Moved bow roller stop back 3 inches

[Minh Nguyen]

Today i replaced my trailer bunks with the new replacement from shorelander. While I had to boat off, I went ahead and moved the bow stop/roller back 3 inches. It trailered better back home, I only live 2 miles from ramp. On my weight safe hitch it still shows about 500 lbs.

 

[Minh Nguyen]

Also tried the connext screen cover that my wife made out of neoprene. When I have the boat home to clean or do some work, there's always that direct sun hitting the screen. This should help it.

 

[deschaine29]

Does your wife make and sell these?

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Today i replaced my trailer bunks with the new replacement from shorelander. While I had to boat off, I went ahead and moved the bow stop/roller back 3 inches. It trailered better back home, I only live 2 miles from ramp. On my weight safe hitch it still shows about 500 lbs.

The owners manual says to move the truck, or the part of the trailer that has the wheels and is U bolted to the rest of the trailer, to adjust the tongue weight, one inch of movement adjusts tongue weight by 10-15 pounds.



The first thing you need to do is go to a CAT scale and have the boat and trailer weighed to accurately determine the loaded trailer weight. Posted weights are nice, but in my experience they are usually not accurate due to various reasons not necessary due to malfeasance.

If you do not have the boat far enough forward on the trailer the bow can bounce on the roller. So I think you should start off by putting your winch tower back to where it was stock and get the boat fully on the bunks, fill the tank with gas, and make sure you have all the gear you would normally have on board and go weigh the trailer, then recheck the tongue weight and adjust accordingly.

The dry weight of your boat on the trailer is supposed to be 4,992#, plus a full tank of fuel 420# is 5,412#-the CAT scale weight will be interesting to see- 5% of that number is 270#, 7% of that is 378.84#. So maybe move the axle truck 12” forward (10-15 pounds per inch-split the baby at 12# per inch, 12x12=144#) to bring the tongue weight to bring the tongue weight to 500-144=356#?

 

[jacoviii]

The owners manual says to move the truck, or the part of the trailer that has the wheels and is U bolted to the rest of the trailer, to adjust the tongue weight, one inch of movement adjusts tongue weight by 10-15 pounds.

View attachment 231785

The first thing you need to do is go to a CAT scale and have the boat and trailer weighed to accurately determine the loaded trailer weight. Posted weights are nice, but in my experience they are usually not accurate due to various reasons not necessary due to malfeasance.

If you do not have the boat far enough forward on the trailer the bow can bounce on the roller. So I think you should start off by putting your winch tower back to where it was stock and get the boat fully on the bunks, fill the tank with gas, and make sure you have all the gear you would normally have on board and go weigh the trailer, then recheck the tongue weight and adjust accordingly.

The dry weight of your boat on the trailer is supposed to be 4,992#, plus a full tank of fuel 420# is 5,412#-the CAT scale weight will be interesting to see- 5% of that number is 270#, 7% of that is 378.84#. So maybe move the axle truck 12” forward (10-15 pounds per inch-split the baby at 12# per inch, 12x12=144#) to bring the tongue weight to bring the tongue weight to 500-144=356#?

WoW he said he move the bow stop back 3" towards the back of the trailer. Not the hitch/ tongue . He did not imply that he stopped the boat short on the trailer. At 500lb on the Weight safe hitch he is more than safe. Also moving the axle 12" is crazy. That will change the steering/ turn radius. Not to mention could very likely interduce sway at highway speeds.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

WoW he said he move the bow stop back 3" towards the back of the trailer. Not the hitch/ tongue . He did not imply that he stopped the boat short on the trailer. At 500lb on the Weight safe hitch he is more than safe. Also moving the axle 12" is crazy. That will change the steering/ turn radius. Not to mention could very likely interduce sway at highway speeds.

Just passing along what the manual says…

 

[drewkaree]

WoW he said he move the bow stop back 3" towards the back of the trailer. Not the hitch/ tongue . He did not imply that he stopped the boat short on the trailer. At 500lb on the Weight safe hitch he is more than safe. Also moving the axle 12" is crazy. That will change the steering/ turn radius. Not to mention could very likely interduce sway at highway speeds.

Running semi's, I routinely had to move the rear axle assembly multiple times a day, typically 3-6 feet. 12" on a 25' trailer isn't gonna be as extreme as it sounds.

If he has to move it forward, it'll handle more like a 19' trailer, which could be better depending on the situation - if you've seen Ronnie's parking, for instance, that might be a godsend

The sway is easy to test as well, just measure from the back of the carrier to the end of the bunks, and make sure they're the same measurement.

You're correct, that bad adjustments may cause problems, but anyone on here that's reasonably handy should be able to complete the task successfully. For small weight adjustments, the bow stop IS the easiest, but I'd be leery that someone may misinterpret the concept and try to do all the adjustments via the bow stop for anything over 3-4"

 

[Minh Nguyen]

Wow, thanks for adding to this discussion. Hopefully this isnt confusing nor suggestive to all to blindly move the bow stop back. I do a lot of short towing over unsmooth pavements and it always felt hard and jarring. So the few times im at my local DFW dealer, i spoke to Ivan regarding the trailer bow stop being adjusted. He is one of the top service guys there, a seasoned one at that. Every inch equates to about 40lbs if i remember correctly. I had moved it about 1.5 inches at first, then decided to move it further. It could certainly be dangerous if it was moved back too far without around 10% on the tongue. So there's that to consider. Im happy with my position currently. Doing a 800 mile trip (one way) this summer to Florida.

 

[Minh Nguyen]

Does your wife make and sell these?

No, but if you want one she could make it with your boat name or any custom image you want. Just cover materials and shipping. Its super inexpensive.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Wow, thanks for adding to this discussion. Hopefully this isnt confusing nor suggestive to all to blindly move the bow stop back. I do a lot of short towing over unsmooth pavements and it always felt hard and jarring. So the few times im at my local DFW dealer, i spoke to Ivan regarding the trailer bow stop being adjusted. He is one of the top service guys there, a seasoned one at that. Every inch equates to about 40lbs if i remember correctly. I had moved it about 1.5 inches at first, then decided to move it further. It could certainly be dangerous if it was moved back too far without around 10% on the tongue. So there's that to consider. Im happy with my position currently. Doing a 800 mile trip (one way) this summer to Florida.

You can move the tower back to shift some weight but you don’t want very much of the hull hanging over the bunks. You should have gotten a packet with your boat that had the manuals for the shore lander trailer, the brakes, and the surge brake actuator I suggest consulting these documents to confirm how to set your tongue weight. As I stated above, shore lander wants 5-7% tongue weight on their trailers, not the traditional 10%. There is something in the shorelander manual about proper tongue weight and surge brake actuator performance.