King Trailer Wheel Problem

[Soul Harvest]

I have a 1998 single axel King Trailer under my 20 foot Willie Predator. The driver side tire has been scuffed to the point that I have replaced them three times since I purchased the trailer. The axel on this trailer is a FLEXRIDE axel where the spindel floats inside the axel and there are no springs. It has been suggested that the axel can shift and be out of alignment. I have measured the distance from the tongue and both spindels are the same distance. Another consideration is that the axel can get bent. Does anyone know of an alignment shop or a King Trailer Distributor that can bend an axel straight (the axel apparently has to be bent straight as there are no adjustment bolts)?

Any suggestions or insights would be helpful

[Old Soldier]

I had the same problem and it was the fact the axel shifted just a litle but it effected one of the tires. The other tire had a cut so replaced both. Towed it 600 miles to Canada, Port Hardy north end of vancouver island and back and looks good so far.
:whazzup:

[hookumhi]

Its probably just the KING trailer! I had numerous problems with my King trailer and the only thing that fixed it was replacing everything and I mean everything ,tires, bearings , braking system etc... I had trouble from the day I picked up my boat and King was terrible to work with. I will never buy another King trailer or product ever. There comment back was that they dont recommend driving the trailer faster than 55mph and that maybe the boat is heavier than I was told, in other words they didnt know jack and were looking for anything to blame it on . After I had changed everything myself I havent had trouble since , also I've removed all the king logo's from the trailer since its all my equiptment and materials on the trailer. Just another unhappy king trailer owner!!!

[Soul Harvest]

Thakns for the response, I think! Unfortunately, I suspect you are correct about the trailer. I have had lots of problems since I was purchased, too. The bolts continually loosen up ( I know have lock washers on everything), the bunks would turn over whenever I tried to run on with a side current at the ramp, the bunks have rotted off three times in 8 years of ownership, and the only local dealers just sell the trailers! It isn't fun, but replacing a tire every couple of years fits my pocket book better than a new trailer!

[Bait O' Eggs]

I am not happy with my king trailer. :mad: :mad:

The torsion axle they use is not the ticket. I go around a corner and you can see the tire lean so bad you think its gonna bust clear off.

I had the stainless disc brakes, they didnt last long, replaced with the same stuff, and I got overheating issues inside 3 trips to the beach. I just took all the Tie DOwn Engineering junk off and put Kodiak hubs, brakes, bearings etc.. on the trailer.

Just put new tires on as the old ones were completely worn out on the inside from the way the tires lean on corners.

Wish it wasnt so expensive to swap out the axle or I would have done that also.

I called the factory and got the song and dance BS line about how it could be this, or that or.... I will never own another King Trailer. :noway: :noway: :noway: :noway:

Roy Markee

[Okie]

Bait O'Eggs--Your problem could be that the boat you are hauling is to heavy for the trailer. The disc brakes you mention are rated at 3000 pds, if your boat is heavier than this it would explain your problem with your brakes. I have a tandam axle boat trailer with disc brakes on all four wheels like you describe and they are by far the best brakes I have ever seen or had with no heating problem.

Good Luck;

[Bait O' Eggs]

I have a tandem axle trailer rated to 6800 lbs gross, I unhook the boat from the truck on the scales and I am less than 6800 gross when fully fueled.

I have twin 3500 lbs axles under the trailer.

The single fin rotors by Tie Down on their disc brakes are junk, 2 other boat owners with matching boat and trailer have had to replace their brakes also, the vented rotors are far better at getting rid of the heat.

[Okie]

It is very clear your trailer exceeds the ratings for the Tie down Brakes, They are not junk if used correctly.

Good Luck;

[Bait O' Eggs]

Okie, how is it clear the trailer exceeds the rating of the brakes??

I called and talked to King Trailer, got the run around about how it could be this or that, .... did you change your hydraulic fluid yearly :rolleyes: ....yadda yadda.

King no longer makes that trailer with that brake, they use the vented rotor now, and they dont use the crappy nylon tires I got on the trailer that lasted less than 20 trips to the beach, now its a radial like I changed to. :hoboy:

If you can show me how those brakes dont meet the rating of the trailer I can go after King, but I dont know where your getting your information. :shrug:

[Flatfish]

Uhhhm....

Sometimes you get what you pay for. In my experience, boat trailers show this in spades.

Either
1-Get a new axle under your King.
Or better yet...
2-Buy a new trailer from a quality maker.
----------------

Willie puts Baker brand trailers under their boats these days. You could do a lot worse than that.

Baker trailers are more money than King. But then again, you do not need to replace brakes, axles, and tires in the first year on a Baker.....

Mark and the dog.

[Orca]

From Tie-Down web site: 10" G4 brakes, Hub Capacity: 1750# ea. 4 wheels braked = 7000 lbs. Just as you would expect for 2 3500# axles.

[Bait O' Eggs]

Then I guess, the 6800 lb GVWR trailer with 7000lbs of brake capacity is not undersized brakes as mentioned earlier :shrug:

I priced new torsion axles before I added the Cadmium coated Kodiak brakes/hubs etc.., the next size torsion axle is called a 6000 lb axle and is what King uses on the next sized up trailer. The torsion axle goes from 3500lbs to 6000lbs. New axles were over $1500 for the pair and that didnt include anything beyond the bolting flange. You still needed to buy hubs, bearings, brakes etc... :bigshock: The frame doesnt change on several sized trailers, as I checked to see if I beefed up the axles if the frame could carry it, not a problem there.

I could have gone to a straight axle with springs, but that would have required grinding off the galvanizing and welding on spring hangers etc... Might as well just buy a new trailer before you do all that work and expense. :shrug:

I went from 205/75 tires to 215/75 tires in the process to get a little more weight rating on the tires. 215's are the stoutest 14 inch tires you can get, about 125 lbs +/- per tire more rating from memory. They were about 1/2 inch taller and I had to modify my fenders to mount a little higher for clearance. 14 inch tires only come in a C rating, you have to get a 15 inch tire to get a D or E rated tire and that would have required a lot of fender modification and more expense for the bigger wheels.

I may be buying a new trailer and selling the one I have. :shrug: I have drastically improved the trailer I have with going to the Cadmium coated Kodiak brakes/hubs. The different size of the brake pad surface is huge, the vented rotor is far superior, I can get Chevrolet disc brakes at any parts store and not have to pay a premium for the ones from Tie Down that I can only get at a marine dealer.

I still think the design of the 10 inch Tie Down brakes is poor. The calipers slide on a pair of studs. It is very sloppy and loose and they would apparently get crooked and hung up quite often causing the brakes to drag and heat up. Wearing out the brakes and causing unneccessary heat which gives me a lot of concern. I know when I buy brakes for my truck, I can get the cheapies, medium or expensive and I think the pad Tie Down used was the cheapie as it was very soft. Interesting that King has gone to the larger vented rotor on the current trailer and dont use the brakes I had anymore. They still use Tie Down brand, and I dont know what the vented rotor design looks like but the single rotor is a *** in my opinion. :mad:

I hope I dont have any more trailer issues after the upgrades, but it has been very eduacational

[flapbreaker]

Hey BOE, I have a tandem axle trailer from king marine. I bought it last september. I haven't had any problems yet but I do notice when turning relatively sharp that the tires lean ALOT. Almost like they will run off the rims. I guess I just thought this was due to it being a dual axle trailer (my first double axle). I figured the two wheels kind of work against each other. Is this not the case with other double axle trailers? Do you think it's a tire issue or axle issue?

[Hanapa'a Time]

It's a tandem axle thing with all trailers. My EZ Loader does the same thing. Wheel lean seems worse with the torflex(non leaf spring) axles. Tire flex will be worse with the leaf spring axles due to the stiffer axle assembly.

[Bait O' Eggs]

flapbreaker - mine has that huge tire roll on tight corners also, its what the torsion axle does :tongue:

keep an eye on the inside of your tire for wear, not easy to see at a glance

[WaterDog]

Kurt - I've had both and the tire lean on the leaf springs is way less, at least that is what I've noticed on my current trailer. I will NEVER have a "torsion" axle again. I have also found the leafs have way more travel so when you break over a steep ramp, both axles will stay on the ground. You wont have one set of wheels hanging in the air. :rolleyes: