Bought a New to me Boat and the Wheel Fell Off

[Bigplumbs]

Thanks for the response, which confirms my thoughts - I'll try to get replacement suspension, bearings and wheels on before I leave the vendor's house. I had a nasty blowout on the Corribee trailer on the M25 last year, despite a brand-new tyre, and I'd rather not repeat the experience.

I think it would be useful to share the failure mode that you experienced, if you can go through the trauma!

You would need a complete new axle regarding the suspension and that is a heavy lump to carry. The are also made to the specific dimensions of the trailer so not at all practical to take one of those with you.

I would get some quotes to have the whole thing put on a flatbed. What is the boat by the way

 

[Bigplumbs]

One thing I would say is that 80 % of my home bound journey (200 miles) would have been on Motorways incl the M25 through the Tunnel and Duel Carriageways. I think if this had have happened on one of those roads at say 55 mph it would have potentially been very bad. To be honest I don't like thinking about it. This was and is a small boat total weight approx 700Kg incl trailer etc. I had a lot of the internal stuff from the boat in the car. I know people who tow about 24 footers with huge inboards on trailers of similar age to this one......... Does not bear thinking about.

 

[Mr Googler]

One thing I would say is that 80 % of my home bound journey (200 miles) would have been on Motorways incl the M25 through the Tunnel and Duel Carriageways. I think if this had have happened on one of those roads at say 55 mph it would have potentially been very bad. To be honest I don't like thinking about it. This was and is a small boat total weight approx 700Kg incl trailer etc. I had a lot of the internal stuff from the boat in the car. I know people who tow about 24 footers with huge inboards on trailers of similar age to this one......... Does not bear thinking about.

Agreed ?

 

[Corribee Boy]

You would need a complete new axle regarding the suspension and that is a heavy lump to carry. The are also made to the specific dimensions of the trailer so not at all practical to take one of those with you.

I would get some quotes to have the whole thing put on a flatbed. What is the boat by the way

It's only a Cornish Coble, about 250kg, so the trailer is unbraked with individual suspension units bolted either end of the axle which are reasonably available and easy to change. I do have a flatbed of my own which I could use but I'll be trying to get the parts tomorrow to avoid dragging the flatbed around the country.

 

[Seastoke]

Tyres should be 4 ply , and tapping the steel with a small ball Payne hammer is a good check for internal corrosion.

 

[Bigplumbs]

Tyres should be 4 ply , and tapping the steel with a small ball Payne hammer is a good check for internal corrosion.

If you could have tapped the area where this broke you would do very well indeed........... More non real life advice I am afraid

 

[Offshore57]

Now here is a thought. A Brand new trailer for this boat from Extreme is £1,950 with 4 week wait. With the AA bill and the new axle parts (4 - 6 week wait) I will have spent the best part of £1,500. So if you can get a new trailer this is a plan:

Agree the sale, Take the boat to a launch point near the seller if there is one and swap onto your trailer. You might even agree a lesser price for not buying his trailer. This way as you drive home you are not feeling stressed to heck.

Thats quite a good thought isnt it. When I bought my 7.4 Ribtec it came on a twin axle trailer and the seller agreed to deliver it for me (bonus). He was going to put two new axles on the trailer anyway apparently so it arrived safely. Also it gets lifted in and out straight off the trailer so the axles have never been dunked. Could do with new wheels and tyres though thinking about it.

 

[Jim@sea]

So I decided to buy another Boat (Her indoors said you can never have enough) It is a Ranieri Revolution 4.55 which is a boat I have been looking at for a long while. It is quite small and compact but can carry a few people in comfort. It only has a 50 hp outboard which most of these seem to have.

We bought is some 200 miles from home and looking at the trailer it looked very good if several years old.

Well the trailer was not good and 190 miles from home the wheel fell off.

Another heads up to people. The AA which is usually excellent has changed its policy on trailers. It would appear that if at the roadside the AA man sends 3 pics to a faceless man in a back office and he says the trailer was not road worthy. You have to pay for the recovery. Which on this occasion for 190 miles cost me £954 ..... Ouch

Pleased with the boat none the less. Now just got to source a new axel which is not quick unfortunatly

View attachment 139657

You would think that as an Ex Mot tester I would have learnt my lesson when after buying a boat and not checking the wheel bearings and when towing it 80 miles home the bearing collapsed, so when a few years later I was buying a 21ft power boat I did jack up the wheels and see if there was any play in the wheel bearings, there was none. But I should have realised that with the trailer being 20 years old and with the trailer going in and out of salt water I should have taken the brake drum off to have a look at the linings.
When I was towing the boat one of the wheels stopped turning, stopped completely, fortunately I carried a socket which fitted the castle nut (32m ?) and pulled the wheel off complete with brake drum.
What had happened was that the glue which stuck the brake linings to the brake shoe had come unstuck and when I braked one brake lining travelled round inside the brake drum and went between the other brake lining and the brake drum and stopped the wheel from turning.
This of course could happen to anyone with an old trailer if the brake shoes have never been replaced. So its worth having a look.
PS. I always carry a spare set of wheel bearings,

 

[Bigplumbs]

Peak came up trumps and had an axle in stock that will fit with a little work. That has saved 4-6 weeks

 

[Jim@sea]

I am pretty sure I am correct - it is a criminal offence for anyone to sell an unroadworthy car or trailer and I don't think not knowing is a good excuse.
Thanks for the above, I am selling a 1997 boat it has the original tyres which look in very good condition and have probably only done half a mile a year, to the slipway and back. But they are 25 years old, Do I have to change them.

 

[Bigplumbs]

Well a little update.

There is generally a 4 - 6 week wait for axels at the moment but I was lucky and Peak had one in stock on a 4 inch PCD that was only 7mm short so I could quite easily make it fit. I used 2 lengths of 50 x 50 angle iron got out my little mig welder, welded on some mudguard support brackets. Got this whole support galvanised (which was a 3.5 hour round trip twice) and fitted it with some nice M12 U bolts to the trailer. With some 8 ply 500 kg each wheels she is now good to go

 

[Bigplumbs]

Some pics of the finished job

 

[Corribee Boy]

Nice job. I picked my new boat up on a flat bed, then bolted on new suspension and replaced the wheels before trying it on the motorway, largely in response to your experience. Cost wasn't too bad and the peace of mind was worth it - it towed so quietly that I had to check the mirrors from time to time, to see if it was still attached!

 

[Bigplumbs]

Nice job. I picked my new boat up on a flat bed, then bolted on new suspension and replaced the wheels before trying it on the motorway, largely in response to your experience. Cost wasn't too bad and the peace of mind was worth it - it towed so quietly that I had to check the mirrors from time to time, to see if it was still attached!

Well done to you and glad you had a good experience. I think if I collect another boat and if it has not got a near perfect trailer I will also put it on a flat bed. The stress of worrying about the trailer as you tow on big roads is horrible.

Yesterday I also removed the long light board holders as the tightener bolts had corroded as they always have. the long holders were a little loose so we clanking like mad and also was very stressful as although I knew what the noise was it just kept me on edge. I have sorted a different method to hold the light board and buy removing them is saved about 10 kg.