Bought a new trailer - rides like a herkey jerkey rail car

[shallowhal]

I have an '05 stratos 201 that had a trailer that rusted out. I found a deal on a Boatmate trailer from Lund that was a demo. drove up 200 miles to buy it, towed it back empty and had no issues. Put my boat on it and it jerks the crap out of me when towing. I had no issues with my old trailer. Tires are good. This has 4 wheel disk brakes and there feels like a lot of slop in the coupler. Its a 2" ball and receiver, does not appear to be slop on the ball. It seems like the slop is in the actuator. I bought a new shock absorber and installed it, seemed to help a little, but still seems to have a lot of travel in the actuator.

Does anyone have suggestions on what to look for? Im kind of at a loss. Its so bad that my non boating buddies that ride in the car with me go, dude, wtf is wrong with your trailer?

[wmitch2]

Sounds like brake drag. Block the surge brake accuator from working and see if it still does it. If so, leave the block in and jack up each wheel and see if it will turn freely. Could be a rock stuck between the caliper and rotor also be an air bubble in one of the lines, bleed.

[bassin365]

Could be the little shock absorber under the actuator. I'd also check these items as well; the balance of the boat on the trailer, slop in the hitch itself(compounded if the trailer is now back heavy), brake fluid level and making sure the brake system is functioning properly.

[billnorman1]

Maybe your ball is so low it partially actuates the brake.

[rockmike]

You may need to move the boat forward on the trailer. Sounds like you may be getting bounce from low tongue weight.

[reelmin5]

Bleed the brakes!

[shallowhal]

Thanks guys, towing it 400 miles this weekend so ill let you know what i find out. appreciate the advice!!

[tracer1]

Bleed the brakes!

This is usually the problem most of the time. When mine needed bleeding it would be a little slack and would jerk on acceleration from a stop. Mine has the 4 when disc also. They have to be bled very well to eliminate this. If the brakes have been bled properly & it still does this, then it is in the coupler as others have mentioned. Also, check your brake fluid & have plenty when you bleed them. I'm just assuming this is what you are talking about. When you come to a stop, the coupler will move forward slightly. When you go forward there will be jerk. That's the coupler moving back into the normal position. If this is not what you're talking about, disregard LOL

[shallowhal]

Thanks again to all who had input. 95% of the problem was my hitch was too low. I had a 4" drop on my old trailer, i went to a 2" and it rode a million times better. I bled the brakes after towing up and the slack mostly went away. I cant believe how big of a difference hitch height made, but it was significant.

I think the brakes were partially activated with the low tongue and every bump i hit made it grab. now it rides unbelievably smooth.

[billnorman1]

Holy crap!! I may have guessed right. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.