Boatmate Triple Axle Trailer Issues

[UNSTUCK]

I should add to my last comment. That boat sat on a boatmate two axle with 18” wheels. The gvw was 8400 pounds. Boatmate specifies their gvw as static, on the scale weight. They do not allow for additional weight that might become tongue weight and carried by the truck. Some trailer manufactures do this and it changes the number quite a bit.
With this set up, hooked to my truck, the tire load of the boat and trailer was 7600 pounds. So I had 1000 pounds of tongue weight. The trailer towed great and I never had an issue.

What I find really interesting is that with my new boat - an rzx2 on a triple axle trailer - the weights seem way off to me. The total weight is 8500 pounds. This makes sense as the smaller boat weighs 500 pounds less (on paper) but the trailer weighs more with the extra axle and two more wheels/tires. Loaded the same way as we always do, the tire load on this new trailer is only 7200 pounds. That’s puts 1300 on the tongue. WAY more than what would be needed at 10%. So I had 7600 being carried by four tires and now I have 7200 being carried by six. If you look at the trailer the wheels look almost funny how far back they are placed. I’m guessing the trailer is set up the same as a 3. They really need to move the axles forward a bit. Blows my mind.

[UNSTUCK]

That was full of fuel, ready for a day on the lake. One cooler, bag of food, towel bag, 5 jackets, 3-4 surfboards, knee board, box anchor. So maybe 200 in extra weight.

[freeheel4life]

The problem is they don't include trailer weights. Trailers are almost 2k depending

[bsreid]

Unstuck, did you have gear in your boat, full tank of gas? Heard a few people weigh in at 8400-8700 depending on gear. These boats certainly aren’t light and tige advertising at 6000lbs doesn’t help. I wish tige would post a real world, average loaded weight on a trailer.

[UNSTUCK]

Zack, also keep in mind that my rzx3 weighed 8600 on the trailer with no lead! I’m sure yours is right there too. Then add that little bit of lead you run.

[bsreid]

I think the 15s or 16s are the smart move, especially if you’ve had any issues. It definitely isn’t worth it to me. I’ll definitely go triple axle, on my next trailer. My buddy, with a G, hasn’t had any issues with SUV tires on his triple axle, which just solidifies, to me, that the tire ratings are the major issue, when running that kind of trailer weight, especially on the highway. The guys that tow 10 miles, to the boat ramp a bunch of times, every year, probably never see the same issues. Our lakes are all 40-120 miles away, towing on the freeway, which has been where all of our failures have been.


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Take tires out of the equation and on a standard tandem axle boat mate you’re only rated for 8400lbs. You can upgrade to the XL series which gets you 10k if I recall.

[Zackdogg]

There was a guy on facebook in the same situation. He was going to try running BFG KO2s in 255/55/18 as they have a load index 109 (2271lbs). Bit of a different approach going to a AT but have heard of a few people with success with a LT tire. Just a quick search and you an also get bfg ADVANTAGE T/A SPORT LT in that size and rating.

That being said I went for 15s on my RZX and haven't had any problems. Good friend of mines ri237 on 18s has had a few blow outs but he's gone back and fourth from Canada and Az a few times and launches everyday in the summer.

I think the 15s or 16s are the smart move, especially if you’ve had any issues. It definitely isn’t worth it to me. I’ll definitely go triple axle, on my next trailer. My buddy, with a G, hasn’t had any issues with SUV tires on his triple axle, which just solidifies, to me, that the tire ratings are the major issue, when running that kind of trailer weight, especially on the highway. The guys that tow 10 miles, to the boat ramp a bunch of times, every year, probably never see the same issues. Our lakes are all 40-120 miles away, towing on the freeway, which has been where all of our failures have been.


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[Zackdogg]

I wish I could find the exact tire that I had on my G23 trailers, but I know the load capacity was listed at 2271 pounds each, so 9000 pounds for the tandem axle trailer. I don't think there exists an 18 inch load range E tire that would fit under the fenders unless I swapped out the rims too.

I went against my better judgement and got trailer tires for my RV this fall. I partly think the tire shop recommends them knowing it will bring me back sooner. I hope they last as long as the LT tires that were on it before. I got 7 years out of those. I arrived at the conclusion that trailer tires suck after I did some looking at the RV discussion boards. Those boys pull heavy loads farther than most of us dream, and the general consensus was that truck tires are better than trailer tires.

I was running 2271# tires, which were the highest weight rating I could find. I’m pretty damn close, if not a little over 9000# going down the road full of gas and gear. I think it pretty damn irresponsible of BoatMate to cut it that close, just to look cool on 18s. I’m running E rated truck tires, with my thought being they’re better than trailer tires. I don’t tow any insane distances, some like 250 mile days, and maybe a 1000 mile trip once a year, and those tires tow nice. I’m sure they’ll rot before I run out of tread. And, knock on wood, haven’t had a single issue since switching.


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[bsreid]

There was a guy on facebook in the same situation. He was going to try running BFG KO2s in 255/55/18 as they have a load index 109 (2271lbs). Bit of a different approach going to a AT but have heard of a few people with success with a LT tire. Just a quick search and you an also get bfg ADVANTAGE T/A SPORT LT in that size and rating.

That being said I went for 15s on my RZX and haven't had any problems. Good friend of mines ri237 on 18s has had a few blow outs but he's gone back and fourth from Canada and Az a few times and launches everyday in the summer.

[talltigeguy]

I had SUV after SUV tire blow on me, when I was running them, because the weight rating is so low, in comparison to the trailer and boat weight. I would prefer to run a wider tire, with more contact patch, which the SUV tire provides, because we are often in the sand, and launching from the beach at our lake. Not at the expense of constantly having tires blow. I have a local tire shop, that I do all my business stuff with, and they were the ones that told me that I should be running a trailer tire, or E rated tire. I haven’t had a flat since making the switch, where I had gone through 4, or 5 tires, previous to that. I have been stuck in sand twice, though. I’ll only run E, which I can’t get in the SUV size I would need, at least that I could find. I guess it’s all about the tradeoff.


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I wish I could find the exact tire that I had on my G23 trailers, but I know the load capacity was listed at 2271 pounds each, so 9000 pounds for the tandem axle trailer. I don't think there exists an 18 inch load range E tire that would fit under the fenders unless I swapped out the rims too.

I went against my better judgement and got trailer tires for my RV this fall. I partly think the tire shop recommends them knowing it will bring me back sooner. I hope they last as long as the LT tires that were on it before. I got 7 years out of those. I arrived at the conclusion that trailer tires suck after I did some looking at the RV discussion boards. Those boys pull heavy loads farther than most of us dream, and the general consensus was that truck tires are better than trailer tires.

[chpthril]

Seems there are two sets of issue here. Damage caused during delivery and some general trailer quality concerns. My take?

Whom ever contracted the deliver, is responsible for what happened to boat/trailer between the factory and dealer's lot. In the end, then that party settles it with the actual delivery company, if they are a 3rd party.

Any trailer issues not a result of the delivery, should be taken care of by whomever you purchased the trailer from.

[Zackdogg]

I have had better luck with SUV tires than with trailer tires. I would check the weight rating. They often have higher weight rating than the stock tires that come from the factory, which are usually D rated, and sometimes less than that. I think I have never seen a boat come from the factory with E rated tires.

I had SUV after SUV tire blow on me, when I was running them, because the weight rating is so low, in comparison to the trailer and boat weight. I would prefer to run a wider tire, with more contact patch, which the SUV tire provides, because we are often in the sand, and launching from the beach at our lake. Not at the expense of constantly having tires blow. I have a local tire shop, that I do all my business stuff with, and they were the ones that told me that I should be running a trailer tire, or E rated tire. I haven’t had a flat since making the switch, where I had gone through 4, or 5 tires, previous to that. I have been stuck in sand twice, though. I’ll only run E, which I can’t get in the SUV size I would need, at least that I could find. I guess it’s all about the tradeoff.


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[freeheel4life]

Update: there is no update....I email Tige every week about an update from Boatmate (Tige dealing directly with them now) and I still get told there’s no word from Boatmate and I keep being told they will follow up and it’s crickets after that. I kept hoping and practically praying that Tige would come through for me in resolving my trailer issues and that they could salvage my experience with this boat. They haven’t. I’m just so disappointed....


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Saw your comment on the quad trailer on IG. Bummer to hear you are still having issues.

[talltigeguy]

I’ve had nothing but problems with my BoatMate. Had multiple tire failures, because they run an SUV tire to look cool, instead of a functional trailer tire, had a wheel fly off on the freeway because of stripped studs which could have been the dealer and not the manufacturer, the brakes have never worked right and been “fixed several times”, and I’ve had several vaults blow off, pretty much the same as yours.

I quit letting the dealer “fix” it, because they’ve never done it right, and just fix stuff myself, including new wheels so I can run a properly weight rated tire. Yours being the triple, that shouldn’t be as much of an issue.

I probably trailer more miles than a lot of owners, and some of it on dirt roads and windy sierra roads. Which maybe didn’t help the tires, but I’ve never had a failure after going to a E rated tire, either.


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I have had better luck with SUV tires than with trailer tires. I would check the weight rating. They often have higher weight rating than the stock tires that come from the factory, which are usually D rated, and sometimes less than that. I think I have never seen a boat come from the factory with E rated tires.

[david.osborne24]

Update: there is no update....I email Tige every week about an update from Boatmate (Tige dealing directly with them now) and I still get told there’s no word from Boatmate and I keep being told they will follow up and it’s crickets after that. I kept hoping and practically praying that Tige would come through for me in resolving my trailer issues and that they could salvage my experience with this boat. They haven’t. I’m just so disappointed....


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