fish tailing

[sergioy]

The last couple of time I have taken my boat out. The trailer seems to be spending alot of time fish tailing all over the road while on the way to the lake. Is there something wrong with my trailer? What should I be checking for sakety reasons before I take off on a trip. I am a newby, and had never given it much thought as far as the trailer is concerned. But the last couple of times have definately given me a reson for concern. Tire preassure is good. Do I need to check my bearings... Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Cobotr]

Re: fish tailing

Fishtailing of the trailer is usually cause by too little tongue weight. If you load stuff in the boat for the ride to the lake, shift some of the stuff forward in the boat.<br /><br />If you don't load the boat with stuff, you may need to either shift the boat forward on the trailer or reposition the axle(s) rearward on the trailer. Possibly shifting your spare tire to the tongue would help also.

 

[sergioy]

Re: fish tailing

Thanks Cobotr, I will try that nex t time.

 

[JB]

Re: fish tailing

Howdy, WS.<br /><br />What Cobotr said.<br /><br />7 to 10% of total trailer weight should be on the tongue.<br /><br />Good luck.

 

[Koda]

Re: fish tailing

just a sugestion if the above does not work you may have knocked the alignment out on the axel,<br />if the towin is zero the trailer will tend to wander or fish tail, just another thought on the problem. Luck

 

[Boatist]

Re: fish tailing

Water surge<br />I agree with Cobotr and JB.<br />Also can be your tow vehicle, make sure tires inflated a little higher than normal without trailer but not over max pressure for tire.<br /><br />You can add a sway bar to both the front and back of your tow vehicle. You can add stiffer rear shocks and springs.<br /><br />If too bad can get a special hitch with sway control but these are a pain as all that I have seen restrick you from making sharp u turns like on the ramp.<br /><br />Also learn to turn wheel slow and do not rock back and forth while driving. Too much sway can turn over boat or your truck or cause boat to hit another vehicle.<br /><br />Last thing can do is add a second axel to boat trailer but this is pretty involved.

 

[sergioy]

Re: fish tailing

Cobotr, moving some weight forward did the trick. I went ahead and moved my trolling battery to the front of the boat (I needed to do this anyway). I went up to 65 mph without any problem at all. Thanks all for the advice.