Single Or Dual Axle Trailer????

[beer30]

The Quartershot comes with a single or dual axle trailer. I don't trailer alot, but when I do it is long distance. I thinking that the dual would be better. A little extra money but I think it could be worth it in the long run. What do you guys think??? :confused: Chuck

[Riverman]

For such a small light boat I really don't see the need.:confused:

[jphii]

I've towed my Seebold 10 hours at a time on the beat up single axle trailer that came with it. Never had a problem. Think of what else you can buy for the $700 that extra axle costs you. I don't call that a "little extra"!

[Pro300x24LD]

Having owned a law care business and gotten a flat tire on my trailer I can say that dual is the only way to go. Carrying a spare and getting a flat is one thing, until you get another flat.

However a dual requires more tires, more maintenance, etc...

[johnt]

I had a blow out once, not a pretty picture seeing all the sparks coming from your rear view mirror. One other time I smoked a bearing and tire/wheel/hub came flying off. Luckily, I was almost home. Wheel assembly hit my neighbor's truck and did about $1800 damage to his truck. Also, the brake hub was so hot it set fire to his grass!! This was at about 20 MPH after an hour on the highway. Luckily, his daughter was not playing outside at the time or could have hit and hurt or killed her. Both of these instances were with a dual axle trailer. Single axle trailer's are great and satisfactory until.....

[Lockjaw]

I have a dual for my 18 ft bassboat and its a PITA. You have brakes to deal with, its a B%#@! to move by hand, its alot heavier, and I don't like the way the tongue does when you come to a stop and then go again.

If you had a drive through garage, I would say a dual would be fine, but if you have to back it up, you have to lock the brakes if backing up any sort of incline, and if its damp and you can't lock the brakes, you can't put the boat where you want it, trust me I have been there and done that. You should have seen my driveway after. And I have a Tundra with limited slip, not some one wheel wonder.

Duals are also tougher to get through a drive through. Done that too.

I like my trailer, my boat looks good on it, but I really wish I had a single axle.

If you have plenty of space and room, get the dual, if not I think you will be much happier with a single, its so much easier to manuever by hand.

Just my .02

:)

[beer30]

I am towing with Excusion, so locking up the brakes won't be a big deal. ;) I was thinking of the blow-out situation on a long trip. :eek: The trailer comes with a spare tire. Never had that happen, but odds are mounting against me!!! :rolleyes: Chuck.

[rocket1]

Go with the single, easy to move around in the driveway and garage. Lighter to tow, less money, no brakes to deal with. Just do regular maintance on the bearings you will be fine. I tow my single axle boatmate trailer 2000-4000 miles each summer no problems.

[Wolverine]

I've had both single and tandem axle trailers in the past. My last three trailers have been tandems. There's nothing that pulls down the road as well as a torsion axle tandem. I ordered my last trailer with the lighter duty torsion axles and it rides like a dream and still has more load capacity than I need. I agree that a tandem is a real pain to try to move around by hand, if the need ever occurs, but I think that the safety factor of the extra axle for long distance hauling outweighs any inconvenience that it may give. If the extra money is an issue, a single is just fine. You may never have a problem with the single axle, just give it the proper maintenance and quit worrying.

[jerry]

chuck , jerry just got a dual for his boat and hates it , you cant move it without a vehicle attached to it . jerry parks his boat on grass and its hard to even hook it up to the truck , jerrys old trailer was a dream but old . look at it this way , what happens if you truck has a blow out at 70 while trailering ? get the single and get a spare , like yoyu said you dont travel alot . herb tows his boat from new york to fl with a single .

[beer30]

With such a light boat, I was worried also about fish-tailing on the highway at speed. I like setting the cruise on about 75 and going. :) Chuck.

[johnt]

certainly you don't need dual axles for a light boat, but since you mention "worried", they are a lot more stable, and if you want to set the cruise at 75 and go..., and yes they are a pain in the ... around the house to move, but that to me is a small price to pay for safety. I am not worried about a blow out or loosing a wheel when its sitting at home..

[Ted Stryker]

I prefer a single on my boats, and I maintain my bearings very well... The duals are as said, real tough to turn by hand... Pro's and Con's that I have noticed : The duals didn't rut my yard as bad -- Duals are great in the case of tire/bearing failure --- Duals are better in a pothole situation because the trailer doesn't drop down as much ...... I like singles for ease of hand mobility --- A single hits a bump once, a dual hits every bump twice -- I think a single in general rides better.... The quality of the ride for the boat is always a big concern for me because of the crappy roads in Louisiana and this is the predominate reason for singles on my boats, this may not be such an issue in your state.... If the roads around here were better, I might prefer a dual for the safety issues... I also would accept a dual in my area only if the suspension was torsion and rated very close ( not overrated ) to my boat/trailer total weight...

[Hottrucks]

What ever you do make sure you get the Torsion thats all springs rust and fail the torsion is way better on NJ's pot holes but the single will out perform in boat launch tricks 101 and the driveway shuffle a good #3500 axle will do the trick just fine if all you did was long haul get the dual, but I have dragged all my boats faster than you set your cruise.. ( how else can I claim high GPS #'s in my boat?) Just go with grease beqrings NOT OIL FILLED.... ( oil filled get hotter than grease and when they hit the water create a vacum that tends to suck water in when they hit the cool water)

Maybe This spring I can do a Trailer maintance 101 and post pics for springs and torsion axle maintance or replacement along with brake adjust ment and replacement...

Heres a trick for you Trailer trash Guys:

If you sieze a bearing on your trailer roadside you can get it off pretty easy?? Take off the Hub clean whats left of the grease off the race.... Heres the COOL part!!! put the cone of a CO2 fire extiguiser over the hub and give it a couple of sprays with a pair of pliers slide the race off while its frozen ( ya you may have to do it more than once but it beats a chizle that you don't have) Once you get it off put the new bearing on (because we all carry spare bearing for the $5 it cost) grease it up ( with the grease gun you carry for another $5) and put it in the wind you could be on the road again in less than an Hour..... I have gone as far as carrying a spare hub with all the bearings and 1/2 full of grease and bolted to my spare tire on long trips there cheap and you have all the parts you need to get back on the road even if you have to have it dragged to a garage and have them do it......

Hope you never need to use this but it works!!

[Raceman]

Man, how opinions differ. I've had both dual and singles under the STV's and prefer the duals by far. The only downside besides cost issues are moving em around by hand, and they pull more than enough better to offset that. Also, with a little constructive engineering you can make a removable bracket that locks the equalizer between the two axles so you can limp home with a bad bearing or one tire short. (could do two short with two brackets) I've had a wheel bearing fail taking out the spindle on a NEW car trailer with less than 500 miles, so it can happen. With tandem axles you've got a lot more options to get home in case of failure, PLUS they behave if a tire blows at highway speeds.

Don't forget the cool factor either. The tandems look way better with a neat set of wheels/tires.

[jerry]

jerry puts his trailer in salt water , he has never has a bearing go bad , but he only trailers 2 miles to the ramp . if you have a dual axle ,what happens if both bearing go on the same axle ? your done .what if it gets hit by lighting ? if you had a bearing go bad in 500 miles it was bad to start with , maybe the clown at the factory made the spindle nut to tight and burnt it out ( bearing ) . like jerry said herb trailers his boat all over and never had a problem , now with that being said sorry herb it will now happen lol

[The Big Al]

I had a "single" eno! 1 axle trailer, on my first bass boat, way back.


It was a 17' Allison. And on I-26 in Chas SC, Coming from James Island, going to Bushy Park, when I was doing 75mph, in the bridge section of the old downtown area. The hub came apart. I destroyed the trialer and came within inches of getting the Boat. And in those days we trimed the engine all the way up. (115 tower of power) Now, it cost a lot of money back then (well is was to me at the time) to get the boat towed up on a flat bed. That was a bad day.

But when that hub came apart that was a scary ride, first with the left wheel coming off, the trailer instantly went to the right, and then on the bridge exspansion joint the axle wedged in and then out goes the the hole axle from the trailer. I was driving my old trusty Jeep Cherokee Chief. And then it was all I could do to hold on.

And yes James, I had a Allison!!!!! :cool:

Had no idea what I had, I rememeber me and my Dad put about 100lbs in the front to keep it down, dam thing wanted get up and walk all the time. Scared us to death back then. Sold it, bought a aluminum fishing boat. I had no idea about performance v-bottoms. This was 1980

[Li'l Toy]

The Eliminator we bought came with a triple axle trailer. The thing is also just plain big! The boat sits high. Problem for me is the weight--I am sure I am over my vehicle's tow capacity just because of the trailer, when I could tow a 21 Eliminator on a single axle aluminum. The triple is also steel, no good in salt water.

One way I have thought about it is that I have always replaced my bearings every year--I boat in salt water. Never had a bearing failure, seen way too many of them on the side of the road. I have a hard time picturing doing that times six wheels (or even 4 vs. 2) every year. With a small tow vehicle (3500 lb capacity) I kinda hate to lose the brakes, and I may put them on a single asxle if I can sell the big trailer.

[YELLOWXD]

I had a "single" eno! 1 axle trailer, on my first bass boat, way back.


It was a 17' Allison. And on I-26 in Chas SC, Coming from James Island, going to Bushy Park, when I was doing 75mph, in the bridge section of the old downtown area. The hub came apart. I destroyed the trialer and came within inches of getting the Boat. And in those days we trimed the engine all the way up. (115 tower of power) Now, it cost a lot of money back then (well is was to me at the time) to get the boat towed up on a flat bed. That was a bad day.

But when that hub came apart that was a scary ride, first with the left wheel coming off, the trailer instantly went to the right, and then on the bridge exspansion joint the axle wedged in and then out goes the the hole axle from the trailer. I was driving my old trusty Jeep Cherokee Chief. And then it was all I could do to hold on.

And yes James, I had a Allison!!!!! :cool:

Had no idea what I had, I rememeber me and my Dad put about 100lbs in the front to keep it down, dam thing wanted get up and walk all the time. Scared us to death back then. Sold it, bought a aluminum fishing boat. I had no idea about performance v-bottoms. This was 1980
Somehow I knew you wern't as stupid as that guy with the ugly cowl said you was

[stokernick]

what everybody else said.I blew a tire bringing the Stoker home from Michiganand on the highway from hell[25 miles from Detroit] was able to get to a nearby town and get it fixed!Spare tire is a must and thanks,Hottrucks for the bearing suggestion.IMHO go with the dual axel!

[beer30]

I want to thank everybody for their input :) I am going to go with the dually. The old guard here talks about reliability, and can't agree with them more. ;) I had a single axle on the Skater, and always wished I had duals. So I will have them now. :cool: Chuck.

[Hottrucks]

Good choice I think you get around a little more than you think........

Just remember ,like your boat, it's still only as good as your maintainance...

PS...make sure your brake parts are at least painted since you use it in the funny tasteing water it will make them last a little longer!!

[Hydrovector]

I have driven through Chicago many times pulling a boat trailer. A single axle saved some bucks not having to pay for an extra set of wheels. something to think about if you have to drive areas with tolls...

[jphii]

I have driven through Chicago many times pulling a boat trailer. A single axle saved some bucks not having to pay for an extra set of wheels. something to think about if you have to drive areas with tolls...

True. Coming back from Wisconsin the other day cost me 3 times as much as going up. This was with a SINGLE axle. Also, I towed it almost 1200 miles home, sometimes over 80mph with no problems. I had a triple axle under our Chaparral, and never want to screw around with more axles than I need ever again. As long as the maintenance is there, you're OK with one. I've never had a bearing fail, a flat, or any other problems, ever.

[Hottrucks]

You shouldn't have said that you know whats going to happen now!!!:rolleyes:


I've never had a bearinf fail, a flat, or any other problems, ever.

[jphii]

You shouldn't have said that you know whats going to happen now!!!:rolleyes:

I've been driving for 30 years, and have had something on a single axle trailer for most of them. I think I might be doing something right!

[Jay2002]

There's a company here in Florida that make any trailer component out of aluminum or stainless. I think it's www.rollsaxle.com. At work we've converted some spray rig trailers from a standard steel axle with brakes to their aluminum and stainless combo. They have been working flawlessly. I personally prefer a single axle on a light boat. I've had both with my Allisons. As many have said, taking care of your equipment should be a top priority. Good luck, Jay.