Shoreland'r Trailer, 1995 Model, Not Impressed

[coppcar]

Need your suggestions.

1) Does my repair seem reasonable?
2) Should I get rid of this roller trailer and get a bunk style due to the "dents" left by the rollers?
3) Should I be removing the battery and fuel tank during transport?

I bought a used 14' Lund with Shoreland'r trailer this spring. I've used it a few times locally. This is my first boat.

It's a 1995 Shoreland'r R148 trailer that pulls my 14' Lund around. On my way home last night the roller bracket assembly collapsed on the passenger side. I didn't realize it until I got home, 12 miles away. Fortunately no damage to the boat. The boat is not too heavy for the trailer. Sure, the battery is 60 pounds and is located at the rear. I shouldn't have to remove that for trailering or should I? The gas tank is another 40 pounds and that too is in the back.

It is a roller trailer, with a pivoting cross member across the back that the rollers are attached to. There's a 1/2" bolt on each side that holds this cross member to the trailer frame. This bolt sheared off and boat fell onto to the frame and fender. After checking things out today, the folks that designed this should have their head examined. The bolt is one thing, but the frame where this bolt passes through is not built to hold the weight of the boat and the dynamics of being transported. Not a good design. I see that this has come up before.

I'm considering a mod that I hope will work. I will have two upside down |_| shaped pieces made from 1/8" steel, with a hole for the bolt. I'll place this on top of the frame and its holes will line up with bolt that is used. This will place the load where it belongs, on top of the frame. I'll need to have the cross member cut and shortened as well to make room for these. The reason I'm considering this is because I don't have to take the boat and trailer to a fab shop, and these pieces could be replaced if they wear out. Thoughts?

I can see why a bunk trailer would be better for the boat. With the rollers off the hull, the "dents" they've left behind are visible. That weight, supported on 8 relatively small areas causes that. Maybe I should get a bunk trailer. Should I be concerned with those dents or no?

Here are pics of the broken trailer



Thanks!

 

[JimS123]

Re: Shoreland'r Trailer, 1995 Model, Not Impressed

My trailer has a swinging roller bunk just like yours, except the bolt goes thru a sleeve that is welded on top of the frame. I agree yours is a poor design. Your bolt failed because it was fatigued by the sharp edge of the sheetmetal.

Your idea is a good one. When you drill the bolt holes, oversize them and use a piece of pipe as a sleeve. That will give a bigger bearing surface.

Are your "dents" real dents or a discoloration from the rubber? Either way, as long as there are no leaks at the seams or rivets I wouldn't worry about it. When you get the trailer reassembled just be sure to adjust it properly.

Leave the battery and tank. That weight is insignificant relative to the weight of the motor.

I have had nothing but roller trailers since 1968. The one bunk trailer I bought in 2009 was converted to rollers after the first use. I don't need hassle launching! I have never accepted the rig as the dealer sold it. I have always reajusted when i got it home. If all the rollers take the load equally, there should be no denting. If you can't spin each roller by hand when the boat is sitting on them, then they are not adjusted right or its a lousy design and it doesn't have enough rollers.

My 14' Starcraft sits on 15 rollers and the bottom is perfect. (and even my sore old back can load and launch her just fine)

 

[coppcar]

Re: Shoreland'r Trailer, 1995 Model, Not Impressed

JimS123,

Thanks for the reply!! They are dents, not everywhere, but there are depressions. No leaks or other problems yet. There are 4 large rollers on each side, 8 total. You can see them here. There is no adjustment for them.

You have a nice trailer there. I might want one!!

 

[coppcar]

Re: Shoreland'r Trailer, 1995 Model, Not Impressed

Who made your trailer? I can't find a "Bandit" trailer. I see some reference to LoadRite, could that be it?

It looks like Shoreland'r is still making that poor design.

Thank you!

 

[roscoe]

Re: Shoreland'r Trailer, 1995 Model, Not Impressed

Very poor design, and they used it on heavier trailers too.

Same thing happened to my parents trailer, 2 years old.
But the cross member dropped far enough to hit the road, and it was ripped and twisted, rollers snapped off, and the brackets punched holes in the hull. 150 miles from the city, in the Canadian wilds. The resort owner fixed up a temporary fix, and that fall I bought my parents a new Karavan bunk trailer, all welded.

over the last dozen years of going to that resort, we have seen a couple of these "Shore Anchor" trailers break in the same way.


After seeing the damage to dad's boat, my uncle welded his up, as it doesn't need to swivel for him to launch or load.

 

[ONEGA]

Re: Shoreland'r Trailer, 1995 Model, Not Impressed

Single bolt for pivoting has been used for years by different manufacturers and works just fine. My EZ-Loader 6000# trailer has similar design, just there are larger 5/8" bolts. These bolts need to be replaced due to corrosion to prevent x-member from collapsing. Just lack of maintenance here.

 

[JimS123]

Re: Shoreland'r Trailer, 1995 Model, Not Impressed

Who made your trailer? I can't find a "Bandit" trailer. I see some reference to LoadRite, could that be it?

It looks like Shoreland'r is still making that poor design.

Thank you!

A "bandit" is LoadRite's base model small boat trailer. It comes with only 2 carpeted bunks. I threw away the bunks and replaced them with TieDown roller bunks and a full set of keel rollers. The upgrade was maybe $200.

The Shorelander diagram you posted really isn't too bad. Buy an after-market roller assembly and install it on the aft crossmember and set it up so that all the keel rollers support the weight. Then snug up the roller bunks and you'll be good to go. A 20 buck fix!

(BTW, The swinging roller bunks with the top mounted sleeve I talked about before are on my 19' I/O runabout, not the toyboat in the pic.)

 

[JimS123]

Re: Shoreland'r Trailer, 1995 Model, Not Impressed

Single bolt for pivoting has been used for years by different manufacturers and works just fine. My EZ-Loader 6000# trailer has similar design, just there are larger 5/8" bolts. These bolts need to be replaced due to corrosion to prevent x-member from collapsing. Just lack of maintenance here.

I kinda disagree. Corrosion didn't break the bolt. Rubbing on a sharp surface did. Look at your EZ closer. I bet the bolt goes thru a sleeve, not a simple hole drilled thru a box channel.

EZs are top of the line. Shorelanders a bit lower!

 

[coppcar]

Re: Shoreland'r Trailer, 1995 Model, Not Impressed

...Just lack of maintenance here.

I agree that inspecting and perhaps just replacing those bolts every couple of years is a great idea. It really should be mentioned in the owner's manual, but it isn't.

I spoke to Shoreland'r about this failure and the tech said he used to build this trailer. He had no suggestion for a fix and I was left to my own devices. The walls of the frame, under the flat washer, in the area directly above the bolt hole are bending inward because they are not strong enough to support the weight. The bottom of the holes are wallowing out on the inside of the frame.

Everybody with a Shoreland'r (shorelander) or other trailer with a similar design should check these bolts now and once every year. Be sure to use grade 5 bolts.

I decided to take the boat off the trailer today and I'm going to take the trailer to a fab shop next week. I'll take some before and after pics and post them later. I replaced the tail lights today and put rubber bushings in the mounting holes. This will hopefully help prevent the constant light bulb failures I was having (yep, I've been unplugging the wiring before launching).

Take care.

 

[roscoe]

Re: Shoreland'r Trailer, 1995 Model, Not Impressed

Single bolt for pivoting has been used for years by different manufacturers and works just fine. My EZ-Loader 6000# trailer has similar design, just there are larger 5/8" bolts. These bolts need to be replaced due to corrosion to prevent x-member from collapsing. Just lack of maintenance here.

I strongly disagree.

Pops trailer was less than 2 years old, and dunked in fresh water only 6 times before his snapped.

 

[sublauxation]

Re: Shoreland'r Trailer, 1995 Model, Not Impressed

As for rollers leaving dents, there are much bigger and heavier aluminum boats, mine included, that sit on only 8 rollers and have no dents in them. Mine has been on the same trailer for 32 years. I'd bet somebody seriously overloaded it, possibly forgot to take the plug out and it filled with rain.

 

[bonz_d]

Re: Shoreland'r Trailer, 1995 Model, Not Impressed

Now I'll have to look closer at my 2008 Shoreland'r.

 

[ONEGA]

Re: Shoreland'r Trailer, 1995 Model, Not Impressed

I kinda disagree. Corrosion didn't break the bolt. Rubbing on a sharp surface did. Look at your EZ closer. I bet the bolt goes thru a sleeve, not a simple hole drilled thru a box channel.

EZs are top of the line. Shorelanders a bit lower!

No sleeve. I take them apart to bare frame and replace every single piece of hardware. Two friends of mine use my rebuilt trailers, no complaints by far. All stock, no modifications. But everyone is free to modify their trailer if wants to.

I wish I had pictures of those bolts.

 

[coppcar]

Re: Shoreland'r Trailer, 1995 Model, Not Impressed

It has been a while, but the trailer is finally fixed. I decided to take the boat off the trailer and take the trailer to the fab shop for repair.

I installed a temporary bolt in to transport it to the shop. They welded a 3/16" steel plate, with integral bushing onto each rail. Works fine and will not likely fail again.

I also replaced all rollers. The old ones were very hard. I also adjusted the center keel roller so it would bear more weight, it wasn't bearing any before.

If you have a Shoreland'r roller trailer with this setup, you would be advised to have this mod done before you suffer the same fate. You can replace the bolt every year but your frame will still deform as you can see in my initial post. That part of the trailer was not built to hold this kind of weight. Manufacturers do this routinely to keep material and labor costs down. They cut corners here where they should not have.

I really like this roller trailer now. I can launch on a shallow ramp and boat rolls right off.

 

[orbanp]

Re: Shoreland'r Trailer, 1995 Model, Not Impressed

Interesting thread, thanks for sharing.
I have the same trailer, so I definitely will have a look!

Couple of points.
The second picture in the first posting shows that the back side of the channel was dented, so it looks like the bolt was overtightened. This certainly should not have caused the failure though!

As for the reason for the malfunction, my guess would be material failure in the bolt. Certainly, the bolt should have taken the shear load from the static and dynamic loading on the trailer. What is the grade of the original bolt?
EDIT: Just looked at the trailer manual posted here, it is a grade 5 bolt.

I do not think that this is an inherently bad design. The same kind of coupling is used throughout on the trailer, and in other trailers, like the attachment of the draw bar, the attachment of the coupler to the draw bar, e.t.c. It does work in those applications. Only difference is that on that pivoting cross member only one side of the bolt is exposed to that shear load.

Having that bushing welded into the side channel does not reduce the shear load on the bolt, it just helps distributing the load on the channel.

Peter

 

[coppcar]

Re: Shoreland'r Trailer, 1995 Model, Not Impressed

Hi Peter,

I might be wrong about some or all of what I'm about to say. However, I'm somewhat good at identifying the reason for failures and suggesting fixes for them. I appreciate your feedback and please don't think I'm bashing you, that's not my intent. Perhaps together we can help others.

The deformation in the channel was clearly due to the weight being carried and the dynamics of being on the road. The bolt that remained on the driver side was not overly tight and I've found that the cross member does not swing well if the bolts are too tight. You can't tell from the photo, but the wall of the channel is not uniformly concave as would occur if a bolt was too tight. The spot where the large washer is located was pulled in more at the top than the bottom. The channel is deformed because of the load being placed on it. The hole for the bolt was also wallowed out downward. I think the reason for the failure was due to shock of the boat bouncing constantly on 1/8" wall of the channel. It was cutting and wearing away at the bolt. I agree that the shear load is still present, but it is being supported now on one side by a bushing and the cross member is 1/2" thick at that location. Here is a question to consider - Why would Shoreland'r have made the cross member 1/2" thick and depend on 1/8" material of the channel to support the same load?

I feel it's a bad design for that particular location. Most of the boat's weight is being supported by those two bolts and the thin trailer frame. The motor, battery, and fuel weigh about 355 pounds. More that half of the boat's 400 pounds will also be supported by that cross member. So, it looks like about 555 pounds back there. Add the 'G' forces from road bounce and I think that system is bound to fail.

Humbly,

coppcar

 

[orbanp]

Re: Shoreland'r Trailer, 1995 Model, Not Impressed

Hi coppcar,

No offense taken, not to worry!

My point is that it is the bolt that failed, and not the side channel!
As this happened to others as well, the bolt failure is most probably fatigue related, and its sizing is probably marginal for long term service.

While I agree with the way you strengthened the side channel, upsizing the bolt would also be a prudent measure.

Regards, Peter

 

[WIMUSKY]

Re: Shoreland'r Trailer, 1995 Model, Not Impressed

All 3 of us guys in the family have only owned Shoreland'r roller trailers for many years that have towed anywhere from 16" fishing boats to 24' cruisers. We have never had any failures like the one described. We haven't had any failures period. Maybe we've just been lucky.

However, out of curiosity, it does want me to go and pop a bolt out just to see if there is any damage. I just have never heard about this failure until today.

If I were to replace a bolt or two, I think I would go with a grade 8. Stronger than 5..........

 

[bonz_d]

Re: Shoreland'r Trailer, 1995 Model, Not Impressed

Yes I too see a good number of Shoreland'r trailers in my neck o the woods, heck I even own one, and this is the 1st I've ever heard of this problem.