Off road boat trailer for cape trip

[Griffo2]

I would like to thank everyone for there advise its been helpful in confirming my thoughts.
Felx
We will do 1 or 2 trips only and then sell the trailer we still have our original one its less than 18 months old.
It likely we can run the same wheels as the Chevy as she has a 7 studs and we may not be able to get the hubs here in aussie.

A couple more question mainly for the guys how have experience in is type of trip

How did you go with punchers and flat tyres on your trip and what did you do to help minimze punchers?

What tyre pressures do you recommend for the ute and the trailer?

Peter

[fairpractice]

Hi. have done this trip with belco offroad trailer; my thoughts;
chain and turnbuckle arrangement for front end essential
full keel support rollers or slide essential
one walkway only useful
tyres similar to vehicle dropped to 25psi on the dirt
quality leaf springs , not coil or air bag.
no shockers ever (they boil on corro.)
tilt trailer handy as wheels have boat much higher.
i had a timber/threaded rod tie down on boat as well as strap
most posts have given good advice. make sure you find the shortcut from the jacky jacky system to the escape river and fish opposite the pearl farm. dead herrings and small livies, with a bit of run, and hang on rgds john

[Griffo2]

What is the best time of year to go up the cape was thinking of leaving Brisbane in April take a couple of weeks to get to Cooktown through Bloomfield and head up the cape from there of cause it's weather dependant.

Didn"t get a responce on previous post regarding flat tyres how many spears should we take keeping in mind the trailer will be different than the ute

Cheers
peter

[Noha]

Hi. have done this trip with belco offroad trailer; my thoughts;
chain and turnbuckle arrangement for front end essential
full keel support rollers or slide essential
one walkway only useful
tyres similar to vehicle dropped to 25psi on the dirt
quality leaf springs , not coil or air bag.
no shockers ever (they boil on corro.)
tilt trailer handy as wheels have boat much higher.
i had a timber/threaded rod tie down on boat as well as strap
most posts have given good advice. make sure you find the shortcut from the jacky jacky system to the escape river and fish opposite the pearl farm. dead herrings and small livies, with a bit of run, and hang on rgds john

interesting what you said about shockies, i thought they would of been a good thing to take the jolts out, what the differance with shockies on your car.
cheers

[neil_stessco]

This is the trailer i built for the cape with my highly missed stessco.
The next trailer i build will be using coilmaster suspension setup as the leaf springs are ok but this trailer and boat went 1.02T and was very bouncy on beefed up ford ranger springs. It's a modified copy of a offroad trailer that a reputable trailer company make but with some mods as i found weak points.

[Griffo2]

Neil

Strong looking trailer you've got there the boat sits very high, would take a bit to retreive the boat wouldnt it? what size wheels do you run.
There are a few opinions on what springs to use some say leaf others coil.
Maybe the ranger springs were a bit heavy or the tyre pressures were a little high making it bounce Mind you this is coming from someone who has never done the Cape so im just guessing however i found my existing trailer used to bounce on a bituman road until we let the tyres down a bit.

Peter

[neil_stessco]

It was perfect autually, well for me anyways. I back the rear tyres of the patrol just so the water just touched them and she was good to launch, the springs were great but when u got onto whoops and corigitations she bounced a lil too much. They are 265/75/16 to keep them close to the patrol tyres and 30-35psi but next time i'm thinking a smaller profile and the cruise master coil setup, a mate runs it with the same rig and it's awesome, well we copied it and i fabricated it for him. I could drive on and off that trailer depending on how deep the ramp or bank was.

Where we go mainly up the cape you drag the rear of the trailer so max ground clearance was what we needed.

[Griffo2]

Hi. have done this trip with belco offroad trailer; my thoughts;
chain and turnbuckle arrangement for front end essential
full keel support rollers or slide essential
one walkway only useful
tyres similar to vehicle dropped to 25psi on the dirt
quality leaf springs , not coil or air bag.
no shockers ever (they boil on corro.)
tilt trailer handy as wheels have boat much higher.
i had a timber/threaded rod tie down on boat as well as strap
most posts have given good advice. make sure you find the shortcut from the jacky jacky system to the escape river and fish opposite the pearl farm. dead herrings and small livies, with a bit of run, and hang on rgds john

Fairpractice.
Did a search on offroad trailer and noticed you owned a belco with airbags and shockers did you have trouble with yours as you now reccommend not to use them?
Thanks for your advice

Peter

[Griffo2]

Still not quite convinced has anyone got any more tips or advice.

Peter

[Mudlicker]

Hi Guys , just thought i would put my 2 cents in .I have been researching this topic for a while and tell you two things for sure , if you go to belco the price will scare you to death , i was quoted $13500 for a trailer to suit my 4.35 TABS and it still had leaf springs , and i beleive i have found the best offroad trailer on the market , if you call Taite Welding at Tolga on the atherton tablelands you will be talking to the man himself.I was quoted about $6800 for a coil sprung full breaked independant suspension beast of a trailer .I will try to attach some pics , if they dont work pm me and i will gladly e-mail them.

hope this helps
Pete

Ps I have more pics if you need them

[shano]

we went up this year in june/july for 6 weeks , ran 28psi on 4x4 and 25 on trailer for the corri dirt tracks, we did bloomfield track also! man there is some steeep hills in there, but as for punchers i never had any but friends we went with did but that was due to too much psi in the tyres, tyres up there are expensive i carried a spare tyre shell (not rim) on the roof rack incase i needed one and had a spare for camper trailer and the spare on the 4x4. also took a puncher repair kit incase. we stayed at loyalty beach up the tip excellent park on the water, just hope the sign is there when you go up! need to know anything else just let me know.

[Griffo2]

Mudlicker nice looking trailer you've got there i wonder what the cost is to have one delivered to Brisbane?
Do you need the boat for measurements or are they completely adjustable.
I got a quote of $8500 from Belco but the trailer didn't look anywhere as strong as yours.
Have you been on a trip yet and how did it go.
There seems to be a differences of opinion some say coils and shockers are the best while others say leaf springs are to way to go.

Shano

I remember reading somewhere to keep the tyre pressures down as it helps prevent punchers wasn't sure if it was true or not appreciate your input.
What trailer did you run up there and how were the roads?
We intend taking plenty of spears just got to figure out where to put it all.
Keep them coming boys very helpful.
Peter

[Mudlicker]

Mudlicker nice looking trailer you've got there i wonder what the cost is to have one delivered to Brisbane?
Do you need the boat for measurements or are they completely adjustable.
I got a quote of $8500 from Belco but the trailer didn't look anywhere as strong as yours.
Have you been on a trip yet and how did it go.
There seems to be a differences of opinion some say coils and shockers are the best while others say leaf springs are to way to go.

Shano

I remember reading somewhere to keep the tyre pressures down as it helps prevent punchers wasn't sure if it was true or not appreciate your input.
What trailer did you run up there and how were the roads?
We intend taking plenty of spears just got to figure out where to put it all.
Keep them coming boys very helpful.
Peter

Not my trailer yet griffo 2 , these are pics that they have sent to me i am going to look at them in person at christmas.he told me that they make them for all size boats and he only needs the sizes of your boat over the phone .They are a tilt trailer all fittings are gal or stainless .There is a bit of a wait as he is only a small shop and the demand has become quite high .But he has sold many of them to guys that live in Weipa and around the cape and that is the roads they were designed for , had no comebacks jst more orders.Just look up Taite welding Tolga on the net and you will find his number,probably will get a message bank but he will contact you .Hope this helps .let me know how you go.I will post the restof the pics now for you to look at.

[Mudlicker]

Hi Guys here are some more pics of the taite welding triler for your scrutiny

[Flex]

Hi Flex,

Mate just wondering if you have the exact details of the Axles and springs etc - im just about to do my trailer up or build a new one and have been looking for I guess you would say "proven" gear.

Cheers mate.

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.

I got my axle and springs from "Action Fab" in brisbane.

You can order all sorts of stuff. I got landcruiser hubs on my axles aswell.
Aswell as greas-able shackles, cause when you think about it. Driving across corrugations your springs are flexing thousands of times each hour compared to only a few when on the highway.

Mudlicker, thats a damn fine looking trailer.
Independent suspension would be fantastic across the corrugated roads/potholes etc