Galvanized Shoreland’r Trailers are not for Saltwater

[Alexegan88]

I have the 2022 252SE. I am a little frustrated, I have had my boat for a little over a year and had to spend about $1700 in trailer repairs. I boat in salt water 95% of the time and although the trailer is “galvanized” most of the bolts, brackets, rotors, brakes, and hubs are all zinc or other materials designed for fresh water use. The trailer was built as cheap as possible and not designed for salt water use. So, despite my best efforts to completely wash the trailer after every use with salt away and even periodic spraying of corrosive preventive chemicals they were all shot pretty quickly. So after smoking trailer hubs, faulty breaks, I was forced to bring it in to Deerfield trailer down here in South Florida and upgrade to galvanized hubs and added new brakes to BOTH axles which is law in most states, but again they’re trying to save money.

The only trailer that seems to be rated for actual saltwater use is the aluminum one that comes with the 252 FSH.

I am only posting this rant as a suggestion to new buyers, it may be worth purchasing a new aluminum trailer for around 6k or one design for actual saltwater use and selling the standard galvanized trailer before you dunk it in salt water. These still provide superior performance for the guys primarily boating in freshwater over the painted trailers so there’s definitely a market as long as it’s new and clean. Hopefully you would get a decent price to help offset the cost of the new trailer.

 

[Babin Farms]

I highly doubt that you have bent axles. I’ve dealt with more trailers and axles in my life than most people even think about. The chance of bending one is low, but both??? The tires that are on these trailers from the factory are not the best but they work. I think the mechanic needs a lesson in trailer axles.
Most aluminum trailers are aluminum I-beams with galvanized axles or torsion axles, galvanized hardware and probably standard brake hardware unless ordered otherwise. For $6k I would guess that it’s just a standard aluminum trailer and if you upgraded it to stainless hardware, brakes and any other parts that needed to be corrosion resistant the price would be significantly higher.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

My thought is that when ordering a new trailer, if offered, stainless steel brake rotor upgrades are probably worth the money. I have a recent quote from Triad, and it is only a $195 (per axle) upgrade on a new trailer.

Jim

 

[Alexegan88]

So I picked it up today, he ripped out the old brakes and put brand new brakes and hubs on both axles, all four wheels. However, these are independent and not integrated with the hubs like the ones that come stock. He said this way, if one goes out, they are much easier to change than the integrated brakes and they perform better all around, especially in salt water.

looks pretty solid and seem to roll a lot easier, I can tell my old brakes were sticking, because they would heat up the hub so much they would be steaming by the time I stopped. I still don’t like spending that amount of money, but I’m hoping with these upgrades, my trailer will last a few years without needing service. That said, I do plan on upgrading to radials when the tread runs out on these.

 

[Alexegan88]

 

[Beachbummer]

I never knew, but if you put a lot of miles on your trailer, you can take it to a place that aligns trailer tires, and they can apply some pressure to align the tires. It's not common, but it can be done. I know someone that pulls quite far and was having tire wear issues and fixed it with an alignment at a commercial trailer shop.

 

[Alexegan88]

I highly doubt that you have bent axles. I’ve dealt with more trailers and axles in my life than most people even think about. The chance of bending one is low, but both??? The tires that are on these trailers from the factory are not the best but they work. I think the mechanic needs a lesson in trailer axles.
Most aluminum trailers are aluminum I-beams with galvanized axles or torsion axles, galvanized hardware and probably standard brake hardware unless ordered otherwise. For $6k I would guess that it’s just a standard aluminum trailer and if you upgraded it to stainless hardware, brakes and any other parts that needed to be corrosion resistant the price would be significantly higher.

You’re probably right about the axels. He said they weren’t that bad, but definitely what’s causing the uneven tire wire, he said they checked alignment and it was fine. I think it’s bent spindals or something, but again not that bad. Upgrading to radials when these run down will help too.

As you can see in the photos, definitely a huge upgrade from stock.