Boat Trailer bunk re-carpeting

[Mark Poppleton]

My Nautique is in the water and I need to re-carpet some of the bunks where the carpet is ripped. Does anyone have any suggestions? Where do I buy the carpet? Are there any installation tips from anyone? I was thinking that I remove the bunk strip the old carpet, glue / Staple new carpet using stainless staples and re-install bunk?

 

Can anyone help?

Thank u.

Mark

[oldjeep]

New wood unless you hate yourself enough to try stripping the old wood. Monel staples. Some folks just use indoor outdoor carpet from home store, if you have time there is a guy on eBay who sells heavy duty bunk carpet cheap

[Bill22]

Check etrailer.com

[TallSkinnyGuy]

Lots of advice on this on the MC Team Talk forum, probably lots on the Nautique owners' forums, too. Most of the advice I have seen is to put on layer of carpet over the top and sides, then staple another layer of carpet all the way around to the bottom of the boards. Use new wood. Do another final bolt tightening after your boat is on the trailer.

[harddock]

the bunk boards are beveled, not just bolting a 2x4to the frame.

[oldjeep]

Maybe a 2x6 unless nautique trailers are really delicately built.

[BCM]

I have sourced the carpet from etrailer, west marine and nautique parts. All about the same. Go with new boards. If you use carriage bolts, buy new stainless hardware. Counter sink the carriage bolts. Go prepared to cut the old bolts off. The Malibu trailer I did last season was 2x6 and so is my CC, regular 2x6, no bevels. I like the idea of a second layer on top, I will try that next round (in a few weeks). Make sure you buy enough rolls to prevent seams. I use stainless staples, found on amazon pretty cheap.

 

I try to wrap the carpet around and notch it at the bolt holes so that it will be pinched between the bunk and mount so that if all of my staples failed, the carpet would stay on.

[harddock]

I have a Ramlin and it uses 2x4' and they appear canted with a beveled edge.

[Shell]

I was also thinking about recarpeting my trailer bunks. Ive examined my Nautique trailer and its going to be "difficult", the bunks are contoured/canted to the frame of the trailer (not straight) and it seems as tho they are screwed threw the wood/bunk into the frame to secure it....(no holes thru bottom of frame).......ive yet to dive into this.....

[spicoli]

academy sports has precut .good as any.if you take bunks off the bolts might snap there self drill.I drilled and taped so a quarter 20 bolt could be used .you need to get a 2x6 spit it .then turn it on edge tilt blade in saw from top corner leave about 1 inch thick on other edge.the bunks are 4 pieces 2 long and 2 shorts up frt ..

[A_B]

I have a Phoenix trailer under my CC and they told me it is just regular 2x6, but if you look at it, you would swear it was curved or contoured. I have wear spots on the inner most top edge of the bunks, and plan to sand down the existing wood if I reuse, or taper the new ones a little. That seems to be a sharp area of wear or else I wouldn't need to be messing around replacing them.

 

There was a guy online that sold the wider stuff for the 2x6 in any length you want, so you don't have to overlap on the length.

 

AB

 

[spicoli]

Yea when I did them I put a longer flater bevel and the up frt were it was rubbing hard.mounted them cut and beveled then took a 7in grinder with 80grit and worked those spots I would like to see how it looks .I did someone else's haven't seen it since last summer. They had someone else do them and with the steep bevel they put the boat pushed out on them and snapped the bunks right in to.

.the contour is a long and short board cut at angle and butted together with carpet they look curved but yours might be

 

[boarditup]

Don't use salt treated wood. It will eat away at anything metal. I beveled the ends of the boards where they contact the boat, and especially at the stern. As my hull was stepped, I also put a 1/4" thick sheet of solid neoprene rubber on the top of the board and glued/screwed it down.

[oldjeep]

I prefer to leave the bottoms of the boards partially uncovered with carpet, lets them drain a bit better so that the bunks don't rot so fast. Not a big deal for folks who live on a lift, but my bunks are typically still dripping after a week in the garage.

[east tx skier]

Olefin outdoor/marine carpet from Lowe's/HD works fine for bunk carpet. I prefer to double wrap. Use stainless staples. It's a project, but not one you can't handle.

[Web]

Rebuilt mine this year. IMO just replace it all. I tried to just make minor repair and it was just not worth it. Use pressure treated 2x6. New carpet from overtons. Stainless staples. Leave bottom middle of board uncoverd for drying/venting. Clamp boards in place. Drill pilot holes. Stainless lag screws from bottom up. Snug up screws but don't try to draw boards all the way down!! Then put boat on, and let it settle. I put the boat on, snugged screws, then drove home 40 miles. Then snuggled a few days later before I moved it again. It does settle a bunch. While you are at it, check your wheel bearings, hydraulics for surge brakes or whatever brakes you have, and make sure tounge connects are all good. I know you all check lights and air pressure regularly :smiley:

[Web]

Oh, and put some duct tape on your drill bit at the correct depth. You want blind holes from the bottom.

[ozski]

Any negatives with multi rollers besides the price? I've seen variations from half done with rollers to no bunks at all.

[A_B]

Will multi rollers hold the boat on the trailer as you back down the ramp? I would worry it would roll off the trailer. I like to stop at the top and get the boat ready and my buddy gets in and I back in and he drives off. In the old days with the nautique bumper pads, we would drive on and power out without getting out of the car to hook up and winch like the newer trailers.

 

My trailer is a Phoenix powder coated trailer and I am replacing wood with Southern Yellow Pine per their recommendation. They said that treated wood has stuff in it that attacks the metal. So just regular wood 2x6x14.5' and stainless staples.

[oldjeep]

@A_B wouldn't trust bunks to hold either without a strap on the front. My inlaws put a boat fully on the concrete ramp while launching about 12 years ago because that is how he launched. Worked every time until the time it didn't.

 

As for the rollers, good for allowing you to launch in water that is really too shallow. Not a fan for anything but tin boats.

[BrennanKMN]

I launch like @A_B - I very rarely launch with anything connecting the boat to the trailer. If I had a winch I'd use it, but the turn buckle on the Ramlin is a pain. I would never even consider launching/retrieving this way with rollers, a v-drive or a steep ramp.

 

I would shy away from rollers though just do to the marks they leave on boats. I have yet to see a nice looking boat hull that sits on a roller trailer.

 

[A_B]

About the curved wood.

I asked Phoenix about that and he said it is just straight 2x6 not pre-curved.

 

I am thinking I will put on the front first and bend toward the rear. I guess over time the boat must cause the wood to curve.

 

I ordered 2 Southern Yellow Pines in 2x6x16' from Menards, as nobody stocked it around here. Number 1 grade so little or no knots. Knots will pop up or out over time.

 

Got marine grade carpet from the link I posted above and it was all one length and wide enough to overlap under the wood. So will have an uncut 14.5' piece on each bunk.

 

Oh yea, if I remember from the last time I did the bunks, the new carpet is slipperyier than the old stuff and the boat will slide off the trailer as you back down. I had it unhooked and had to give it some gas in a hurry in reverse as it started to slide off.

 

I might keep the hook attached this time.

[BCM]

I'm doing mine today. Carpet from eTrailer. Using 2x6 Douglas-fir boards, stainless staples and I am a fan of counter sunk stainless carriage bolts over lags from the bottom. They can be a bit trickier to install/remove, but I am not a fan of the idea of a lag pointed toward my boat. It is likely fine, but I am paranoid about things like that...

[Jdubs]

If you plan on keeping your trailer for a while I would suggest considering snaptraxx. http://www.snaptraxx.com/ I have this installed on my boat lift at my dock. If you do decide to simply re-carpet your trailer - I would look into a silicon lubricant each time before the boat loads on the trailer. My Ski Nautique 200 is in my opinion the best ski boat of all time, but the hull has spray inhibitors that cause headaches with bunks / carpet. Once I started spraying on the silicon lubricant the boat slips on and off. Just make sure you take precaution and secure the boat to the trailer as it can become very slick and the boat can end up sliding off onto the pavement.

 

 

[oldjeep]

Neat stuff, I think I figured one time that it would cost about $800 to do my 6 bunk trailer with those ;)

[Web]

@A_B I used straight boards and some manual clamps when drilling pilot holes and snugging down. Key is to not over tighten the lag screws to draw boards flush to brackets. You will strip the board. Let the boat weight do all the work, then go back under and snug them down. C'sunk carriage bolts from top may be able to draw boards all the way down but I would still snug the nuts underneath after the boat weight settles boards.

[A_B]

Phoenix uses galvanize wood lag bolts that just go into the wood from the underside, so that is all I bought. I will keep them a little loose like you suggest. Makes sense.

[JordanOz]

@ozski my 200 is on a Phoenix trailer that has rollers all the way up the middle, and bunks each side that go from the back up to about the pylon. It works great, and the rollers are set up at the back of the trailer a fraction lower than the bunks so it won't roll off unless something out of the ordinary happens. I always unhook the winch at the waters edge though, just in case. This is the only pic I have that sort of shows it. (I really should take a shot of the trailer next time the boat is off it)

 

 

Certainly helped earlier this year at Lake Eildon. The lake went down so fast in 2 days that the ramp was out of the water, and if I didn't have the rollers I doubt I would have gotten the boat out! I was skeptical when I got it this boat having always had full bunk trailers, but now I think they are great.

[BCM]

@A_B - I changed my mind while I was at the hardware store yesterday morning and went with stainless lags, way easier than carriage bolts, but I highly recommend starting loose then snugging up over time. With the twist in my boards on my 196 trailer I likely would have stripped the holes trying to snug the lags before loading the boat.

[A_B]

Yes my 2007 has quite a bow in the boards.

I will keep them a little loose and then lock them down when the boat is sitting on them.

Thanks.

[Hallpass]

The older Nautique trailers, and the wishbone Ramlins seem to be the only ones that are beveled. The only problem with double wrapping the carpets is that they seem to rot much more quickly. BKH

[A_B]

I plan to bevel the inside edges of my bunks. the carpet ripped right on the edge. I thought I would take my belt sander and just round it off a little.