New Trailer Suspension and bunks!

[prorider17]

Hey all, last time I asked a question about getting the right parts to update the MFI trailer for my 2011 AR240HO. You all were incredibly helpful (Shout out to @Bruce) With that said, I bought all the right parts and did the work today. Here's my parts list:

• 3 2"x6"x10' wood for the bunks. I cut up the third into two halves to be my rear support bunks.
• 3 rolls of marine carpet
• Stainless steel staples
• 4 double eye leaf springs for 3,500lb axles.
• Tandem axle equalizer kit
• 2 sets of u-bolts - 5 1/2" long.
• 20 3/8" x 1.5" galvanized lag bolts & stainless steel washers

Other than the wood, lag bolts, staples and washers, I bought all the components on etrailer.com

I dropped my trailer off at my marina nearby. $43 and they would store it overnight, covered, safe and sound. That gave me ample time to work on my trailer


With the trailer free, I went to my friend's shop. He had all the necessary tools to get the job done. We started putting the trailer on jack stands, following that with supporting the axles with jack stands. We cut off the u-bolts first. Then, we removed the equalizer and leaf springs. We assembled the new parts and put them in their place.




Note how bad the old u-bolts were.


As for the bunks, the old wood was completely shot! You can see from the pic how bad the middle (old) bunk was. It was cracked under its own weight. I pressed down slightly and snapped it in two. So thankful I did the bunks. Plus, the old lag bolts basically fell out on their own. They were all very rusty. I used the old bunks, made drill hole marks and got them in. Pretty excited to pair the boat back with the trailer, as didn't smoothly load and unload in the past.. I'm sure with new, straight & strong bunks, the boat will go on easier. Plus, I feel much better about taking my boat out-of-town without fear of my u-bolt washers turning into powder.

 

[Bruce]

Great job!

Unfortunately it reminds me that I want to change my trailers suspension over the winter.

 

[rkluck]

Well done and thanks for sharing.

 

[JCKC]

Thanks for posting the pics. I think I have that project in my soon to be future . What was the reason you replaced the leaf springs?

 

[tdonoughue]

Nice, pro-style job. Thanks for the pics!

 

[Bruce]

Thanks for posting the pics. I think I have that project in my soon to be future . What was the reason you replaced the leaf springs?

I plan to replace mine because all of the hardware holding them to the trailer is more rusty than I am comfortable towing 4K+ miles per year with. It looks similar but I believe not quite as bad as @prorider17's. I changed one of the u-bolts this year because it's nuts had detoriorated beyond my comfort level.

My springs have rust on them. Not as bad as his. But they are relatively inexpensive so I might as well put new ones on after I cut all the other rusted hardware off to replace it.

 

[itsdgm]

Looks great @prorider17 thanks for posting. I'm sure it will help quite a few guys along the way.

 

[prorider17]

Thanks @itsdgm! That's what I was thinking.
@JCKC - I figured if I was going to go through the trouble to do the bunks and u-bolts, I might as well pony up and knock out the springs as well. They weren't absolutely necessary to be replaced, but they would've needed to be done in the next year or two. I'm told that once the leafs start separating, it's time. If you look at my pics, they were starting to do just that.

Easiest part of the whole job was swapping bunks.. That was cake. I did find it funny how MFI made the galvanized trailer, yet used standard lag bolts on the bunks.

Today, I went back to the marina and reloaded the boat.. It was BUTTER SMOOTH! Hands down the easiest reloading I've ever done. I put a little ivory soap on the bunks just because I could.