Trailer setup

[Jerry]

What is the correct/tried-and-tested way of setting up a trailer for a RIB?
My problem is that the boat sits on the trailer tilted to starboard, so the starboard tube is only about 2 inches from the trailer's fender.
All the rollers seen to be symmetrical, I can't see an obvious reason for the boat tilt.
Weight distribution is approximately equal. When I was recovering last time, I made sure I stayed on the centerline of the boat when driving up the trailer and the boat was straight, but within a few miles of towing on the road the bugger tilted itself.
The obvious one - two batteries and the fuel tank are symmetrical.

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Jerry

What is the correct/tried-and-tested way of setting up a trailer for a RIB?
My problem is that the boat sits on the trailer tilted to starboard, so the starboard tube is only about 2 inches from the trailer's fender.
All the rollers seen to be symmetrical, I can't see an obvious reason for the boat tilt.
Weight distribution is approximately equal. When I was recovering last time, I made sure I stayed on the centerline of the boat when driving up the trailer and the boat was straight, but within a few miles of towing on the road the bugger tilted itself.
The obvious one - two batteries and the fuel tank are symmetrical.

Where do the chines & spray rails sit in relation to the rollers? You need to set the rollers so that they sit within the chines, so the chines act as guides

[Jerry]

Is that reliable? As in: do chines provide enough guidance that the boat doesn't move during towing (mine are far away from the rollers at the moment)? Another thing that comes to my mind is that the boat sits very "bow light" on the trailer - don't need much force to lift the bow by two inches or so, it is very "bouncy".
I'm away enjoying a week of quiet sailing in Mazury, but I need to fix this trailer setup when I'm back. I thought maybe there's a tried and tested way of setting up new trailers correctly.

[Xk59D]

post some pics up of boat on trailer.

it isn't difficult to do this but a picture will help with what we tell you.

it sounds to me like your entire setup need tweaked such as axle position/ swing beam location (if applicable) to where the rollers sit, not a biggy though depending on the trailer design and if bolts are rusted etc.

[Trailer Guy]

Move the mudguards... [emoji6]

Is it your DB600? If so, don't they have a deeper chine toward the outside out the hull? Like a fin?

If so, I'd try and marry up the outside face of the outside roller with the inside face of that fin. Therefore it'd stop any lateral movement as it'd be effectively 'braced'.

Is that a rubbish description? Probably!

[9D280]

Originally Posted by Jerry

Is that reliable? As in: do chines provide enough guidance that the boat doesn't move during towing (mine are far away from the rollers at the moment)? .

I can see two ways of reading this.....

When you say far away form the rollers, do you mean the rollers and the hull are apart, or is the chine (the corner where the hull changes angle) a distance form the roller(s) All the rollers should be I contact with the hull once you are in "drive position".

Originally Posted by Jerry

Another thing that comes to my mind is that the boat sits very "bow light" on the trailer - don't need much force to lift the bow by two inches or so, it is very "bouncy".
I'm away enjoying a week of quiet sailing in Mazury, but I need to fix this trailer setup when I'm back. I thought maybe there's a tried and tested way of setting up new trailers correctly.

2 options here:

1) shift the winch post forward
2) shift the axle backward

no prizes for guessing which is the easier of the two - IF you have enough space o nthe drawbar to move the post forward.....

There is a thread on here from years ago explaining how to do a simple measurement with your bathroom scales, then do some simple maths to work out how far forward (or back, but not applicable here) to move it..... a platy with the search engine should find it.

[Jerry]

Originally Posted by 9D280

I can see two ways of reading this.....

When you say far away form the rollers, do you mean the rollers and the hull are apart, or is the chine (the corner where the hull changes angle) a distance form the roller(s) All the rollers should be I contact with the hull once you are in "drive position".

I wasn't clear - rollers are in contact, but chines are away from the rollers.

2 options here:

1) shift the winch post forward
2) shift the axle backward

What I meant is that the boat is "bouncy" on the trailer. When in "drive" position, there is around 70kg load on the hitch, so the trailer itself is not bouncy - only the boat.

For whatever reason I wrote a post a few weeks ago with pictures included and... and I can't see it any longer. Probably forgot to press SEND, so the pictures of the setup are below.

First picture shows that the boat does never get to the bow rubbers, it's also "bouncy". I can't see if it's a simple problem of one of the rollers being exactly under the COG of the boat.

[jeffstevens763@g]

put your winch strap over the top it's pulling down before it gets to the snubber boat bouncing have you got rear ratchet straps on ?