may have a big problem here

[R-mallis]

we've had our 90 sport nautique now for a few months. We bought it with a brand new ramlin trailer which we were told was the best. Everything was fine until last sunday when we towed the boat home and noticed that our hull was craked right where it mounts on the front cross support on the trailer. Im not talking about a minor stress crack neither because its actually caved in where the carpeted part of the support holds the front of the boat. Im not sure if the trailer caused this or if the hull was weak in that area from a previous repair. It does seam like there is alot of weight on that front support. Anyways i was just wondering if anyone had any advise before i take it to get an estime on monday.

[M3Fan]

I can tell you this much- my 90 SN has a trailer with a front support- like a small carpeted V that makes contact below the bow eye. For 14 years, that boat has been rammed on to the V for every trailering, and it just has stress cracks. What you have sounds like a previous repair- the hulls are INCREDIBLY strong. Your trailer would not have done this in this small time.

[skinautique]

Doubt it is the trailer. Can you take a picture or two and post them? Also, I would take it back to the dealer just to make sure that the boat is fitted to the trailer properly and get everything else checked out there.

[R-mallis]

thanks for the info guys, I'll try to take some pics and post them next week. it did start as a stress crack like you were saying m3fan and i thought nothing of it until it got worse.

[R-mallis]

ok guys here are some pics of my boat. the pictures arent the best, but as you can see its a good sized crack. the black stuff you see is some marine epoxy which we put on when the first small stress crack appeared.

[NautiqueJeff]

There are no pictures with your post.

If you use THIS METHOD (http://nautique.webkitchen.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=235) to post your pictures, they should show up without any problems.

[R-mallis]

http://mikeluter.com/images/crackhull.jpg
http://mikeluter.com/images/leftside.jpg
http://mikeluter.com/images/rightside.jpg
http://mikeluter.com/images/rear.jpg
http://mikeluter.com/images/trailerhull.jpg

[skinautique]

I think I would raise that bow pad up a notch. Other than that, the trailer should work just fine. As far as the gelcoat, not sure what to tell you. Let us know what you end up doing.

[siuski]

Looks like the bow pad is only contacting on a very small area, causing the boat to sit low and 'pinch' the keel when loaded, especially noticable in last pic. Bow pad angle should match that of the boat's dead rise. If it was like that to begin with, I would think that it is who ever sold you the boat's fault for not properly settin up the trailer.

[Hollywood]

Uh...yeah. That bow pad definitely needs some adjusting. That reminds me of all the I/O's on my lake that have their keels resting on the front cradle of the lift.

[R-mallis]

alright thanks for all the info guys, its much appreciated. ok so i need to raise my two bow pads up so that they form a deeper V so they will rest on the side of the hull more than just the very bottom, is this correct?
and if so how do i go about doing this? can i pull that whole bracket off and somehow bend it until it matches the rise of the boat? i just dont see how else to do it.

[skinautique]

R-Mallis,
you should be able to do this the next time that you launch your boat. There should be a bolt on the side of the bracket that you can loosen up and raise the "V" and tighten it back down. Your bow should sit approximately in the middle of the bow stop on the trailer. Right now, it is sitting very low. Good luck and let us know if you need more help.

[R-mallis]

i see what you mean about raising the boat, skinautique, but i dont see how that is going to affect how the pads are "pinching" the keel. if i raise the whole v as one assembly it will raise the whole boat like you said but i dont think it will change the position of the pads and how they contact my the hull

[skinautique]

The problem is coming from the boat being loaded. It is not rubbing the carpeted pad wrong. When it is at the right angle at the ramp, it is actually rubbing the painted part of the trailer just below the carpeted v. If you look at the trailer, I bet you have rubbed off some paint from the trailer. The V is really there to offset the angle of the boat while you load it. I have had it happen to me before. That is why they make that adjustable. They still have this for the 216 and 210 trailers (Ramlin). Adjust it and you should be all set.

[R-mallis]

ok guys i brought the boat to the dealer it was purchased from today and i've got the low-down on whats wrong with it. When we bought the boat we bought it with a brand new ram-lin trailer which was custom fit for a 90 sport. apparently ram-lin had made the trailer wrong because what the mechanic told me was that there should be very little or no weight on that front v on the trailer, its just there to ceter the boat on the trailer when loading it. All of the weight should be transfered to the two carpeted rails on the side. So whats wrong with the trailer is that the V is too high even though it is adjusted as low as it can go, and tooo much of the boats weight is being transfered to the v on the trailer, which in turn cracked my hull.Anyways the owner was very supportive of my situation and he took many pictures to send to ram-lin and to correct craft. He feels strongly that ram-lin will correct my trailer problem and most importantly pay to fix my hull. Thanks for all of your input.

[tryan]

you should just make the two main bunks thicker. get some pressure treated 5/4 board and add them under your existing bunks. problem solved.

who layed up the bondo on the hole already? what lurks under that gray stuff?

how steep is the ramp that you use? is the ramp level? the cc trailer under my 72 separator had to be completely level. when you put the trailer in make sure each fender well is the same disatnce from the surface of the water, even if you have to jacknife the trailer. i practice loading at a seldom used ramp for over a year before i did it in public.

another trick i used was to cut a couple short pieces of conduit that would be inserted into the top of the vertical guides. drill a hole on the top of each and string a line to hold the guides tight on the boat as you go up the ramp.

[workky]

Do you hook your boat to the trailer while it is stil in the water? I have done this once and when i pulled it out i noticed that the back of the boat wasnt even sitting on the trailer,all the weight of the boat was sitting on the front of the trailer.My bow rises when i pull my boat out of the water,so i just hook it up when the trailer and boat are up and out of the water.Just a thought

[tryan]

my 89 trailer has a big YELLOW label that tells you not to tighten the turnbuckle while loading. i had my old turnbuckle marked, but some swine stole it.

there is no way i would go up the ramp without something holding the boat to the trailer.


i may be dumb, but i nail the brakes in my truck to get the boat all the way up on the trailer after i go down the road a mile. after she is centered, the transom straps are tightened and the turnbuckle is tightened.
then i drive like a madman. :twisted:

[Hollywood]

i may be dumb, but i nail the brakes in my truck to get the boat all the way up on the trailer after i go down the road a mile.

I must be dumb too then. I however don't tighten or loosen the turnbuckle ever. When loading/unloading the rear end floats pushing the nost down, and giving slack in the turnbuckle. When it''s completely on the trailer, the bow rises up a bit and it's taut.

I would never pull up a ramp w/o the boat strapped/hooked to the trailer. That is just asking for trouble.