I use it primarily in Salt Water, so the OEM steel trailer is just not going to hold up.
Float-on is probably at the lower end of the market I suspect, but it will satisfy my requirements
I made a template of the boat, using a combination of the Dimension Chart from Cobalt, measurements of the boat, and the original Dorsey/Cobalt trailer.
Test fit on the old trailer of course and confirmed my template is good.
One thing I wanted to change from the original layout, was to move the outer bunks about an inch further outboard - the chines spacings were really tight on the original trailer and often it would actually sit up on one of them when loading boat back on. When it sat properly, there was only about 1/2" space between chine step and bunk there - a little extra is not going to go wrong at all.
The rear outer bunks were not there at all on the Aluminum Trailer, so I had to start with new brackets.
I used 2" square adjustable brackets from https://www.trailer.parts/Ultimate-Alum ... _6365.html;
With the I-Beam, the 2" tube would only have had contact at the top and bottom rail sides; so I opted to get an extra set of the Hat Brackets; The first Hats sit just inboard of the edges of the I-beam. I through-bolted these (These are all indivudal bolts, not U-Bolts) from the vertical member of the I-beam, then clamped the primary Hat and Tube to the same through bolts with second set of locknuts. This gives a much greater clamping surface.
(In the image below it looks as if the 2" Tube is touching the side-rails - there is actually about 1/8" gap and the Tube clamps only against the 'inner' Hat)
Next, I had to move the winch up considerably from it's starting position (both vertically and forward on the trailer) - but it was already a really long trailer. I had to devise a new mounting for it and it won't be adjustable, so hope my measurements are all good and I don't have to drill more holes
Even now, there is still a longer tongue from the winch to the ball hitch compared to the original.
And then all new bunks from https://www.ultimatebunkboards.com/stor ... ack-detail The Forward pair are 8' x 6" Supreme (with the extruded aluminum member), the Outer Rear anre 6' x 4" Supreme and the Inner Rear are 9' x 6" Original (no Extrusion). I didn't need Supremes for the inner rear as those already run on a vertical aluminum member with a full-length aluminum swivel mounting plate
I replaced a lot of the hardware - upgrading many of the 3/8" bolts and U-Bolts to 1/2" - all Stainless of course.
What is left to do?
Test Fit the boat!!
I am fairly confident it's going to be very close the first time - if anything needs adjustment it is likely to be the forward bunks - my template does account for a location where all three sets are in play, and that looks good - the very forward brackets might need a slight tweak as I have no other plane to reference, other than setting to the same height off cross-member as the rear brackets for the forward bunks are on theirs.
I do need to get a tongue-weight scale - I never measured the old trailer, so I'm going on assumption (reasonable, I think) that the original, per Factory would have been good.
The preliminaries in that regard was to first compare the axles position between the two trailers and these were VERY close - actually about 3" difference from center of rear axle to the end of the inner rear bunks. But the Boat did actually overhang there about 4" and I so have accommodated for that in the length and position of the Winch roller center. So I believe I have it set up the same, but want to measure to know what I have and be safe.
Once I'm satisfied with the bunk alignment, I'm considering to drill through the inner hats and tubes of the outer bunk bracketsand installing a bolt to clamp it all in it's final position to ensure it cannot ever slip (perhaps overkill, it should not really be required)
Almost forgot - I need a roller for the rear. The old trailer actually has one on the front too, just in front of the froward bunks and there is definitely load on it - however I don't think it is necessary. I was almost thinking I didn't need a roller for the rear either but obviously I need one to initially center it.
Considering this - https://www.etrailer.com/Boat-Trailer-P ... R84FR.html - will need to see if there is enough room to fit it (will have to get the overall length of each roller to see if it will go between the inner rear bunks)
And then some aesthetic mods
- definitely some nice Aluminum wheels and will have to give it a good going over to clean all the surface corrosion of the aluminum.
- And I'm going to ease all the edges of the bunks with my router - it's probably not an issue, but I would prefer to have the leading edges of the sqaure-cut-off ends at minimum and just doing it all the way round while I have the router out. 1/*" roundover should be about right I think.
Possibly some Stainless Rotors.
