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Sweetwater Metal Product trailer


bclerval

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I have just taken ownership of a 1998 Sportster LX with a SMP trailer. It is a 4 bunk trailer with two bow rollers, lower and upper. My questions is this, the bow ring that you hook the winch to, what side of the top roller should it be on? When loading the boat, the trailer has to be totally submerged before I can get the ring over the last roller. This defeats the purpose since the boat will no longer sit on the bunks and floats around. It looks like it is hitting the the top roller before the lower bow hits the bottom roller and there are no adjustments. The same goes for off loading, the trailer has to be totally submerged before the boat begins to float and I need to lift the bow ring over the roller by hand.

Maybe it is just the ramp slope since I have only tried one so far.

Brian

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Plus1.gif

When setting on the trailer as Edwin described, the lower bow is not touching the lower roller. It will hit the lower roller during loading if the trailer is not submerged as deep.

As a side note - watch the inner fender/wheel covers for warping. Mine were simply carpet covered plywood that warped so much (2" or so) they ended up touching the tire - first when towing the trailer from ramp to parking, then towing with the boat. The staples attaching the carpet do a wonderful job of 'shaving' the inside of the tire. Cry.gif I fabricated a new set using plastic/composite siding boards & will be installing them tonight.

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Thanks for the quick response. That is what I was thinking after some after thoughts. My last trailer had the "Trailer buddy" instead of the roller. The roller was throwing me off and the fact the person I bought it from had the ring on the other side of the roller. Thanks for the insight on the fender carpet. I will check that tonight. I saw the carpet, but wasn't sure how it was attached. Weinerdog, are you making your own protectors? I may look to replace mine with a piece of UHMW if it looks to have the same problem as you describe.

Thank you,

Brian

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I did make my own protectors - parts cost about $65 at Lowe's & local dealership (bunk carpet). I haven't installed them yet - will do so tonight, but based on a test fitting, I have well over an inch of clearance and will not have to worry about warping in the future as there's no wood, I reinforced the bottom edge to prevent heat sag & used all stainless hardware & staples. I could not bend/deflect the bottom edge of the protectors more than about 1/8 of an inch.

UHMW?

I had a hard time finding something suitable locally. I did eventually find starboard, but it was about 4x more expensive than the siding I used (similar to Trex decking) and looked like it would be harder to work. The general dimensions for the fender protector was 28 x 8 x 3/8 - 1/2

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wienrdog,

UHMW is Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene. Many of the coveyor parts at my last job used this material. It is slippery and durable. A 1/4" thick piece by 36" X 24" is $38.00. It cuts with a regular saw. Without looking at the rugs I am not sure how well it would work. But I will look at it. It is also no maring.

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