Issue with my Ramlin trailer?

[aswinter05]

I was wiping down the bottom of my 200 the other day and noticed that the "keel roller" must be putting a lot of pressure on the bottom of my boat. It's leaving nasty black stains and possibly even wearing down the keel where it touches. It's also resting on the roller when the boat is out of the water. The other 200's at my club don't even touch the keel roller when out of the water. It's almost like the bunks aren't cradling the boat enough? I've experimented with putting the trailer in the water more but that hasn't worked.

 

Has anyone else had this problem with their Ramlin? If so what did you do to remedy the problem. Thanks guys.

[BraceMaker]

Are your bunks or roller adjustable? If so raise bunks or lower roller to address issue.

 

You can also swap the rollers - I don't like the black rubber rollers, the firm urethane doesn't seem to mar the hull and a smaller diameter roller will contact hull less than larger.

[aswinter05]

@BraceMaker thanks. To my knowledge the roller and bunks don't look adjustable. Someone else mentioned purchasing a poly roller to get rid of the black marks.

 

I like that idea but I'm still a bit worried that I'm damaging the keel by letting my Nautique rest on that roller over time. (even though the keel is probably the strongest part of the boat).

[aswinter05]

I've contacted 2 Nautique dealers today and neither really had a recommendation. They basically said there has been several trailer issues ever since the 200's came out but Phoenix has fixed the issue with their most recent model. They also said typically dealerships won't do much in the way of modifying trailers?

[BraceMaker]

Bunks can usually be shimmed by pulling off trailer and putting a backing in there.

[aswinter05]

@BraceMaker I think that would fix the issue. Maybe throw on a poly while I'm at it. Appreciate the suggestions.

[ForrestGump]

You are not damaging the keel, other than cosmetically from the roller marks. It's 1 1/2 inches thick there.

[BraceMaker]

Shane's got it - Another thought I had - some people like those add on poly/slide materials on top of carpeted bunks - the idea being carpet can hold moisture/grit - and the poly material does not.

 

It has the negative of not "gripping" the hull, so there is more risk of the boat coming off the trailer... which is the positive of making loading/launching easier on sub-par ramps.

[GAJ0004]

I have one of the last of the correct craft trailers. If you cannot float your boat on the trailer keep the bunks clean. I take a shop vac to my trailer bunks every now and then. Try to float your boat on whenever possible. As long as you have the guides at the back of the trailer it should be a snap.

[countymountie]

This is a similar issue that I'm having with my 200 on a Phoenix. The roller is on the rear (stern) side of the trailer near the front two bunks. You will note that the keel has scraped some of the white paint off. My trailer was also modified by Phoenix, they changed the trailer from 4 long bunks to 4 smaller bunks near the front and two more at the rear. They also welded on the bow roller that you see in the pic (they gave me the black one that was leaving marks so I swapped it out to a Stoltz).

 

Would adding another keel roller on the other side be a solution?

[BraceMaker]

@countymountie - have any pictures of how those rollers sit?

 

Ideally rollers are positioned such that they help "lift" the bow up the trailer towards the bow winch and help guide the boat back and off the trailer.

 

I've done a fair amount of trailer modding in my youth when I had a marina job, we unfortunately handled many boats that were shipped on a semi - offloaded with a forklift and packaged with a "shore'lander" universal fit trailer. Meant a lot of adjusting bunks. The standard method was set the bunks to the chines as best you could, rollers were only added if the boat would get hung up, you'd then add a bracket with U-bolts and a keel roller so that it was lightly against the hull, and you'd launch/recover again. Otherwise the rollers aren't great components.

[gregy]

@aswinter05 post some pic if possible.

[aswinter05]

@gregy I will when I'm at the club next.

[aswinter05]

woops. I definitely DO NOT have a ramlin. It's a phoenix. Anyhoo, that's sort of beside the point. Here are some pictures of my issue. Once again, I've tried launching the trailer as deep as I feel comfortable up until my exhaust pipe is almost underwater.

 

If that's a normal amount of love that a keel and a roller should be sharing... so be it. I'm just wondering if I should consider raising the bunks and/or lowering the roller.

 

If it looks normal and I just need a poly material roller, then that's cool too

[gregy]

The boat is really close to the frame at that point. If it were mine I would have concern too. You might contact the trailer manufacture or nautique directly and send them those pictures. My 20 plus year old Malibu is not marked up like that. In fact when loading and unloading it rest totally on the trailer bunks. Other factors I'd consider, Steepness of ramp and hitch height.

 

That crossmember could possibly be cut out and lowered or redesigned but personally no way I'd be happy with that after shelling out that much money for a boat.

 

 

[aswinter05]

@gregy thanks. I sent an email with those pics to the dealer. I'm sure they will help in some way

[countymountie]

@aswinter05, switching over to a Stoltz PU cut down on some of the scuffs. I noticed your roller is black in the same spot that they installed mine during the retro-fit. The keel on my boat doesn't sit on the roller, but I have scuff marks on the cross bar from the keel making contact with the trailer. I'm thinking that this was a poorly laid out design. Before the retro-fit when there was only 4 bunks on the trailer it looked like the trailer wasn't made for the boat.

 

Would putting another roller on the other side of the cross bar help in my situation?

 

@BraceMaker the pics above give a a pretty good idea of what I have, but the cross bar trailer doesn't come down in a "v" but is slightly bowed.

[GAJ0004]

I would take the roller off completely and cover the crossbar with padding and carpeting.