From Water to Trailer

[Classic BK]

We just bought the 2019 AR195. The dealership let us test drive the boat and then they put it on the trailer for us. Before we left the dealer, all straps that hold the boat were in place and seemed fine. We had a two hour car ride home. When we got home, we noticed that the straps that come from the trailer and cinch down on the back of the boat had came loose and almost fell off, which indicated that the boat moved on the trailer. The front strap on the boat still seemed tight. We reinstalled the rear straps again.

The next day, we took the boat out on our lake. After we were done, we put the boat back on the trailer. We tightened the crank in the front of the boat, where the front of the boat was in contact with the roller. After we drove forward in the parking lot, we noticed that the boat was not against the roller anymore (had moved slightly). So we circled back around and put the boat in the water again and re cranked the boat back on the trailer. We also installed the rear straps. This time, everything seemed good. When we made it home, a similar thing happened. The back straps were loose and the front of the boat was not touching the roller.

We do have pretty crappy roads where we are at, we also have to drive on a few gravel roads. Is there anything I can do to improve this? I could be doing something incorrectly. Any tips for a novice boater?

 

[ythao559]

The straps that come with the trailer are shitty. I noticed the same thing happened to me on many, if not all, occasions.

Once I upgraded to BoatBuckles, they were huge improve over the original ones. I still keep the originals in my car for back-up.

Although after upgrading to BoatBuckles, I still get a little bit of looseness after hitting the road. I believe that is due to the tension from the winch pulling the boat slightly forward once on the road and going over bumps.

Best thing to do is after going some short distances, especially on bumpy roads, pull aside and retention the straps. With BoatBuckles, you just need to check once and should be good all the way home.

FYI, I had to buy BoatBuckle universal adapters to install mine.

 

[Jim Crane]

Same thing here. I have boat buckles and when I first get going they loosen a little. I stop, tighten, then they are good for then on. It seems the boat likes to settle a little for the first mile. Been that way for 8 seasons.

 

[Gunner]

Same here. Stop after a mile or so and retighten then all will be good. Enjoy the boat.

 

[Beachbummer]

Even just right after going up the ramp...With a generous, energetic, hard stop, and re tighten the winch, it will move less and remain tight longer.

 

[Speedling]

The bow stop flexes.
Mine had a single bolt in order to adjust it. I got it where i was happy and welded it along with a support bracket. Had galvanized spray since my trailer is galvanized and has held up for several years now. Look into how yours is designed. A ton and a half of boat can move things with a bit of momentum.

 

[Cambo]

The trailer flexes and the boat moves its very common after you drive for 5 minutes tighten them up mine have never popped off .

 

[Bdog]

Same as above, invest in the boat buckles you won’t be sorry you did...drive for a little bit do a hard stop and then tighten everything up again and it should be good for the majority of your trip. Totally normal!

 

[Ronnie]

I was able to stop my boat from moving around on the trailer at all by installing boat buckles, bolting the bow stop to keep it from flexing and most importantly using a boat buddy II, now a ramp n clamp which essentially locks the bow eye to the bow stop (and which speeds recovery of the boat especially if power loading). So yeah, I did it the old fashioned way, basically threw money at it. Not having to pull over to tighten straps or brake hard to get the boat close to the bow stop makes the spend worth every penny.

Here is a link to a short video I did of the boat buddy and ramp n clamp on action. Still if your bow stop flexes your stern straps will get loose but your bow will always be touching the the bow stop.

 

[Gym]

Let your wife drive so you can blame it on her.

 

[zipper]

I am not fluent in Shorelander trailer but we were having the same problem with our MFI trailer. The way the bow stop was fastened to the trailer allowed for movement, fore and aft and side to side, of the whole assembly. Winching the boat on the trailer would pull the bowstop aft. After a few minutes down the road I looked back and saw the bow moving up and down, knowing I had cranked it up tight, I would have to pull over and crank it again, the boat had "settled" on the trailer. After I installed trim tabs I wanted the boat to land on the same place and stay there due to the small clearance between the trim tabs and the transom tie down straps. The solution was to thru-bolt the base of the bow stop which eliminated the fore and aft movement of the stop and put the boat in the same place on the trailer every time. So now when I crank it to the stop, that is it, it stays there and I dont have to adjust the transom tie-downs every time due to a different landing spot on the trailer. This has worked great for us.



Difficult to see from the angle of photo, but there is a 3/4" clearance between the tab and tie-down. I also added a 1/2" galv. closed eye bolt to the trailer at the tie-down hook spot. It gave me a little more clearance and took the twist out of the strap, eliminating contact with the trim tab.

 

[Speedling]

Just a pic of what i did.

 

[jamesk]

Installed boat buckles but boat still moves and loosens the straps even when I stop and tighten them, 10 miles later they are loose again.
Never had this with my last 19' stern drive.
Seems like poor design with the trailer.

Also seems like when I have the boat almost to the bow stop or just touching the bow roller and I crank the winch handle it seem like it pulls the boat downward rather than more forward.
I am well aware of this entire issue and it's dissapointing.

 

[Ronnie]

Here is how I “fixed” the bow stop from moving around on its post, 3 through bolts to supplement the single factory bolt that threads into a nut welded inside the post (I.e., it doesn’t even go all the way through the bow stop). I would have welded it if I could weld.

Also included are pics of the ramp n clamp to show that once the bow eye is locked into it the boat will not move away from the bow stop at all. My goal is to never be that guy bumbling, stumbling and / or fumbling at the ramp or the side of the road taking corrective actions.

 

[Ba6257]

I had the same problem with my MFI trailer. The factory single bolt through the bow stop is a joke. I could rock it back and forth 3-4 inches with little effort. I was going to try to drill it and put bolts through as others have done, but wound up taking it to a local trailer fabricator and for $50 they welded in a support brace and even painted it. Stopped all the movement and was worth it in my opinion.

In case others are wondering, here are pics of the factory setup. You can see where the base of my post bent and flared out from where it moved so far forward.

 

[haknslash]

We just bought the 2019 AR195. The dealership let us test drive the boat and then they put it on the trailer for us. Before we left the dealer, all straps that hold the boat were in place and seemed fine. We had a two hour car ride home. When we got home, we noticed that the straps that come from the trailer and cinch down on the back of the boat had came loose and almost fell off, which indicated that the boat moved on the trailer. The front strap on the boat still seemed tight. We reinstalled the rear straps again.

The next day, we took the boat out on our lake. After we were done, we put the boat back on the trailer. We tightened the crank in the front of the boat, where the front of the boat was in contact with the roller. After we drove forward in the parking lot, we noticed that the boat was not against the roller anymore (had moved slightly). So we circled back around and put the boat in the water again and re cranked the boat back on the trailer. We also installed the rear straps. This time, everything seemed good. When we made it home, a similar thing happened. The back straps were loose and the front of the boat was not touching the roller.

We do have pretty crappy roads where we are at, we also have to drive on a few gravel roads. Is there anything I can do to improve this? I could be doing something incorrectly. Any tips for a novice boater?

All boats will move on the trailer after they come out of the water. It's the boat settling on the bunks which will require you to tighten the boat back down after settling.

What I do works every time no matter if it's a boat or a PWC. When you leave the ramp you can stab the brakes real quick and make the adjustment then or you can travel down the road for a mile or two and retighten as that point. I prefer to stab the brakes once and do it then.

 

[Julian]

All boats will move on the trailer after they come out of the water. It's the boat settling on the bunks which will require you to tighten the boat back down after settling.

What I do works every time no matter if it's a boat or a PWC. When you leave the ramp you can stab the brakes real quick and make the adjustment then or you can travel down the road for a mile or two and retighten as that point. I prefer to stab the brakes once and do it then.

Exactly what hak said! This is completely normal! When you pull away from the ramp area find a spot where you can safely stomp on the brakes, do it (warn your passengers), then go out and tighten the straps again.

Also, when releasing the straps, let out as little as possible. What is happening is that the straps need to tighten down onto the take up spool....so when you crank the boat up, if the strap is loose....lean down on it to put some pressure on it when loading the spool, this helps to reduce the amount that slips under weight. (One day I'll make a video of this)

 

[Classic BK]

Thanks for the awesome responses. All of the comments are very useful. I have not had a chance to check the responses. Thanks guys!

 

[2kwik4u]

Anyone have any tips for getting the boat to sit "square" on the trailer every time? My wife doesn't like that I ask her to move to one side or the other to "balance" the boat in the water before I pull the boat out of the water. If I don't get it on there relatively "square" then I will have one transom strap tight as a guitar string, and one dangling loose when I get home.

I use the tailgate of the truck to judge "level and square" between the boat bow and the tailgate. Then use hand signals to get the wife to move to one side or the other to "balance" it in place. I usually get a single finger hand signal back from her during this process.

 

[zipper]

Anyone have any tips for getting the boat to sit "square" on the trailer every time? My wife doesn't like that I ask her to move to one side or the other to "balance" the boat in the water before I pull the boat out of the water. If I don't get it on there relatively "square" then I will have one transom strap tight as a guitar string, and one dangling loose when I get home.

I use the tailgate of the truck to judge "level and square" between the boat bow and the tailgate. Then use hand signals to get the wife to move to one side or the other to "balance" it in place. I usually get a single finger hand signal back from her during this process.

My VeVe guides do that for me. I crank the bow up to the stop, the stern is still floating. As I drive away the stern settles on the trailer evenly. Very rarely need to adjust the tie-downs and have never had one dangling at the end of the trip, after I fixed my bow stop. Nobody in the boat while launching or retrieving.

Edit: I used to get that same hand/finger signal from my wife when I tried to place her seating in the boat, to level it out while underway. Trim tabs took care of that comm. error.