Trailer bunk carpet. CE Smith and Fulton look so thin?

[Smokedvw]

So the very ends of the carpet are staring to go and where the front of the boat meets the 2 carpeted holders has come off and made a pretty sizable hole in the fiberglass we just noticed.  I plan to rip off the old carpet and re-due it this weekend but I have 2 options listed below.  The issue I see is if you reuse the old boards to me it seems like its going to be a pain putting it on with a hand stapler and having old staples and residual carpet on there. 

They are 2x4's and I thought of either going 8" wide carpet and stapling leaving the bottom open or 11" and covering the whole 2x4.  The issue I have is that the new carpet seems WAY thinner than the original stuff that is on there now.  The stuff on there now looks like actual carpet material vs the new stuff does not have the same type of thick glue backing.

I have 2 options since I need to pull the boat out of the water this weekend.  

• Remove the old carpet and put on new stuff (CE Smith or Fulton bunk carpet links below) which seems kind of thin 6mm and on the current boards and hope the boards are in decent condition 
• Patch up the ends of the carpet that are ripped where the boat would slide into when loading and then over winter get new 2x4's and do all the carpeting with thicker carpet and have them ready to go to replace next time I take the boat out (possibly October, otherwise next summer).

CE Smith (seems to have slightly better reviews but will be harder for me to get by Friday EOD)

https://www.amazon.ca/Smith-Trailer-11372-Carpet-Roll/dp/B00144746Y/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=trailer+bunk+carpet&qid=1600276055&sr=8-1

Fulton carpet 

https://www.amazon.com/Fulton-CR8008-Replacement-Carpeting-144-Inch/dp/B0000AYD4H?th=1&psc=1

 

This is the one that I pulled apart and made a new board for already since this was cutting into the boat.

 

The more I look at these photos the harder I think it will be to really pull off all the carpet on there now without having to take the boards off and if I do take the boards off and they are in the condition of the front ones (all broken) we will be somewhat up s***s creek to repair it this weekend.  The location is close enough to go pickup some boards I guess but it will prolong the project vs doing it at home.

Edited September 16, 2020 by Smokedvw

[Bird]

By observation it appears the area of extreme carpet wear should be sanded down so you have more contact area for boat to bear against.   Removing the carpet is not that bad. I would remove carpet and reshape the wood to allow better contact. It is best to check this with boat on the trailer and use a thin feeler gauge to determine contact area. Sand down hard contact and shim up bunks by placing HDPe shim stock between the trailer support and the bottom of the bunk. When I replace my carpet I radius all edges with a 1/2” round over router bit. Also you should check that bolts are carriage not lags and are long enough except double jam nuts to lock off. You can use a cheap paddle drill bit to slightly counter bore the top of bunk to recess the head of carriage bolt so that the head of the bolt doesn’t wear thru the carpet. I purchased carpet in bulk that was 6’ wide and long enough for longest bunk and cut the width so the carpet wrapped around and under bunk. I think my carpet was 24 oz.  Make sure you use SS staples

[Nitrousbird]

I just did the bunks on mine a week ago.  Originals from 2001, so they lasted.

This is the carpet I bought; 18oz, decent enough quality: https://www.ebay.com/itm/18-oz-Bunk-Marine-Carpet-BOAT-Trailer-BLACK-12-x-50-Runners-Outdoors/192957048434?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

Your boards may be in worse shape than you think.  I considered just re-carpeting mine, but started finding a bit of rot when I was pulling some bolts.  Wood also isn't that expensive.  I had 2x6's on mine - cost me $45 in treated lumber.

Buy an electric stapler.  No chance in hell I'd do bunks with a manual hand stapler.  They are cheap and will do a better job.

Stainless staples, stainless lab bolts.  If I had somewhere to keep my boat off the trailer for a couple days, I would have considered through-bolting.  I didn't and the lags lasted 19 years, so I went with that.  Instead, I went to the ramp, pulled the boat off, tied it up, pulled the trailer out and swapped bunks at the ramp.  I went when it was not busy and two other available ramps, so I had all the time I needed to do the bunk swap.  

[06malibu]

I recently did mine this summer as well. The original boards were cracked and rotted. New boards are not that expensive and you know they will last. Also removal of the old carpet and staples is not fun.I used the CE smith bunk carpet as well and has been holding up well so far. Have probably 20 launches on it this summer since replacing

[Smokedvw]

Just an update on this, I decided new boards would be the way to go but did not have time over the weekend so I went with the patch option.  @Nitrousbird I think mine were orignal boards as well and I can see it rotted out in various spots after we took of that first section that was in bad shape which made me decide not to continue to try to re-carpet and instead do it properly next summer.  I did re-make the front piece that was worn down, we did use a router to smooth the edge on that and then sunk the carriage bolts etc and put on new carpet there.  That all went well.  @Bird I will monitor that location and see if I need to look at cutting it down a little further to allow the boat to rest better on there.  Currently the old wood there made quite the start to a large hole into the fiberglass I will try to fix up this winter if possible (to at least fill it a bit).  After that I just went through and added new end pieces to each board and replaced one of the guide boards at the back (not sure the actual name of the vertical boards).

I will be able to have the boat off all next summer to fix it properly so it will be a lot easier to work with and replace all boards new and get thicker carpet like you showed there in the link

Thanks guys

[dhcomp]

I ordered 12oz from these guys with good luck.  Will go 18oz next time, but it has been good.

I'm also a fan of double carpeting the areas that have the most wear.

Doing a full dip of the trailer/bunks before loading the boat tends to help extend the life and reduce scratches too.

 

[Pra4sno]

Sailrite had my bunk carpet.  Nice stuff.