Forum Discussion

anutami's avatar
anutami
Explorer III
Mar 12, 2019

Preparing tag along boat trailer for off-road use

Trying to get some advice on preparing my boat trailer for off road use and shoreline launches with truck camper. Looking to take this thing to places like warm creek bay Lake Powell, Eastern shore Lake Mojave and the like.
Trailer is all aluminum dual PWC trailer.


Installed spare tire holder with hub on the front of the hitch so trailer can be detached from truck and launched by hand from shore (The idea sounds good but have yet to do this). How do I get the boats back on the trailer and back to shore? Winch? Also installed aluminum cargo rack to hold fuel


Purchased covers so dirt roads/flying rocks don’t destroy the pwc’s. Not sure if I want to travel with these at freeway speeds.


installed a debris guard on the rear of my truck to deter the rocks and dust from spraying the boats.


Added aftermarket suspension in hopes I don’t rattle the boats to death on washboard roads, etc


Not sure if these 13” ST trailer tires are going to fare well, thinking these are the weak point and should add some LT tire so I guess that is my question. Any advice here?


The last outing we went out the boats were so dusted out, had several pits from rocks spraying them and were bouncing around quite a bit on the rough roads. Should I just stick to the pavement and camp with the masses or try and venture out with these things way beyond the campground? Thanks in adavance.





Truck Campers
  • Grit_dog's avatar
    Grit_dog
    Navigator
    Mar 13, 2019
    You'll be fine with the trailer unless you're trying to run the Baja with it. 2 spares? Why not bring 3? lol
    Launch and retrieve skis with camper off the truck unless it's a nice ramp. Camper on and potentially soft/uneven ground sounds like a Yutoob fail video in the making.
    Covers off on paved roads, covers on, on gravel.
    High speed and boat covers make great 600 grit sandpaper!
    I made the cover off on gravel mistake last year.....sooo p!ssed. Boat is all black gel, inside and out, white seats. Got to where we were going, almost and road went to gravel. I actually had the cover with because we were on a road trip. Pulled about 1/4 mi of dusty gravel and stopped to put the cover on. Too late! Drove the rest of the way and it was 10x worse, took 2 hours in the campsite to clean the d@mn thing out and there's still dirty water coming out of crevasses when it gets wet!
    You have skis, so you could just dunk them and towel them off. Not so easy with a boat.
    Or you could invite us and I'll tow the skis for you... Sounds like an awesome trip coming up!
  • midnightsadie's avatar
    midnightsadie
    Explorer II
    Mar 12, 2019
    another trailer spare ,they take alot of abuse. long rope an a 12volt winch are handy and a front hitch on the truck. might even rig a front tire on the trailer so it would be easy to winch , the trailer then would have three tires to roll on.
  • pira114's avatar
    pira114
    Explorer II
    Mar 12, 2019
    Having destroyed more than my share of utility trailers off road, I'd say bigger tires for sure. That suspension is already a huge help, so that's good. Those fenders will either have to be removed or raised/replaced. You'll need them on the highway, but off road it's best not to have them. Maybe removable ones? And of course, SLOW is how you keep it from falling apart.

    For getting them out of the water, I second the front hitch. Easier on you and you won't back up the ramp trying to muscle them out.

    The covers. I wouldn't trust them at highway speeds. Can you install grommets and then bungie them under?
  • valhalla360's avatar
    valhalla360
    Navigator
    Mar 12, 2019
    Launching with your front deploy-able wheel is probably good but hauling out by hand might be tough. Having a really long line so you can hook up to the truck or maybe a winch mounted on the trailer to pull them up an incline.

    I suspect the 13" tires will hold up just fine but you might want to either go larger or do a frame lift to give better clearance if you are going to take it over rough areas, so the frame doesn't bottom out.

    I don't know if you could retrofit it but the cover from an enclosed snowmobile trailer would address the road debris damage better than the brush hanging off the back of the truck. Plus out of sight is better for security.
  • ppine's avatar
    ppine
    Explorer II
    Mar 12, 2019
    You have leaf springs and shocks which is really good. You have to secure everything for rough conditions without breaking anything or scratching it up.

    The way you drive will have the most to do with how your equipment survives rough roads.
  • Kayteg1's avatar
    Kayteg1
    Explorer II
    Mar 12, 2019
    Lake Powell is my favorite summer destination ever.
    I went there with my Cabin cruiser over 10 years ago and took the boat all the way till my propeller start mixing mud up Colorado river. That's 400 km one-way up the lake if you don't go into one of 93 bays ;)
    Stop there summer of 2017 on my way to Florida and loved the beach campground on Utah site.
    With my 12' camper I got stuck in sand on campground, so off-roading is definitely not in my plans.
    For years I was trying to get my close friends to go there and rent one of those huge houseboats. With 3-4 families the cost would not be that much, while we could make schedule who does the BBQ. Pulling your PWC behind houseboat would be heaven.
    I plan to pull my patio boat there next year. My boat has plastic to make it a tent, while space will allow me to load enough gas to make it 200 km to next marina.
    What I am getting to is that IMHO why go into back roads, where the best spots are accessible only by water.
    Work on watercraft who would have long range and allow you to load camping gear.
    The lonely rock campground charge $7 a night senior rate, what makes it perfect base.
  • jimh406's avatar
    jimh406
    Explorer III
    Mar 12, 2019
    I’d try a telescoping/retractable trailer tongue, or a front hitch, or both.

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