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Author
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Topic: Trailer price shock
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whited
unregistered
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posted May 18, 2004 09:48 AM
I was talking to the 'Shipright Trailer' builder today. He tells me that the price of steel has gone way up due to the Japanese buying frenzy (future Olympics site) and now my heavy duty 'Cadillac' customized trailer with stainless steel galvanized surge brakes will cost $ 3k. I was hoping for a bit over $ 2K. What to do??? If I was just launching from one spot (club or cottage) the original equip trailer is fine. If I want to do a lot of hauling with my Voyager, I might be asking for trouble. He has a new galvanized 1650 lb trailer without brakes for $1.5 K but I'd probably want a better tow vehicle. Decisions...decisions.
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Ken
Member
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posted May 18, 2004 03:26 PM
 
Marine Cradle Shop (905) 294-3507 makes an excellent product for sailboat trailers.
Call them for a quote.
http://www.fabuloussavings.com/cmct/company?id=1046970263&cityid=2&page=
[This message has been edited by Ken (edited May 18, 2004).]
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whited
unregistered
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posted May 18, 2004 06:13 PM
Good tip Ken. Back a couple of months ago I talked to them. At the time I thought I'd be getting my 'Piper in Ontario....until faster acting buyers got there first.
The guy wanted a bit over $ 2K for my 'customized trailer. (3500 lb axle to accomodate disc brakes, lighter 2000 springs so the boat wouldn't suffer etc)
I'll contact them tomorrow.
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Darcy
Member
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posted May 18, 2004 10:43 PM
My brother has a Cradle Shop trailer for his Shark. It seems to be the trailer of choice in the Shark fleet. (The boat is called SPOT and the trailor is called Spot Remover.) Some have been fitted eith a tongue extender for ramp launching.It's interesting to note that although the Shark weighs more than a Sandpiper that very few of the sailors have breaks. D'Arcy
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Robert D
Member
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posted May 18, 2004 11:11 PM
Don: Two years ago I sold a Sandpiper, on consignment, to a guy who lived in central B.C.. In a nutshell he towed the boat from Calgary to Penticton (Rocky Mountains)on a trailer without brakes and didn't have any problem. If I recall correctly he used a mini-van that had the towing package installed. Robert
Celtic Kiss #2120
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Hyprstitch
Member
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posted May 18, 2004 11:28 PM
I paid $1700.00 for my trailer. It is a ShoreLander. Then I added a spare, and built brackets to help guide the boat on to the trailer. Also built a fold out step to help climb onto the boat. The fold out step also helps when backing into the water as it makes the trailer wide enough to see it in the side mirrors. Guess I have a total of $2000 wrapped up into it now. No trailer brakes, as I tow with a f-250.Sid [This message has been edited by Hyprstitch (edited May 18, 2004).]
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Darcy
Member
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posted May 19, 2004 09:00 AM
Having trailered through the rockies I'd be more concerned with overheating going up hills than breaking going down. I do a fair bit of gearing down on the decents. D'Arcy
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Hyprstitch
Member
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posted May 19, 2004 02:59 PM
With an F-250 and only a 1200 pound Sandpiper, there are just no problems. And I never had a problem with my old F-150 with a 302.Sid
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whited
unregistered
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posted May 20, 2004 12:17 AM
I went to the Chrysler dealer to ask about the '1000 lb without brakes' limitation.
The sales guy said he regularly towed a camper trailer that weighed 1600 and said he wouldn't worry about the lack of brakes.
He then steered me to the local company that installed all their hitches on new vehicles.
That guy said if I didn't have the brakes now, not to worry. He felt that the weight was not significant.
I then went to the local 'Venture Trailers' dealer. He almost laughed me out of the showroom. Said most of his customers downgrade a trailer weight class just to avoid brakes. He said the brakes required constant maintenance and were troublesome in a salt water environmentand I would be the only one he knew of looking for brakes on an under 2000 lb load.
Think I'll try using the original trailer for a bit....just to see how the Voyager handles the load.
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Hyprstitch
Member
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posted May 20, 2004 12:25 AM
Its not a Sandpiper, but it is a cool signature------------------
" TARGET=_blank>http://img59.photobucket.com/albums/v179/hyprstitch/boat.gif]  [This message has been edited by Hyprstitch (edited May 20, 2004).]
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elmet3
unregistered
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posted May 20, 2004 09:56 AM
Several comments concerning towing. Several years ago my wife worked for the Chevy call center, where irate people call when their new (or old) vehicle has a problem that they think Chevy should do something about. They had a very knowlegable technical staff on site that she would obtain technical information from to resolve complaints with customers. Hands down, the two most common complaints were "my brakes wore out prematurely" and "I've damaged my transmission towing my trailer". The standard response to the first complaint was that since the removal of asbestos (many years ago) brake pads are not warranteed for more than 15,000 miles (or something close to that). Although many people DO get more than that on a set of brake pads, they are not warranteed for more. If you start pulling a trailer, you can expect to wear them out in that kind of time frame. That isn't a problem, they ARE a replaceable item. Just expect it to happen. It's still cheaper than a new trailer.
The second issue is the destruction of transmissions. This almost always came down to somebody violating the weight limits of the towing vehicle. They would fail to account for the fact that the empty trailer weight can be much less than the towed weight when their trailer is loaded with camping supplies, food, lawn furniture, firewood... etc. For boats, the LOADED weight is probably fairly close to the registered weight, but do pay attention if you load up your boat with stuff.
The guys in the technical department were very comfortable with the STATED limits of the towing vehicle, provided the vehicle is properly maintained. If the owners manual says 2000 pounds, feel free to tow up to 2000 pounds for virtually any distance. Keep an eye on the fluid levels and check the transmission fluid and if you use the transmission for braking, be aware that the transmission fluid can overheat. If the owners manual says the vehicle can tow 2000 pounds, then DO NOT tow more than 2000 pounds for any distance.
That is the opinion of people that daily handle customer complaints on these issues, and that is good enough for me. I stick to the rated capacity of the vehicle, but I'm not affraid to use the full capacity.
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