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| Check your spare tire bracket! https://www.smwebhead.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1262 |
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| Author: | JustBreathe [ Sat Sep 01, 2007 10:19 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Check your spare tire bracket! |
Bringing the boat back from Maine and avoided potential disaster on 95 when I looked out the right mirror and saw the spare hanging at 90 degrees --- straight out from the trailer! The plate where the bracket is attached to the trailer (by two u-shaped bolts with threads at both ends)snapped in half. Looks like it just got weak and corroded from 2 plus years of dipping in the salt water. We have the Four Winns galvanized trailer for our 230. I removed it the rest of the way and put it in the car...just wanted to pass along the news. It wouldn't have been fun to watch the boat bouncing over the spare, or the car/trucks behind me cursing as they dodged it! ...now looking for an aftermarket bracket..... Ernie |
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| Author: | 230 Mike [ Sat Sep 01, 2007 11:05 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
That sucks! Good tip! A co-worker was on vacation with his family in FL a few years ago and had a spare tire come loose ahead of them on the highway. It went through their windshield and could *easily* have killed them all. He and his wife were very banged up. |
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| Author: | Txjole [ Sun Sep 02, 2007 8:04 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
I suggest having a bracket welded on like 99% of other trailer builders do. Or even better get a cradle built under the frame. |
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| Author: | cougarcruiser [ Sun Sep 02, 2007 10:29 am ] |
| Post subject: | |
It's a scary thought to think that could happen to anybody with a trailer. I guess I would have to ask is how "corroded" were the u-bolts? Anytime I expose anything to salt water or just the open environment... rule of thumb - when it shows corrosion, rust, etc - time to switch them out? Should this have been the case after 2 years -- absolutely not... Or at least maybe at that point, it's worth investigating welding. I ordered the spare tire package with my 240... and I will be checking out the mounting system now that this has come up. Just gives me the shakes thinking how much a bouncing wheel and bracket could cause at 65 mph on the freeway. wow. |
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| Author: | 230 Mike [ Sun Sep 02, 2007 1:00 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
Ernie, where did the u-bolts break exactly? I'm wondering if they overtorqued the nuts (extremely) and weakened the threads, similar to snapping off a wheel stud. |
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| Author: | JustBreathe [ Sun Sep 02, 2007 1:45 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
Here's the best part --- the U bolts themselves are perfect. A little rust, but not much...the plate they bolt to snapped in half...almost perfectly in half. Not even at a joint or anything. Doesnt really make sense -- I wouldn't have anticipated any stress there. Most of the brackets at West Marine attach in the same way. I like Txjole's suggestion of a cradle underneath. I will keep looking. Ernie |
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| Author: | JustBreathe [ Sun Sep 02, 2007 1:54 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
Change that ....I just went out and looked at it again.... indeed the plate snapped right in the middle, but just above where the angle bracket (that the wheel attaches to) is welded to it. So clearly there is stress there from the weight of the spare, and/or "possibly" if the ubolts themselves were tightened too much....but where the openings are in the plate, I doubt it....looks like just bouncing/stress of the spare. Ernie |
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| Author: | 230 Mike [ Sun Sep 02, 2007 8:03 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
That's extremely interesting. I would strongly encourage you to call FW tech support and tell them about it. Not that I expect anything to happen from doing so, but if they get a few calls about the same thing, it might cause them to start using a different part or mounting method, if not recall the ones that are out there. In the meantime, it definitely sounds like something we all need to keep an eye on. That *is* a lot of weight bouncing on that mount. |
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| Author: | LouC [ Sun Sep 02, 2007 8:44 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
I'd let them know as well, that's kind of suprising, since the aftermarket bracket I got from WM has been fine on my used in salt water trailer. Maybe they had a bad run of brackets. |
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| Author: | DDP1960 [ Sun Sep 16, 2007 12:51 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
how about posting a picture so we can see. thanks |
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| Author: | LouC [ Sun Sep 16, 2007 5:34 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
Check out http://www.easternmarine.com or http://www.championtrailers.com both sell a similar bracket, some come with locks. |
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