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Slop in Swing Away Tongue Pin


spinxt

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My “new” LXi has an Extreme trailer with a swing away tongue.  It is so much noisier than my non-swing away trailer was.  Is there a way to remove some of the slop between the pin and trailer?

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Assume it looks something like the below.  Be sure the bolt side of the swing away is tightened properly.   

If you have not done this already.  My suggestion is to check the bolt and nut portion for proper snugness.  You should have some washers top and bottom and a double nut setup.   Loosen the double nut.  Then tighten the top nut to make the pivot snug to  up and down travel.  Then lock it in place with the 2nd nut.   The pin on the other side should be of a diameter to have minimal clearance when inserted.  You should not have a lot of play which could cause noise from the swing away portion.  

image.png.099ea3a04c588333d3090b6ba9751f16.png

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Similar setup to your pic.  I’ll check the bolt. On the other side.  There isn’t a ton of play in the pin, maybe a mm or two.  But enough that’s it’s annoying. 

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Are you sure it is from the swing away feature?  I’ve noticed a lot of play from surge brakes - especially if they are low on brake fluid. 

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56 minutes ago, RyanB said:

Are you sure it is from the swing away feature?  I’ve noticed a lot of play from surge brakes - especially if they are low on brake fluid. 

And when the fluid is low you will get a clunking noise when you pull forward from a stop.. You here it more on acceleration than when braking.. Try bleeding your brakes as well.. I have made bleeding brakes part of spring getting ready and no longer have the clunking issue.

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1 hour ago, RyanB said:

Are you sure it is from the swing away feature?  I’ve noticed a lot of play from surge brakes - especially if they are low on brake fluid. 

Yes..I just rebuilt the entire break system and installed new hoses and calipers.  I bled it twice.  Brakes are good.  It’s def coming from the swing tongue.

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1 hour ago, kerpluxal said:

And when the fluid is low you will get a clunking noise when you pull forward from a stop.. You here it more on acceleration than when braking.. Try bleeding your brakes as well.. I have made bleeding brakes part of spring getting ready and no longer have the clunking issue.

I have this symptom. Going to re check level and bleed. Thanks !

Steve B.

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4 hours ago, spinxt said:

Yes..I just rebuilt the entire break system and installed new hoses and calipers.  I bled it twice.  Brakes are good.  It’s def coming from the swing tongue.

My money is still on further inspection of the surge brake system. The actuator itself can go bad. I’ve had that happen on two different boats. 

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18 hours ago, RyanB said:

My money is still on further inspection of the surge brake system. The actuator itself can go bad. I’ve had that happen on two different boats. 

I checked it again today.  Fluid level is fine.   It’s got the appropriate tension (hard to push in/pull out by hand).   There is no slop on the brake actuator front to back.  The slop seems to be side to side.  It’s almost like it. Needs another washer on the slide pins.

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On 4/23/2019 at 5:47 AM, ORMailbuboater said:

Assume it looks something like the below.  Be sure the bolt side of the swing away is tightened properly.   

If you have not done this already.  My suggestion is to check the bolt and nut portion for proper snugness.  You should have some washers top and bottom and a double nut setup.   Loosen the double nut.  Then tighten the top nut to make the pivot snug to  up and down travel.  Then lock it in place with the 2nd nut.   The pin on the other side should be of a diameter to have minimal clearance when inserted.  You should not have a lot of play which could cause noise from the swing away portion.  

image.png.099ea3a04c588333d3090b6ba9751f16.png

Notice how the newer trailers have an offset set of pins not parralell with each other as illistrated above. This is to support the swing away bar as opposed to relying on the hinge & locking pins.

The front portion is fairly light, with the trailer parked & unhitched but with the swing away part loked in position as shown above, grab the ball hitch part & lift it a little to feel for movement.

Found my hitch had flogged the holes out from the movement on bumpy concrete highways, pins were fine, the thin plates were flogged out about 1/16" longer. Yuo can feel the movement where there should be none.

My fix as I didnt use the swingaway portion was to get a 3/4" threaded rod & weld box section acting as a sleeve to a fabricated hook, bolt an angle to the trailer underside of the drawbar then pull togeather the lower portion effectivly pulling togeather the worn out movement preventing  further movement.

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I noticed mine felt sloppier than normal so I had my dad jump in the truck and pull forward and slam on the brakes while I watched the tongue. The part that had the most play and noise was the surge actuator sliding in and out 3/4”. 

Apparently that’s normal but for me I’ve never noticed it as much before. I did double check they were working by unplugging trailer and backing in reverse and the brakes engaged. 

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2 hours ago, Cole2001 said:

I noticed mine felt sloppier than normal so I had my dad jump in the truck and pull forward and slam on the brakes while I watched the tongue. The part that had the most play and noise was the surge actuator sliding in and out 3/4”. 

Apparently that’s normal but for me I’ve never noticed it as much before. I did double check they were working by unplugging trailer and backing in reverse and the brakes engaged. 

When disconnected simply lift up on tongue, if it moves upward more than 1/4” then it’s out of spec from the knucke with two holes welded to trailer frame wearing. If that is slop, you either replace that piece or use two bolts and tighten, as per Boatmate “ knock the snot  out of it with an impact on both bolts” and lose your swivel , chose lose swivel as my carport can take it cause I have serious body paint work of galvanized and regular paint to blend in to frame of trailer to cut off old knuckle and weld in new 

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