Check your bunk fasteners.

[dalt1]

Just about had a big scar on hull due to carpeted bunk falling off trailer. The bunks on my SMP trailer are lag screwed in from the bottom. I had noticed that most of the screws were loose and could not be torqued to tighten them. They would just spin and not tighten. I planned on addressing this later in the year when my boat would be in the water for a week. Well I couldn't wait, one bunk fell off as boat came in to trailer it. (See related thread SMP trailer bounce) Luckly I was standing at winch and able to stop driver till we could put bunk back on temporarily. Later in the week, I put boat back in lake and through bolted all bunks with 2.5" carriage bolts from the top and Nylock nuts on the bottom. Just drew bolts tight enough to pull heads deep enough that hull can't scratch on heads. It worked great.

[martinarcher]

I was thinking of doing the same on my boat but I'm going to stick with lags. If those carriage bolts loosen the heads will certainly tear up the hull. I'm glad you got the boat stopped before the bunkless trailer did any damage!

[Bill_AirJunky]

I've been thinking I was going to recarpet my bunks soon. I have a couple days off over the holiday & think I'll be doing it this weekend. Obviously I'll be pulling the bunks to do it. And will keep an eye on those bolts.

[dalt1]

I was thinking of doing the same on my boat but I'm going to stick with lags. If those carriage bolts loosen the heads will certainly tear up the hull. I'm glad you got the boat stopped before the bunkless trailer did any damage!

No matter which way its done, just make sure to check them periodically. I don't think mine will loosen with nylock nuts, but will still check em once in a while.

[dalt1]

I've been thinking I was going to recarpet my bunks soon. I have a couple days off over the holiday & think I'll be doing it this weekend. Obviously I'll be pulling the bunks to do it. And will keep an eye on those bolts.

Bill,

I was going to recarpet also but decided to just move the bunks to a different position on trailer as they only wore in specific areas on each. Inside verse outside on each board. I just moved or spun them 180 degrees to put worn carpet in area that looked like new carpet proir to move. Next time I will have to recarpet. Get twice the life out of carpet this way.

[nemalibu]

Thanks for the reminder.

I did notice something I wanted to comment on. It sounds like you were at the winch while someone else was powering the boat. I am guessing that you were standing off to the side but in case other readers have not heard this:

There was a posting a while back - a VERY sad story: someone on the crew had a neighbor who accidentailly killed his own daughter when the throttle on his boat malfunctioned and went wide open while he was loading and his daughter was at the winch. In that case the boat jumped forward so hard that it wiped out the trailer piller and crushed his daughter between the boat and the truck.

Ever since reading this I never allow anyone to be between the boat and the truck during loading (we used to do that so that the person on shore could make comment on how well lined-up we were).

[Bill_AirJunky]

I've been thinking I was going to recarpet my bunks soon. I have a couple days off over the holiday & think I'll be doing it this weekend. Obviously I'll be pulling the bunks to do it. And will keep an eye on those bolts.

Bill,

I was going to recarpet also but decided to just move the bunks to a different position on trailer as they only wore in specific areas on each. Inside verse outside on each board. I just moved or spun them 180 degrees to put worn carpet in area that looked like new carpet proir to move. Next time I will have to recarpet. Get twice the life out of carpet this way.

Almost wish I'd read this a few hours ago. I found some indoor/outdoor carpet, got two of the bunks done. I don't know that I could have reversed the bunks anyway because Extreme didn't have the middle bolt in the exact middle of the bunk. They did however use carriage bolts, double nutted with one nylock nut. I'm half done so far.... got too hot today & I decided I needed to go ride instead. I'll finish the rest Sunday morning.

[martinarcher]

Cool. Looks good! That makes me want to re-do mine, but it's going to be hard since my boat lives on the trailer. I'd have to take all the stuff to the lake I need to do it and work on it in the parking lot while the crew takes the boat on the water - that would suck! I guess I'll do it later this year....

[NorCaliBu]

I'd have to take all the stuff to the lake I need to do it and work on it in the parking lot...

With careful measuring you could prefab replacement bunks and then the parking lot job would just be to unbolt the old and bolt on the new.

[martinarcher]

Good call. That would certainly save some time in the parking lot. I would just have to run the lag bolts into the new bunks. Good call.

[dihrdskir]

Good call. That would certainly save some time in the parking lot. I would just have to run the lag bolts into the new bunks. Good call.

Have a look at the Australian built trailers, particularly 1/2 bunk, 1/2 roller. Bunks dont do anything except hold the weight, rollers do the rest without any damage to the hull or issue any with bolts. Good system get on with the game.

[dalt1]

I've been thinking I was going to recarpet my bunks soon. I have a couple days off over the holiday & think I'll be doing it this weekend. Obviously I'll be pulling the bunks to do it. And will keep an eye on those bolts.

Bill,

I was going to recarpet also but decided to just move the bunks to a different position on trailer as they only wore in specific areas on each. Inside verse outside on each board. I just moved or spun them 180 degrees to put worn carpet in area that looked like new carpet proir to move. Next time I will have to recarpet. Get twice the life out of carpet this way.

Almost wish I'd read this a few hours ago. I found some indoor/outdoor carpet, got two of the bunks done. I don't know that I could have reversed the bunks anyway because Extreme didn't have the middle bolt in the exact middle of the bunk. They did however use carriage bolts, double nutted with one nylock nut. I'm half done so far.... got too hot today & I decided I needed to go ride instead. I'll finish the rest Sunday morning.

I know it's too late for Bill but anyone else just wanting to shift bunk positions like I did, ( all bunk boards were same length )I relocated bunks and drilled all new holes. Old hole positions wouldn't line up. Pulled carriage bolts right over carpet on top untill it drew down deep enough to be below surface of carpet and wood.

[Deke]

I know it's too late for Bill but anyone else just wanting to shift bunk positions like I did, ( all bunk boards were same length )I relocated bunks and drilled all new holes. Old hole positions wouldn't line up. Pulled carriage bolts right over carpet on top untill it drew down deep enough to be below surface of carpet and wood.

I've got to replace my bunks and carpet and will be prefabing and installing at the parking lot. I'd love to use carriage bolts instead of lags but thought I needed to carpet over them. I've never seen it bolted through the carpet before. Is there any downside to this?

Deke

[MalibuNation]

I had the bunk come off the rear of my boat lift this spring and luckily my neighbor noticed. Dang boat was resting on the post (for a lack of a better word) that the bunk attaches to. He was worried it punch a hole in my boat ... told him it's a Bu ... he has a Four Winns

[dalt1]

Deke

As long as you draw them deep enough, no problem. I torqued mine down till top of heads were about 1/4" below top of carpet surface.

Edited July 5, 2009 by dalt1

[tj_in_kc]

Bill did your Extreme trailer come with those chrome plates on the steps or did you install those???

Reason I ask is my V-Ride has black rubber mats there, and the black rubber now leaves blackness on your barefeet if you step there. Stepping there on the trailer, then into the boat leaves nasty black residue on the boat seats!!!!!!!!!

[TallRedRider]

Deke

As long as you draw them deep enough, no problem. I torqued mine down till top of heads were about 1/4" below top of carpet surface.

Digging up an old thread, but I think the information is good. I was hoping to not have to do this when it is 107 degrees in my garage, but I just noticed a bunk of mine is busted and I have some nifty streaks on the hull where it rubbed. Nothing serious, but it is going to need more than some wax and elbow grease.

Anyway the question I have is about the carriage bolts. Would save plenty of grief to pull those straight through the carpet provided that they sink in far enough. But I am worried about the smooth head rotating when I crank on them to get them tight. I guess I will try this on a spare piece of wood in the garage and see what I get.

My trailer bolts have 2 nuts on them, the first is a normal nut, and then the second is a nylock nut. Several of them are loose, but I cannot tighten them because the head spins. So that is why this concerns me so much. It is going to be a moot point pretty quick, but wondering what I do 18 months down the road, if they loosen again.

[skibreeze]

I had to replace the bunks on my 05. The carpet was shot and the 2x4s were rotting in spots. It is a pita to put the carraige bolts in first and then carpet the bunks, but it is more secure than lag bolts. The original carpet was wrapped around the bottom and overlapped by 4". This trapped water inside the bunk rotting them out. When I recovered them I made sure that the carpet just went edge to edge at the bottom to allow proper drainage.

[dalt1]

Digging up an old thread, but I think the information is good. I was hoping to not have to do this when it is 107 degrees in my garage, but I just noticed a bunk of mine is busted and I have some nifty streaks on the hull where it rubbed. Nothing serious, but it is going to need more than some wax and elbow grease.

Anyway the question I have is about the carriage bolts. Would save plenty of grief to pull those straight through the carpet provided that they sink in far enough. But I am worried about the smooth head rotating when I crank on them to get them tight. I guess I will try this on a spare piece of wood in the garage and see what I get.

My trailer bolts have 2 nuts on them, the first is a normal nut, and then the second is a nylock nut. Several of them are loose, but I cannot tighten them because the head spins. So that is why this concerns me so much. It is going to be a moot point pretty quick, but wondering what I do 18 months down the road, if they loosen again.

Mine are holding up fine after 3 years. Boy time flies. I had no problem with the heads spinning when I drew the nuts tight.

[dalt1]

OK maybe it's only been 2 years!

[shawndoggy]

Mine would spin if I didn't "break" the nylock and regular nut. But if I held the nylock nut and tightened the inside nut then it would crank down to the point that it was tight then I could crank the nylock nut down.

[TallRedRider]

I had to replace the bunks on my 05. The carpet was shot and the 2x4s were rotting in spots. It is a pita to put the carraige bolts in first and then carpet the bunks, but it is more secure than lag bolts. The original carpet was wrapped around the bottom and overlapped by 4". This trapped water inside the bunk rotting them out. When I recovered them I made sure that the carpet just went edge to edge at the bottom to allow proper drainage.

Hmmm...That is exactly what I did. Overlapped the carpet a few inches so that when it is bolted down, it will be tight between the bunk mount and the wood. I just felt like it would not be very secure stapled to the end of the 2X4.

Do you really think that is what happened? Around here, we have 100 + degrees and 10% humidity, so unless the carpet is waterproof, I have a hard time thinking that it still would not dry out.

I was not able to get to the lake yesterday, so I plan on getting these installed this week sometime. Any more thoughts?

[skibreeze]

Hmmm...That is exactly what I did. Overlapped the carpet a few inches so that when it is bolted down, it will be tight between the bunk mount and the wood. I just felt like it would not be very secure stapled to the end of the 2X4.

Do you really think that is what happened? Around here, we have 100 + degrees and 10% humidity, so unless the carpet is waterproof, I have a hard time thinking that it still would not dry out.

I was not able to get to the lake yesterday, so I plan on getting these installed this week sometime. Any more thoughts?

I am sure that overlapping the carpet keeps water in longer. I only had enough carpet to do 2 of the 4 bunks and then when I did do the other 2, there was a big difference in moisture a day after boating.

[TallRedRider]

I thought I would finally get around to updating my experience.

Treated wood is just a bit too firm to get the head of the bolts to sink. So I used a 3/4 inch wood bit and depressed the hole slightly and that worked great.

I wish that I had a slightly smaller drill bit to make the holes for the bolts. I still had some problems with the entire bolt rotating when I tightened it up. I was still able to get them snug, but not as tight as I would like in a couple of spots.

Here is a pic of the head of the bolt before I countersunk the hole. And then after.

[Nitrousbird]

I always keep a bag of zip ties in the side compartment of my Avalanche for situations just like this. The bunks on my last boat (old Sea Ray I/O) were shot, and if one would float free, I'd simply zip-tie it back on. I think one of the bunks when I sold that boat was held on only by zip ties - but worked fine.