Riding a trailer is easy but maintaining it for long time can be a hard task like you need to keep checking the air pressure in the tires because proper tire pressure is mandatory and you have to check for suspensions and you need to also check breaks. If you want to make the full use of your trailer you will need to maintain it as well as upgrade it as per your wish and requirement. There are a few simple yet effective DIY ways to maintain the boat trailers. For this, first of all you will need to have a proper boat trailer tool kit and of course the basic knowledge of the entire process.
To begin with, there are a few handy tools and spares items that must be included in your kit and your tow vehicle. These are:
- Lug wrench: It will help you to deal with the nuts.
- Towel or rags: Carry a roll of paper towels or rags as you will get your hands dirty and wet.
- Waterproof grease: Time and again you will need to lubricate trailer ball hitch, brake linkages, rollers, and bearings.
- Flashlight: Carrying a flashlight or a headlamp with an extra set of batteries will help you see things to fix in poor weather conditions or at night.
- Plastic trash bags: You will certainly not want to throw the mess in water and cause environmental concerns.
- Tie-downs: Carry ratchet straps to secure the boat to the trailer.
Also carry disposable work gloves, jump-starter, warning signs, spare bulbs and Boats App to call for towing boat trailers just in case.
Upgrading Boat Trailer
You may also need to upgrade your boat trailer for better performance and convenience. There are lots of ways to upgrade boat trailers.
- You can use LED Lights instead of hot light bulbs because it is a bad combination with cold water conditions. These LED lights will last for a long time and will not suffer any shock like filament light bulbs when submerged. LED lights will not get damaged due to vibrations and grime.
- These bulbs draw one-eighth the electrical current as compared to filament light bulbs and activate instantly.
- Improving wiring of the boat trailers is also very important to prevent shocks while on water. Install new wiring harness if required. This will prevent any chances of bad connections. Use a specific model that runs down on one side of the trailer and never use household wire nuts. Use waterproof adhesive lined butt connectors and check for corrosion from time to time.
- Install trailer guides so that there is no trouble in seeing the trailer while backing or when submerged in murky water making it virtually invisible. You can even install a pair of LED light on top of the trailer guide posts.
You may also install bearing protectors to prevent water from being sucked into the hot wheel hubs to rust the bearings over time.
Tips to Maintain
Maintaining boat trailers is an essential part to ensure utmost importance. Make sure that your boat trailer has extra insurance in the form of veering protectors and galvanized springs along with corrosion resistant coatings. To ensure proper and regular maintenance follow these steps:
- Check the bearing on a regular basis for hassle free boat trailering. Check on a monthly basis for slacks in wheels or movement in the bearings. Adjust these accordingly and also check for lack of grease in the bearings. This will prevent total collapse especially on a longer trip.
- Mainframe of boat trailers must also be checked on a regular basis for corrosion and cracks especially near the welds and joints, nuts and bolts that hold the running gear, rollers, and mud guards.
- The wheels studs must be kept lightly greased. You may even spray it with anti-corrosion coating regularly.
Finally, you must also make sure that you maintain the brakes so that it works properly even after being dunked in saltwater regularly. Read more about boat flooring.