www.iFourWinns.com

This summer, my trailer was towed empty for almost 500 miles, and then subsequently I loaded my boat on it and drove it another 200 miles or so to get my boat home. During the latter trip, I noticed that the tandem axles were uneven, and the two tires on the rear axle were really low - in fact I thought at first they were going flat. I stopped and tried to put air in them, and realized they were full and started worrying - I had to get the boat home, so I took it real slow and watched out my mirrors constantly.

I made it, and dropped the boat in the water and when I inspected the trailer, it seems one of the spring-holders attached to the equalizer had somehow become inverted during the trip when the trailer was empty (must have bounced over something...?). I jacked it up, got a long crowbar and made what I thought was the correct adjustment. Turns out, I stupidly flipped the side that was in the right position to match the one in the wrong position!! Here's what I did:



I ended up take it to a trailer repair place, and the boys flipped it back for me (for free...!). Here's how it looks now, both in the correct position:



Caught a break and learned an important lesson!

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2005 Sundowner
2008 Highlander V6

Thanks for the tip!
From the pictures, it looks like the real problem is written in 5 letters right on the side of the part...

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2011 H190 4.3VP

I had nearly the same problem happen to me only the front tire on each side was completely off the ground. It did scare me a little, but I put a jack right in the middle and it popped right back into place! I felt lucky!!

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2006 Vista 278
First Boat:
2005 Sundowner 205
Columbus, OH

That must be a common concern for leaf spring trailers because our Loadmaster trailer paperwork came with a printed illustration of the correct position of the equalizer. It states: CAUTION: If the spring at any one of these equalizers is below the equalizer the spring has "flipped". Do not tow the trailer with any weight on it. The axle could be damaged and the trailer can sway uncontrollably. Call Loadmaster for a remedy to the situation.

I think this usually occurs when the rear axle drops off the end of a launch ramp and the weight all goes to the front axle. In your case it sounds like maybe your trailer got a good bounce empty like you stated. I would bet jacking up one side for repairs could easily cause something like this also.

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Our Boating Blog: http://ben-dana.blogspot.com/

2005 268 Vista "Sea Pickle II"
1979 AMF Alcort Puffer
Previous:
2003 FW190 Horizon
1973 Startcraft 18ft "Sea Pickle"

Yeah, I was so lucky - I remember looking underneath at the axle and seeing a definite "bow' in it, which just made me more nervous. In hindsight, I should have dropped the boat back in the water somewhere and got the trailer fixed properly right away before going anywhere. If you look at the rim of one of the wheels on the picture you'll also see some grease splatter - the extra pressure seems to have squeezed grease out of the bearings as well.

Not good at all. Lesson learned and hopefully helps someone else from making the same mistake.

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2005 Sundowner
2008 Highlander V6

The same thing happened to me a couple of weeks ago when I was putting my new tires on. I had to drive 2 hours return trip to get my 6 foot pry bar. My floor jack and 3 foot pry bar didn't cut it. It's all good now and ready for the trip to storage soon

John

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07 Azure AZ200,
Previous boat,
95 278 Vista,
And a lot of others.

Ontario, Canada

Absolutely! I thinks that's one of those things most of us forget to check before we hit the road so it's good to be reminded

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Our Boating Blog: http://ben-dana.blogspot.com/

2005 268 Vista "Sea Pickle II"
1979 AMF Alcort Puffer
Previous:
2003 FW190 Horizon
1973 Startcraft 18ft "Sea Pickle"