Off-Road Boat Trailer

[Snowwalker]

Probably not an option really. Truck is a SRW 1-ton diesel (to pull the 8 ton float with mini-ex) so tires are 8 bolt (8 x 180 mm, not 8 x 6.5 inch like most 8 bolt trailer wheels), 10 ply, load range E and i typically run Duratracs (285 65R18). Not your typical off-road truck but it is lifted 2 inches and with the singles on the back plus front and rear diff lockers it does pretty decent. Only thing it does not like is deep mud - bad scene - too heavy. Has enough clearance and with tires deflated to 35-40 psi it handles everything else.

Well that is only a 32.6" tire, you could still use them with a 18" rim with a 6 X 5.5 pattern on the trailer. You could not directly swap your truck spare on to the trailer, but if swapping rims gets you out of the bush..

You sure your rims are 8 X 180? Not 8 X170 or 8 X 200?

[Species8472]

You sure your rims are 8 X 180? Not 8 X170 or 8 X 200?

Positive.

[Snowwalker]

I can't find the pictures of my axle work when I lifted my trailer, but I'll link the video from my buddy in UT.

It may give you some ideas...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zME68JOJDpo&t=307s

[Species8472]

I can't find the pictures os my axle work when I lifted my trailer, but I'll link the video from my buddy in UT.

It may give you some ideas...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zME68JOJDpo&t=307s

That's a good video and one that coincidentally i already watched LOL. Lot of good videos on his channel. Love me something like this:

Offroad-Boat-Trailer.jpg

[Snowwalker]

That's a good video and one that coincidentally i already watched LOL. Lot of good videos on his channel. Love me something like this:

Offroad-Boat-Trailer.jpg

Ya, been thru his place in Hurricane. We spent some time comparing notes on recovery gear, and showing him where to find a couple things. You would think a guy in the towing business would know where to find stuff. But it's different tools for a different job, just like I don't know where to find J hooks.

Man is a fabrication wizard..👍
You should the custom recovery vehicle he is working on as his next toy..

[Snowwalker]

Ok find them. I will post a couple of them and describe them and what I was doing.

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Here you can see the original axle in it's original setup. Spring under with the spindles 4 to 6 inches above the axle tube .
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Nicely tucked up in the fender but no real ground clearance.
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The spring pad is welded to the axle and uses the bolt as a centering pin. I only needed to remove one end of the spring to move the axle from the top to the bottom, but figured since I was in there I would replace and grease things as needed.

more to follow...

[Snowwalker]

part 2

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so with the new parts in and everything on the springs greased up I mounted the axle under the spring with the spindles now 4 to 6 inches below the axle tube.

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So after reinstalling the wheel and tightening everything up I found I had 10 to 12 inches of lift on the trailer.

Well it pulled well and was stable on the road at highway speed It was just a little too high off the ground and if I was going to change the hubs and use 33 inch tires like the Tacoma and 4runner the height was only going to get worse.

I figured since I was going to be buying new hubs and a new axle I would use a stronger axle and one that would be easy to get parts for. A 6 X 5.5 hub is not common on a 3,500 lbs axle, but they are fairly common on a 5,200 lbs axle.