess shame on me as I assumed this $160 expense would've included "galvanized" parts but apparently not. Is it worth my while to prime and paint the 33" length leading from the hinge to the coupler? Could I just wait until it starts to rust and then do it? Would that take a year or two or is this product so raw that it will start rusting very soon after being dipped? Might be a dumb question, but I'd rather cover my bases now if it makes the most sense.

 

[Knightgang]

Re: Trailer Restoration Under Way

I see what you mean. Maybe as simple as taking cutting them down on the horizontal underneath the frame. Anyone else have any thoughts as to what would be the best thing here?

Thanks for the insight foodfisher.

Cox,

looking at the brackets that hold the guideons, I would find something (another piece of frame rail, 2x4 or something to fill in the empty space (signified by the green lines) in those brackets, that will keep the brackets from having a tendcy to twist on the trailer. Or, replace the U bolts with ones that have a narrower spread...

Also, I would cut the extra bracket length where indicated with the blue lines...

 

[Knightgang]

Re: Trailer Restoration Under Way

I would go ahead and paint the pieces on the swingaway. The last thing you want is to have it begine to rust and you say, I will take care of it tomorrow or next week, and that turns into a year and really causes problems...