unusual boat trailer problem

ok
see who can diagnose the issue iv had with the boat trailer for my 4.1 stacer bit of background info
I bought the boat and trailer about 20 months ago ,
it was a bit run down , boat was full of rainwater and had been left out in the weather on a small rural block ,
got it for a good price so all was good,
replaced all anchor rope , fuel tanks , threw out the floor etc

fist time I towed it I noticed it pulled a bit to the right , and tended to vibrate a bit more than usual ,anyway after afull clean up and some strengthening to the break back trailer it improved it , but it was still there

when we measured up the trailer it was out of square,in the main frame and draw bar,slightly warped looked like it may have been rolled at some stage or involved in a bingle

anyway , recently my son built me a new one , all new metal had it galv dipped etc, put all the running gear back on it last sunday new springs and u bolts , old stem post was ok so we re used it , new rollers, new guards , lights , same axle and wheels and rims as they looked ok ,

anyway, the vibration was still there in the trailer when towed , especially bad without the boat on it , but much better with the boat on it
so I started looking at the tyres and rims for the problem , figuring it must be there ?

so give it your best shot , and advise me what you reckon is going on with it , see how good you are in the diagnoses

, I have fixed it , but it took a while


unusual one iv never struck before

hezzy

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OFW 11

evil flourishes when good men do nothing

 


Posts: 251

Date Joined: 28/07/11

 Tyres may have sat for so

Thu, 2014-07-31 18:49

 Tyres may have sat for so long they are now out of round. Should see a bounce every rotation at slow speed if so.

Posts: 5739

Date Joined: 18/01/12

Bluedog may have it, jack it

Thu, 2014-07-31 18:59

Bluedog may have it, jack it up and spin.

But if you can feel a vibration from a small trailer like that from your car it must be horrendous?

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 Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...

 

 

The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.

Everyone's just winging it.

 

scano's picture

Posts: 1246

Date Joined: 31/05/07

Sounds to me like definate tyre problems

Thu, 2014-07-31 19:06

 Either the tyre has a flat spot or the steel belts within the tyre itself have started to seperate

 

either that or if you want to talk really strange it could of been a problem with a tyre inflation valve throwing out the balance or something dumb like that

 

scano

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tim-o's picture

Posts: 4657

Date Joined: 24/05/11

Yep tyre seperating or a

Thu, 2014-07-31 19:21

Yep tyre seperating or a crazy balance issue. Jack up one side and spin the wheel on the trailer observing the tread and see if there is any run out

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I am, as I've said, merely competent. But in an age of incompetence, that makes me extraordinary.

z00m's picture

Posts: 1086

Date Joined: 10/05/14

 Was the tyre half full of

Thu, 2014-07-31 19:44

 Was the tyre half full of water?

 

Brake cables are different lengths?

hezzy's picture

Posts: 1519

Date Joined: 27/11/09

zoom , winner mate !!!

Thu, 2014-07-31 20:01

zoom ,

winner mate !!! nicely done ,

the tyre had about 3-4 litres of water in it at slow speeds it was ok , at about 60kmh it began to vibrate , until I removed the tyre it was not possible to pick it
now iv never had to change the tyres since I bought the boat and trailer , they where always at about 34psi , and have never been flat since I bought it ,they have never sat for long and both tyres and rims where perfectly ok , just one had water in it

with the water gone , problem fixed ,

hezzy

____________________________________________________________________________

OFW 11

evil flourishes when good men do nothing

 

carnarvonite's picture

Posts: 8622

Date Joined: 24/07/07

Old trick

Thu, 2014-07-31 21:00

Would have been like an old trick we used to play before hub caps went out of fashion.

Take someone's hub cap off and put a 20 cent piece in there and replace the hub cap.
At low speed the coin would roll along and make no noise speed up and it sounded like you wheel was going to disintegrate, slow down and the noise stops.

tim-o's picture

Posts: 4657

Date Joined: 24/05/11

Fark, there you go! Perhaps

Thu, 2014-07-31 22:00

Fark, there you go! Perhaps submergin them.in the drink when hot causes them to cool rapidly and contract maybe drawin water in the valve or the bead, hah, quite possible. Happens to bearings, never thought about tyres

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I am, as I've said, merely competent. But in an age of incompetence, that makes me extraordinary.

Posts: 331

Date Joined: 17/12/13

 That old chestnut??? But

Fri, 2014-08-01 09:32

 That old chestnut??? But seriously I had an issue where the bearing caps kept spitting off. Only one one side and I have never seen it before. Everyone had an opinion but in the end only one person was right and I begrudgingly tightened the axel nut on his advise, only to the next flat, and it hasnt done it since.

emu472's picture

Posts: 24

Date Joined: 15/01/09

Inside rims

Fri, 2014-08-01 15:26

I have also found that if you do not clean the inside of the rim when you have gone through mud/slop, even a small bit of dried mud will cause the vibration.

 

z00m's picture

Posts: 1086

Date Joined: 10/05/14

 It's a common thing to  fill

Fri, 2014-08-01 15:41

 It's a common thing to  fill large tractor tyres half full of water to help stop the rocking and rolling on the road. Put in too much or drive too fast and it bucks and kicks.

The thing I thought about in your story is you said the boat was full of water on a property. I'm guessing the tyres went flat and they probably pumped them up when selling it. Water could have been in there from then. If you tink it has gotten in after you bought it then take the tyre to a tyre shop, get it taken off, clean up the rust around the bead and change the valve.

 

Posts: 71

Date Joined: 20/01/14

I don't know it works

Fri, 2014-08-01 19:40

but they put stuff that looks like sand in truck steer tyres to balance them, I quess its meant to spread out as you pick up speed. I was always taught to fill tractor tyres with the valve at the top and fill to the valve, it was done to add weight to the tractor for more traction. Its no longer used as most tyres are tubeless now.