Boating loading crooked on trailer

[Shorelunch]

Good morning. I believe I have this Shorlander http://www.shorelandr.com/pages/t_sp...&productID=278 2004-05 SLR40TBLW (or similar) tandem roller trailer. It holds a 2005 Lund 1900 Pro-V IFS boat.

About two years ago, I had a flat tire on the boat's driver side. The impact from the flat tire made the boat ride higher on the driver side and lower on the passenger side. Through much trial and error, I got it "very close" to being straight/level on the trailer.

Over the weekend, I traveled on a washboard gravel road. After loading the boat, the driver side was again riding high, the driver side was shifted over to far to the driver side fender/the passenger side was too low and too far away from the fender. The eye of the boat was also too far over on the passenger side from the roller by the crank.

I hand cranked the boat on and off with the trailer at proper depths.

I went to the boat ramp and tied the boat to the dock. The roller hubs are equal distance from the frame - it looks like nothing moved/shifted by measuring and by sight - but I don't remember what measurements I used to get the boat loading level after the flat tire. I shifted both sets of rollers to passenger side, drivers side and a few trial and errors in between. On my last attempt, I had the boat sitting level and fairly even on the trailer, but the eye of the boat was about 3 inches too far to the passenger side of the crank's eye roller.

I know you probably can't give exact advice without seeing everything, but is there a starting point on how to get this thing back to straight and level?

[TomP.]

Get the boat setting straight on the trailer then check the two front pads, and how the boat sits on them. Mine had come loose over time and moved I was haveing a heck of time loading straight.

[Phil T]

How is the boat balanced left-to-right? Do you have a kicker OB and three batteries on the same side (extreme example).

[Shorelunch]

I have an 8 hp kicker on the passenger side. Everything else is pretty balanced.
Before the flat tire, it always loaded straight.

[T Mac]

You might consider replacing the roller assmblies with bunks..............?
They load straight...and if not exactly straight, you can straighten and center a boat sitting on bunks easily.

[Andre (wallyandre)]

The rollers should be in line with the rivets and you should untighten the two little bunks on the front,then put the boat on the trailer; be sure the keel is sitting right on the middle of the front roller then move the little bunk so they only touch the hull. Those 2 little bunks are use to guide not for the boat to sit on it, it's the front rollers that are use to sit the hull on it.

[Shorelunch]

Originally Posted by Andre

The rollers should be in line with the rivets and you should untighten the two little bunks on the front,then put the boat on the trailer; be sure the keel is sitting right on the middle of the front roller then move the little bunk so they only touch the hull. Those 2 little bunks are use to guide not for the boat to sit on it, it's the front rollers that are use to sit the hull on it.

Thanks Andre. I could have (one or both) the pads in the front too high.

[Burr]

Maybe it's just me, but I look at it like this.

If you have a roller trailer, your boat will load crooked. End of story. Within reason, it hurts nothing. Forget about it, and go fishing.

If you can not live with a boat loaded on the trailer crooked - buy a bunk trailer.

[SteveJ]

Originally Posted by Burr

Maybe it's just me, but I look at it like this.

If you have a roller trailer, your boat will load crooked. End of story. Within reason, it hurts nothing. Forget about it, and go fishing.

If you can not live with a boat loaded on the trailer crooked - buy a bunk trailer.

I have had two roller trailers and found them to be very easy to load straight. Actually found it hard to load anynother crooked. I suspect there is another cause, not just that its a roller trailer.

[REW]

Shorelunch,
The next time you have your boat off the trailer, have your tape measure and tools handy.

If possible, also have a level handy.

Then, disconnect your trailer, and use the tongue jack to level your trailer.
Have a pad and diagram your trailer and take measurements of all of your roller mounting brackets and record all of the measurements for height, width, center to roller measurement and ground to roller measurements.

--
Also, do some - squaring measurements. i.e. measure from the tip of the tongue to each of the extreme roller mounts on the trailer. The idea is that you are measuring the legs of a triangle. You want the legs of the triangle to be equal. i.e. roller mounts on one side of the trailer should be identical to the mounts on the opposite side of the trailer.

Also, use a level and common sense to verify that you do not have a bent mount any place on your trailer. If one of the roller supports is mounted, or is mounted differently than its twin on the other side of the trailer, you will have loading and centering issues.

If you find differences, from the way that the boat loads, figure out which side is incorrect and correct it.

REW