Jockey wheel suitability
Submitted by neville hood on Wed, 2012-01-04 09:13
Gday fellas
Need advice on a jockey wheel for my dual axel easy tow trailer. At the moment the trailer seems too heavey for the standard jockey wheel and is deteriorating the rubber on the wheel and I was wondering if any other boaties have had this problem and how they went about rectifying it. I have moved the boat back on the trailer 50mm or so but that only made a small difference to the problem. Cheers
Swan River Fisher
Posts: 877
Date Joined: 03/05/11
i don't leave the boat on the
i don't leave the boat on the jocky wheel when it is parked. i usually put bricks under the front to take the weight. but if its a light boat when you step on the back it could tip. by the sounds of it your boat should be fine
thesupervisor
Posts: 1136
Date Joined: 10/06/09
most trailers should only
most trailers should only have 100kg down force on the tow ball can test with some bathroom scales
maybe buy a better quality wheel from someone like martins trailer supplies
getting the bottom line final answer from a bunch of blokes that use false names and put smiley faces at the end of paragraphs is not the best place in the world to get the information you seek.
Likc
Posts: 361
Date Joined: 09/08/09
It more depends on the car
It more depends on the car used for towing. Check your tow ball load rating. Some cars have as little as 50kg. Otherwise there is a kind of a rule, that 10% of total trailer weight should be on the ball (jockey wheel) – but not exceeding the ball load rating. I believe that there are jockey wheels available with different loading. Maybe yours is underrated for your trailer. But eventually you will get flat spots on any wheel, so probably not storing it on the jockey wheel for long periods is a good idea.
neville hood
Posts: 51
Date Joined: 26/09/11
thanks for the replies
thanks for the replies fellas, all good info. i ran into a sales man in a boat yard who was quite helpful and knowlegable especialy as i was checking out the jockey wheels on the bigger boats he told me i could possibley move my axel forward up to 80mm or so and this would spread the load more evenly under the boat. all i have to do is loosen 6 u bolts while my boat is moored and move the dual axel section forward as it slides along 2 horizontal 50*50 6mm angle beams that run along each side. at the momentthe duals seem to be quite away back so i think there should be no problem and at the momment i need a trolley jack to lift front of trailer if i dont use jockey wheel to lift it up.has to be 150 kg on the front at least may be more. what are your thoughts
cheers neville
Likc
Posts: 361
Date Joined: 09/08/09
Taking your trailer with the
Taking your trailer with the boat on over a weighbridge might be an good idea. Then you know how much it all weigh and how much you have on a jockey wheel and if you need some adjustments. 150kg on the ball is a bit on a heavy side and you need a decent car to tow it like that. There is a public weighbridge in Midland and probably elsewhere if you have a look.
neville hood
Posts: 51
Date Joined: 26/09/11
Just moved the boat
Just moved the boat axles forward 75mm but is still fairlly heavey on the front but a hell of a lot easier to move around by hand so i suppose that worked . Also noticed silightly better towing and manouvering and the tyres looked alot more even , as opposed to the front set looking more deflated. Luckily i have a 100 series so my 4x4 is capable vehicle although could do with an update to my suspension for when i go up north fishing. Good idea on the weighbridge Likc i always like to know all the weights as i did with my old trailcraft when i go away.
fishy fingers
Posts: 1719
Date Joined: 28/04/07
how about your winch post
if you move that back your boat stays back therefore taking wheight off the towball
neville hood
Posts: 51
Date Joined: 26/09/11
Gday fishy fingeswhen i
Gday fishy finges
when i bought the boat and took it to the river for test run with the salesman (an avid boaty who had the same boat ) we looked at that and i was able to move the post back about 50 to 70 mm which helped also. This was probably all we could move as the roller configeration has to be taken into account and more so overhang. Good info for other forum readers also
Cheers neville
fishy fingers
Posts: 1719
Date Joined: 28/04/07
Yep realise that
with the rollers, but what about this then can your roller post move to the back of the cross members (or are they there already) this could give you another 75mm is depending on your cross member size without gaining overhang if you get my drift I'm assuming your rollers are on post clamped to the cross members
neville hood
Posts: 51
Date Joined: 26/09/11
Gday fishy fingerschecked
Gday fishy fingers
checked over what you said as my post is 500mm from cross members i still have heaps to play with there and the first hull roller is about the same so i could go more there , only thing is the overhang at the back. as it is the boat glides along hull rollers and comes to rest nicely up to the post roller and snuggly to the winch hook. if i push the post forward anymore, the boat winch hook may want to start riding over the roller in which will add to the overhang. anyhow just pulled the boat out of the shed by myself and it came out a dream, so i suppose its worked to some degree. dont suppose you know of any requirements for overhang of boats on trailers
cheers neville
fisho-ron
Posts: 2539
Date Joined: 26/09/09
matebe carfull with moving
mate
be carfull with moving the boat back, if you dont maintain weight on the towball you will get swaying and if it gets out of controll you will lose the lot.
as said above, as a rough guide no matter what the size boat, you should have aprox 10% of the overall weight on the ball.
i had the same probs as you with the weight splitting the rubber wheel, i use a axel stand and take the weight of the j/wheel when the boat is parked up, never had to replace a wheel yet.
cheers ron
neville hood
Posts: 51
Date Joined: 26/09/11
Yes mate, i had that in mind
Yes mate, i had that in mind . at a guess (and i have had some weightlifting experience ) i would have at least 200kg on the tow bar. boat and motor winch etc 2000kg, trailer 500kg so it will be close . tow bar rated 350 kg. i also intend to get a pnumatic pump with gauge to confirm weight on tow ball.
cheers neville