Anyone else have the trailer that has the spring on the roller? I bought the boat and it didn’t have the spring. Bought 2 new ones and when you back the boat in the water and the back starts to float the roller falls down with the weight of the front of the boat. I’ve thought about welding the roller arm in place where it won’t be able to move.
I have had the same spring on mine since day one (1999). The subject of the spring has been discussed here before. It seems like the people who have issues are the ones who have a weak spring. I know you said you installed a new spring but it needs to be rigid enough that it does not extend easily. When my boat is not on the trailer my arm only drops down a few inches. If I use the winch to load the boat, once the bow eye hits the arm it only moves 3-4 inches until it is all the way against the post.
Having owned my JR19 since 2001 I have unloaded at many different ramps. The only time I ever have an issue is if I am on a real steep ramp and I have the trailer too deep. If I get my trailer just right I have no issues whatsoever. In fact I can't even recall the last time my spring was an issue now that I know the correct trailer depth for ramps that have various different grades of steepness. I think having a stiff spring that does not allow the arm to drop very much is key...just my opinion.
How long would you say your spring is? The gap fon my trailer is only about 4”. I have a co-worker with the exact same boat and his trailer has about a 10” gap.
I went to the garage and took some measurements. Hopefully I can explain it so you know what I done...
My boat is on the trailer and the bow eye is all the way against the black rubber stop. The arm is also fully against the post stop on the wench post. There is a hole on the arm and a hole on the winch post. From hole to hole is 11". When I measure from the coil on one end of the spring to the coil on the other end its 9-1/4" (note the picture may look like 10-1/4 but I have the ruler at the hole not the first coil). When you measure from the end of one hook on the spring to the end of the other hook on the spring it's 10-3/4. I have no idea about diameter. As a reference it's about the diameter of my pinky finger. I tried to get the picture turned but could not turn the picture...hopefully my picture and explanation helps.
^^^ That looks like the same dimensions that mine would be for my '97 400 TDC trailer.
Honestly, you could even use a piece of paracord rope to hold the front roller from dropping down too far. It should only drop about 6 inches when the boat is off the trailer. The spring is nice because it can let the roller drop down farther depending on how steep the boat ramp is, and how high the bow of the boat or the trolling motor is while coming in compared to the front roller. As I've read before, the spring was designed so that the front roller didn't catch and damage the older style trolling motors that hang off the front of the boat. But my Motorguide Xi5 hangs off the front of my boat a little, even with my custom built slide mount, so I like having the spring on the front roller to control how the boat loads on the trailer.
IMG_20180120_175347478.jpg
2008 Ranger Z520 DC 2016 Suzuki 250SS
1997 Javelin 400TDC 1997 Johnson 200 Venom
Mine is a lot shorter than those. I tried taking a picture but it said the file was too large to upload
I use post imagie.org to host all my pictures. Once the picture is uploaded click share then copy and paste the URl for message boards.
I figured out what’s different on mine. My winch post is different and mounted further back from the tongue.
From the cross brace to the front of the base on the post it is 15-1/2" and to the back of the base is 19-3/4"....if you look you can see my safety chain is hooked to my bow eye. I would "estimate" my bow eye is about 4" past the cross brace. The transom of of my boat is dead even with the running boards when loaded. I bought the boat in 2001 with 60 hours on the motor. It was like new and nothing had been done to the trailer so this is factory settings.
^^^^
I also added grip tape to both sides of the frame around the winch post. SO worth it!! I also just installed a platform between the trailer coupler and winch post which is really nice too. I was able to get a piece of service deck from work to use. I don't have a picture of it yet.
2008 Ranger Z520 DC 2016 Suzuki 250SS
1997 Javelin 400TDC 1997 Johnson 200 Venom
I fish solo 95% of the time so I am constantly climbing out of my boat onto the trailer. Before adding the sticky grip tape I had slipped a couple times when putting my foot on the trailer frame. Since adding the sticky grip tape my footing has been rock solid. I really want a set of steps but have been too tight with my money. The steps I want are about $450 bones.
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