Axle clearence

[Roadrager50]

What is a good general rule of thunb for the clearence of the axle from the bottom of boat. I have a 1977 Roadrunner with twin axles and I was just looking at them and noticed that there was maybe two inches of space between the axle and the bottom of the boat. I am going to get the boat off the trailer as soon as I finish the work on it. I did notice the bunk mounts are welded to the frame and all the rollers are about an inch above the cross beam. I am thinking once I get the boat off I should take everything off and put adjustable bunk brackets and weld new roller brackets in the right position.

What is the best approach to this situation??

 

[geneseo1911]

Re: Axle clearence

I have an '82 Roadrunner under my '82 Cobalt. It has about the same amount of clearance. I was terrified the axle was going to hit the boat as well (even though it hadn't in the past 30 yrs), until I did a little experimenting. The suspension runs out of travel about 1" from the bottom of the boat.

I just rebuilt the suspension as all the bushings and bolts had a lot of wear. While I had the trailer frame on four jackstands, I jacked up each axle until the leafspring eyes jammed into the equalizer hanger, and there was still plenty of clearance. You might try that to make yourself feel better. I'm still not crazy about how low the trailer sits, but it appears RR knew what they were doing. As long as your suspension is in good shape, I think you're probably safe.

 

[Roadrager50]

Re: Axle clearence

Good. That is exactly waht I plan on doing when I get the boat off the trailer. I am going to replace the actuator with a new one and run all nes stainless steel lines as well as new complete backing plate kits and new drums. I am also putting new submersible led lights on on it.Yeah I know it is alot for such an old trailer but I like it and it still looks good.