MFI Trailer Rebuild

[BlkGS]

This weekend I rebuilt the trailer for my boat. My trailer was in pretty rough shape, it appeared to have had the axles replaced at one point, but both were super rusted. The brakes had been cut off at some point, with the only intact hardware being the actuator, which is likely garbage anyways.

In the short term, priority 1 was just getting the boat out of the marina and onto the trailer. I ordered 2 new axles with idler hubs, 4 new springs, new u bolt kits, and new wheels and tires. Overall, everything came apart fairly easily considering how rusty it all was. Total coat at this point is like 1300$, the only thing that sucks is I couldn't buy grade 8 zinc plated bolts, so I went with grade 5. When I add the brakes, grade 8 hardware will be going in (my hardware I bought at tractor Supply for great prices.

I think I'm going to end up painting over the faded galvanized coating on the trailer just to spruce it up a bit as well, and replace the non slip mats on it with either non slip peel and stick mat pieces, or possibly paint on something like a line-x.

I am going to add disc brakes, with new stainless lines, but haven't decided on surge vs electric over hydro. The surge setup is going to be roughly a grand more, and I'm not really going to be doing a ton of long distance towing, but my tow vehicle is a bit smaller, and so the better braking solution might be worthwhile.

 

[Tjw961]

For the axles, which ones and what size did you get?

 

[BlkGS]

I purchased these axles.. Note that they do not have brakes, I plan to add on disc brakes later on.

35545I-EZ-89

 

[JOAN ROJAS]

Reviving this thread. I did new suspension on my 2009 mfi trailer since one of the leaf springs was closed to being seized. Note that original leaf springs were rated for 1,500 lbs each for 3,000 lb capacity per axle, total 6,000 lbs. Could not find any like that so I stepped up to 1,750 lbs springs, so 7,000 upgraded. Additionally had to find a new support beam for the trailer since one of the beams was rusted, had a local shop bend a 2x3 to the same dimensions and a friend of mine welded it place. Original beam is 1x3 so the new one is beefer. I’m no expert , but watched various YouTube videos lol. Impact wrench is a must, ensure you support the axles before removing springs, I did one side at a time. Used a friends forklift to lift the whole side and used jacks to support the axles. We trailer the boat from Miami to the keys often so did this to be safe. Gotta say for a boat used only in salt water the springs for not heavily corroded, goes to show how important it is to flush and use salt away or similar product. Took about 5 hrs to do with various beer breaks and lunch in between lol. Excuse formatting did this from mobile. List of parts bough below

Etrailer.com :

• AP233 - Tandem-axle Equalizer Kit, 1-3/4" 2-eye Springs, 2-1/4"

Boat trailer parts.com:

• 100283 Trailer Leaf Spring Galvanized U-Bolt Kit fits 2 3/8 inch Round Axles
• 100213 25 1/4 inch Double Eye 4 Leaf Boat Trailer Leaf Spring 1750lb capacity

Add Ons: (2x) Spring Bushing 1/2 inch ID, 11/16 inch OD
(2x) Leaf Spring Shackles Galvanized 2 1/2 inch Center
(3x) Mounting Bolts 1/2 inch x 3 1/2 inch Zinc Plated

• 100827 Boeshields T-9 Rust and Corrosion Protection Waterproof lubrication spray
• 100290 Bundle Item: 24007100608100290 100281
• Boat Trailer Leaf Spring Shackle Galvanized 2 1/2 inch Center Hole
• 100281 Bundle Item: 24007100608100290 100281
• Leaf Spring Mounting Bolt 1/2 inch x 3 1/2 inch Zinc Plated

5/17 edited for formatting

 

[Seadeals]

For reference @BlkGS I hand rolled Herculiner over my galvanized trailer years ago and it has held up great. I spray with spic n span, scrub with a brush and then spray it with 303 once a year and it looks great every time.

 

[jakmarcus]

My son's are learning to help hook up the boat. They were unfolding the trailer tongue and pinched a brake line. Where can I get a replacement line Me how do I access the fittings? Also...once I fix it...I will have to bleed the brakes too right? Any help appreciated.

 

[Jonathan-Sigl]

I purchased these axles.. Note that they do not have brakes, I plan to add on disc brakes later on.

35545I-EZ-89

Where did you find these axles? Do you know the dimensions?

 

[JOAN ROJAS]

Where did you find these axles? Do you know the dimensions?

I googled it

https://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Axles/Dexter-Axle/35545I-EZ-89.html

 

[Ruikee]

Reviving this thread. I did new suspension on my 2009 mfi trailer since one of the leaf springs was closed to being seized. Note that original leaf springs were rated for 1,500 lbs each for 3,000 lb capacity per axle, total 6,000 lbs. Could not find any like that so I stepped up to 1,750 lbs springs, so 7,000 upgraded. Additionally had to find a new support beam for the trailer since one of the beams was rusted, had a local shop bend a 2x3 to the same dimensions and a friend of mine welded it place. Original beam is 1x3 so the new one is beefer. I’m no expert , but watched various YouTube videos lol. Impact wrench is a must, ensure you support the axles before removing springs, I did one side at a time. Used a friends forklift to lift the whole side and used jacks to support the axles. We trailer the boat from Miami to the keys often so did this to be safe. Gotta say for a boat used only in salt water the springs for not heavily corroded, goes to show how important it is to flush and use salt away or similar product. Took about 5 hrs to do with various beer breaks and lunch in between lol. Excuse formatting did this from mobile. List of parts bough below

Etrailer.com :

• AP233 - Tandem-axle Equalizer Kit, 1-3/4" 2-eye Springs, 2-1/4"

Boat trailer parts.com:

• 100283 Trailer Leaf Spring Galvanized U-Bolt Kit fits 2 3/8 inch Round Axles
• 100213 25 1/4 inch Double Eye 4 Leaf Boat Trailer Leaf Spring 1750lb capacity

Add Ons: (2x) Spring Bushing 1/2 inch ID, 11/16 inch OD
(2x) Leaf Spring Shackles Galvanized 2 1/2 inch Center
(3x) Mounting Bolts 1/2 inch x 3 1/2 inch Zinc Plated

• 100827 Boeshields T-9 Rust and Corrosion Protection Waterproof lubrication spray
• 100290 Bundle Item: 24007100608100290 100281
• Boat Trailer Leaf Spring Shackle Galvanized 2 1/2 inch Center Hole
• 100281 Bundle Item: 24007100608100290 100281
• Leaf Spring Mounting Bolt 1/2 inch x 3 1/2 inch Zinc Plated

5/17 edited for formatting

Anyone have the part number for the hubs without the brakes?

 

[Seadeals]

https://www.dexteraxle.com/user_area/content_media/raw/ufp-catalog-(lit-708-00ufp).pdf

 

[Diezel44]

Guys,
Yesterday a friend and I completely rebuilt our 2006 AR230 Boat Trailer. The brakes were completely gone and one was even missing. Just about everything was rusted so I wanted to make sure it was all good before we really got use out of it.

I logged on here multiple times to see what other people were doing to update theirs so I figured I'd give you guys some info back.
View attachment 45876View attachment 45875

We replaced the actuator, brakes and lines completely. We bought those parts from TrailerPartsDepot.
Part number 80326 - 60.22 - Brake line Kit
Part number 34033 - 284.63 - UFP Disk Brake Kit 10"
Part number 47723 - 161.07 - UFP A-75 Inner Slide

All of those parts worked great. The brakes connect right to the axle, no extra plate needed and the hub kits fit perfect. The brake line it was great as well. Like most people, the only thing we changed was the bleed line screw to the top of each disk. The inner slide was a equal replacement and it was easy to bleed the brakes etc.

Then for the trailer we replaced the springs, shackles, bolts, pretty much all suspension. We ordered the parts from etrailer.com.
Part Number AP233 - 87.96 - Leaf Springs
Part Number - SP-051275 - 26.50 - Full rebuild kit for bolts, shackles etc.
We bought the Ubolts locally, 5" (4.5's do not fit FYI)
We also bought two new hubs locally and put those on. The exiting ones were so rusted the lug bolts were breaking off when we were taking the wheels off.

The process likely took about 6.5 hours. Not including dropping the boat in the water and leaving it during the rebuild. Most everything was rusted so we used a cut off tool from Harbor Freight on a lot of the bolts and all of the ubolts. Overall the kit that we purchased was perfect and fit the trailer like a glove.

The first two pictures are the old suspension itself. The next two are the finished product.

View attachment 45877 View attachment 45878

I didn't take any pictures of the actuator, but there isn't much to see there.

Hey, great info. My 2006 trailer for my 2007 SX230 was same way, Rusted out from the axles to the springs to the hubs. I even just had a tire with the hub fly off while driving. Needless to say, I will be rebuilding to include both axles. Do you happen to know the part number for the axles?

 

[Ruikee]

This thread has been very helpful. Totally rebuilt my 2005 trailer. Are there any videos or documents on how to properly bleed the A-75 actuator?

 

[Ronnie]