Good day on the Water --- Bad day on the trailer

[kernal]

Took some friends out on Canandaguia Lake for few hours yesterday. Get home and give the boat a quick wash and find this.



Bunk looked fine when I backed in, glad I didn't power load it. Just a scratch and small chip in the gelcoat, didn't make it all the way thru to the fiberglass. I jacked the boat up and got the bunk back in place. Need to figure out how to get it up off the bunk this week to repair.

Lesson learned, double check everything....

 

[Mighty Peace]

OUCH !!

Next time we go out, I am going to look over the boat trailer prior to loading up.

 

[Coastiejoe]

Are the bolts that hold the bunk to the bracket Through bolts or only threaded into the bottom of the bunk?

 

[JPass]

Are the bolts that hold the bunk to the bracket Through bolts or only threaded into the bottom of the bunk?

If it's like our factory trailer, the bunks are held on with lag bolts from the underside of the board. I had a very similar issue last year with our trailer. Bunk popped off rear bracket. Luckily we caught it as we were pulling the trailer out of the water. Laid the bunk in place and made it home with no issues.

When I replaced the bunks, I through-bolted them from the top side. I recessed the holes so the bolt heads would be below the top of the bunks to prevent any scraping. Bunks are solid.

The factory lag bolt is a horrible idea and ripe for problems.

 

[Coastiejoe]

If it's like our factory trailer, the bunks are held on with lag bolts from the underside of the board. I had a very similar issue last year with our trailer. Bunk popped off rear bracket. Luckily we caught it as we were pulling the trailer out of the water. Laid the bunk in place and made it home with no issues.

When I replaced the bunks, I through-bolted them from the top side. I recessed the holes so the bolt heads would be below the top of the bunks to prevent any scraping. Bunks are solid.

The factory lag bolt is a horrible idea and ripe for problems.

Thats right where I was headed..

Carriage bolts (chrome round headed) countersunk. Will never have the issue of a bunk coming off again.
When I re-bunk my trailers, I drill the holes, counter sink the hole a bit, then carpet them. I use a Soldering Gun to melt the carpet where the hole is and tap the bolt through with a hammer. Once it tightens down, it will be below the carpet level. God to go.

 

[jeffrt]

Thanks for posting this! Checked my trailer last night, and found the 2 lag screws at the back end of one bunk almost completely out. Tightened for now, but will definitely through-bolt them soon. Bad design. Probably a cost cutting measure.

 

[scottbruns]

Last weekend we inspected the bunks. All seemed fine. This weekend one of the bunks lost 3 of the 4 lag screws, they just fell out. The threads were rusted and pretty far gone. Fortunately we noticed before retrieving the boat and were able to attach the bunks well enough to get home.

I don't have an easy way to switch to lag bolts anytime soon, so I am replacing the lag screws with stainless lag screws and some Gorilla Glue.

When inspecting the trailer we did not actually try tightening the lag screws. If we had we might have found the loose screws. Put a wrench on them. Don't trust that they "look good".

 

[JPass]

I don't have an easy way to switch to lag bolts anytime soon, so I am replacing the lag screws with stainless lag screws and some Gorilla Glue.

Good luck with that. I doubt it will hold or last very long (tried it on mine originally). Fix it the right way (through bolt it) and you won't have to worry about it.

 

[scottbruns]

In addition to the new lag screws I added another set of brackets.



The new angle bracket is on the left.

This allowed me to drill some new holes and add some new screws. At the very least this will buy me some time before going the through bolt route.

 

[kernal]

Installed new bunks over the holiday. All new stainless thru bolts, new boards and new carpet.

And I even had a helper...

 

[JPass]

Installed new bunks over the holiday. All new stainless thru bolts, new boards and new carpet.

And I even had a helper...

View attachment 40634

View attachment 40635

Looks good. Nice repair. Should be trouble free for years to come.

 

[go_panthers]

Installed new bunks over the holiday. All new stainless thru bolts, new boards and new carpet.

And I even had a helper...

View attachment 40634

View attachment 40635

I like the way you rounded the edges. Nice touch!

 

[go_panthers]

Yesterday was a bad trailer day for me, but luckily the boat wasn't on it. Somebody hit my trailer, bending the light bracket and destroying my trailer light which was less than two months old.

 

[JPass]

Yesterday was a bad trailer day for me, but luckily the boat wasn't on it. Somebody hit my trailer, bending the light bracket and destroying my trailer light which was less than two months old.

That sux, but not unexpected. I've gone through three sets of lights in 2 seasons. Seems the schmucks parked next to me have no idea how to back out of their spot. Each time my light has been destroyed, there was never a note. Once they hit so hard they bent the light bracket back to the frame and managed to scrape both D/S fenders pretty good. Amazing how many idiots own boats these days.

I tapped another person's trailer light last season. Barely cracked the lens. I left him a note on his windshield with my contact info. He called me up all bent outta shape. He yelled about how expensive they are to replace, yadda yadda. Funny thing is, I sent him a new light.............which cost $9 shipped to his front door. Expensive my a$$. Yet I run the LED taillights which ARE expensive, and no one ever offers to replace mine when they get smashed. Figures.