Essential Tips for Towing Your Boat

Are you heading out on your maiden boating voyage? You may feel more than ready for this adventure, but towing your boat could come as a surprise. Whether you’re carrying your craft with a sports car or diesel pickup, hauling a boat will dramatically change your tow vehicle’s handling. Fortunately, with a little knowledge, you can avoid incidents that lead to vehicle, vessel, and boat trailer repair.

8 Tips for Towing Your Boat Safely

1. Distribute vessel weight evenly on your boat trailer to ensure balance.
   A balanced load offers better handling. Be sure to distribute the weight evenly, both side to side and front to rear. Don’t forget to consider equipment stored on your boat which could affect balance as well,  such as fuel, water, and cargo.
   
   
2. Don’t overload the trailer hitch.
   Your tow vehicle and trailer should both be nearly parallel to the ground. This geometry will ensure you are not overloading the hitch. To verify, check tongue weight, ensuring it bears only about 10% of overall trailer weight. For instance, if both boat and trailer weight 6,000 pounds, tongue weight should be approximately 600 pounds.
   
   
3. Always secure your boat.
   Your boat should always be secured tightly to your trailer. Use ratchet straps, tightening firmly with the winch strap attached to the bow eye.
   
   
4. Perform a walk-around inspection before leaving.
   You’d be surprised how easily a strap can come lose in transit. A popular rule of thumb for boat trailer safety suggests stopping to check after 1, 10, and 100 miles of driving.
   
   
5. Verify proper trailer light function.
   Ensure trailer lights are working before beginning your journey, using them even in daylight hours for added visibility.
   
   
6. Always carry a spare.
   Don’t leave home without a spare that fits your trailer, a lug wrench that fits your wheels, a tire gauge, and a grease gun for attending to boat trailer wheel bearings. These essential tools can help you avoid the need for mobile trailer repair.
   
   
7. When towing, allow extra time for stopping.
   Your boat adds quite a bit of overall weight, requiring a considerably longer braking distance. To ensure safety and avoid accidents, allow ample time for stopping. Pay close attention to the road and surrounding traffic, avoiding sudden stops, starts, and turns that could impact stability.
   
   
8. When going downhill, use low gear.
   Using a low gear when descending a hill helps control your speed without overheating your brakes.
   
   

Don’t get carried away by a wave of excitement. Avoid boat trailer repairs with proper planning. Get where you’re going safely with the help of the Denver trailer repair experts at Ainsworth Trailer Repair today.

This article was previously published at: http://www.trailerrepairdenver.com/essential-tips-towing-boat/

Boat Trailer Maintenance Tips

Are you overlooking critical boat trailer maintenance needs? While you might not covet your boat trailer and give it the same TLC as you do your boat, it is essential to your boating experience. Even the most avid boaters frequently overlook boat trailer repairs.

 Balancing Boating Priorities

Though most boat owners will readily spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on the upkeep of outboard motors and speedometers, or purchasing fancy navigational systems, many owners balk at the cost of critical trailer maintenance tasks. Putting a little time and effort into keeping your boat trailer in good working order will ensure you reach your destination safely to enjoy a day out on the water.

 Don’t Ignore these Boat Trailer Maintenance Basics

These essential tasks will help you care for your boat trailer so that you and your vessel make it safely to and from your next boating adventure.

1. Regularly examine your trailer for wear.
   The weight of your boat, combined with countless hours on bumpy highway roads, will wear trailer components over time. A routine checkup ensures you will not be taken by surprise by issues along the way, avoiding the need for emergency mobile trailer repair. Inspect your trailer, keeping a watchful eye out for these common issues:

●       The trailer coupler fits snugly atop the hitch ball.

●       The boat tongue trailer jack and lock-pin are properly lubricated.

●       Safety chains are in good working order, fastened properly and securely.

●       Leaf springs on your trailer are strong, crack-free, and uncorroded.

●       Accessories such as dollies and winches are in good working order.

●       The trailer body is free of rust that could cause your boat to be thrown out on the deck.

2. Ensure your tires are properly inflated.
   Your tires play a primary role in getting you to your destination safely. Their importance should not be minimized or overlooked. Maintain your tires regularly, laying something beneath them when your trailer is not in use, and using tire covers if they will be sitting in the sunlight for an extended period. Carefully monitor tire pressure. If air pressure is not just right, tires will wear prematurely. The best-case scenario here is frequent tire replacement. The worst, a blowout and accident. These costly issues are easily avoided with a fast, simple air pressure adjustment.
   
   
3. Check your wheel bearings.
   Wheel bearings are particularly vulnerable on boat trailers, which are frequently exposed to water. Keep yours in shape with regular lubrication, installing “bearing buddies” and dust covers to seal out moisture and dirt. Routinely check hubs for heat as you tow, which indicates the need for repacking or maintenance of boat trailer bearings.
   
   
4. Inspect your lights before each journey.
   Well-functioning boat trailer lights keep you and those around you, safe and aware. Before setting off, check brake lights, turn signals, and backup lights for burnt-out bulbs, cracked lenses, fuse or wiring issues.
   
   
5. Verify even weight distribution.
   A well-balanced load ensures handling and safety. Be sure to evenly distribute the weight of your boat on the trailer from front to back and side to side. Also, consider cargo on your boat, such as water and fuel.

 

A boat is a substantial investment. Protect it, and yourself, against incidents with a well-functioning trailer. Contact us to schedule boat trailer inspection and repair at Denver Trailer Repair today.

This article was previously published at: http://www.trailerrepairdenver.com/boat-trailer-maintenance-tips/