North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

G'day everyone,

Just wondering if anyone has modified the suspension/axle on their telwater trailer it make it more "off road" friendly?

Did you opt for a drop axle system or eye to eye suspension? Just looking at getting a bit more clearance under the trailer and to lift the leg up that big higher.

Any suggestions, photos and help is appreciated.


Regards,
Josh

Have u had a look at the independent suspension setup? They use a coil spring and shock on each side with trailing arms bit better for when going through rough ruts. Available as a kit

If you want a bit more ground clearance try reversing your axle, put it underneath the springs instead of the axle sitting on top. This should give yoi the clearance you're after and maybe the opportunity to run a bit bigger tyre. I did it with my box trailer to get it to ride level with my Cruiser

How big is the boat mate?
I have a modified Telwater trailer that hold a 4.7m Topender with a tiller steer.
I have used eye to eye springs and a 50mm axle for a bit more durability. If you have slipper leaf springs, get rid of them for sure.
I also run standard light truck tyres, opting to steer away from the same tyres as are on the cruiser required a bit of thinking. The conclusion was that I did not want to have to back the car too far into the water on shallow angle ramps or beaches, etc. One my boat, I opted for the heaviest springs I could go for the configuration, from memory they are 900kg leafs.
I have no probs with motor clearance as I tilt the motor up a bit and secure on a spring assisted brace.
I also got rid of the adjustable roller set up and opted for two lengths of 100mm angle running down the length of the trailer. The rollers sit in this and it also gives the trailer a bit of a backbone also. Kept the adjustable skids though.
I guess that one could run extended shackles on the leafs to gain a bit more height, but that is not really an issue for me.
I have just moved up to Darwin, so I am yet to discover if more clearance will be required. However, I have used this set up extensively in the East Kimberley and down to Port Roper and I have had no issues thus far.

Hope the above gives you some ideas.
All the best.

Dazza Mac.

go give it to Dave at voyager & tell him to make it like one of his

STOKESY77 wrote:Have u had a look at the independent suspension setup? They use a coil spring and shock on each side with trailing arms bit better for when going through rough ruts. Available as a kit

Hey mate, yeah looked at them but that would be more then I'm willing to spend ($1200 or so) just on the suspension.

Dazza Mac wrote:How big is the boat mate?
I have a modified Telwater trailer that hold a 4.7m Topender with a tiller steer.
I have used eye to eye springs and a 50mm axle for a bit more durability. If you have slipper leaf springs, get rid of them for sure.
I also run standard light truck tyres, opting to steer away from the same tyres as are on the cruiser required a bit of thinking. The conclusion was that I did not want to have to back the car too far into the water on shallow angle ramps or beaches, etc. One my boat, I opted for the heaviest springs I could go for the configuration, from memory they are 900kg leafs.
I have no probs with motor clearance as I tilt the motor up a bit and secure on a spring assisted brace.
I also got rid of the adjustable roller set up and opted for two lengths of 100mm angle running down the length of the trailer. The rollers sit in this and it also gives the trailer a bit of a backbone also. Kept the adjustable skids though.
I guess that one could run extended shackles on the leafs to gain a bit more height, but that is not really an issue for me.
I have just moved up to Darwin, so I am yet to discover if more clearance will be required. However, I have used this set up extensively in the East Kimberley and down to Port Roper and I have had no issues thus far.

Hope the above gives you some ideas.
All the best.

Dazza Mac.

Yeah will probably go this way, found full eye to eye spring assemblies and all the fitment stuff for $250.
I've got a 445 hornet trophy.
I'll flick you a PM mate.

Had a look at a few off-road trailers and I'm going the eye to eye leaf springs as recommended above but for my keel rollers I'm going to make up some 4 roller assemblies to replace the twin roller assemblies under the keel at the moment.

Going bigger wheels, maybe factory hilux wheels as they are a dim a dozen so easy to source.

Anything else I should consider?

Bottom Bashing Bloke wrote:Had a look at a few off-road trailers and I'm going the eye to eye leaf springs as recommended above but for my keel rollers I'm going to make up some 4 roller assemblies to replace the twin roller assemblies under the keel at the moment.

Going bigger wheels, maybe factory hilux wheels as they are a dim a dozen so easy to source.

Anything else I should consider?

Eye to eye leaf springs really are the way to go for simplicity and ease of maintenance and repair. I do however really recommend you rethink your plan with the rollers mate....really the only way to go is full length ladder construction...that is angle iron with the rollers mounted in that....or....better still (I believe) is full length keel support with nylon slide. To explain......what I did after the first time I towed my tinnie to Kalumbaru in the Kimberley and rollers dropped out and the roller bracket ended up spearing through the hull was to get a hardwood plank the full length of the keel, I routed a channel up the middle of the plank a bit wider than the keel and then fixed nylon slide (just lengths of nylon strip...same material as cutting boards or boat skids) into the bottom of the channel using flat head torque screws counter sunk (pilot holes so no cracking in the plank). In my case the plank sat nice a level the length of the trailer and I was able to utilise the roller brackets as mounting points for the plank. I gave the plank a good dose of linseed oil (x3) and then a coat of spray on tar (underbody rust proofing). every so often I would spray the nylon slide with silicone spray....never had a problem, no warping, no cracking nothing.....worked a treat and the whole keel was supported. If I had a larger boat I would go the ladder construction with rollers....but under 4.5mtrs I think the full length slide is easy manageable.

Jeno wrote:

Bottom Bashing Bloke wrote:Had a look at a few off-road trailers and I'm going the eye to eye leaf springs as recommended above but for my keel rollers I'm going to make up some 4 roller assemblies to replace the twin roller assemblies under the keel at the moment.

Going bigger wheels, maybe factory hilux wheels as they are a dim a dozen so easy to source.

Anything else I should consider?

Eye to eye leaf springs really are the way to go for simplicity and ease of maintenance and repair. I do however really recommend you rethink your plan with the rollers mate....really the only way to go is full length ladder construction...that is angle iron with the rollers mounted in that....or....better still (I believe) is full length keel support with nylon slide. To explain......what I did after the first time I towed my tinnie to Kalumbaru in the Kimberley and rollers dropped out and the roller bracket ended up spearing through the hull was to get a hardwood plank the full length of the keel, I routed a channel up the middle of the plank a bit wider than the keel and then fixed nylon slide (just lengths of nylon strip...same material as cutting boards or boat skids) into the bottom of the channel using flat head torque screws counter sunk (pilot holes so no cracking in the plank). In my case the plank sat nice a level the length of the trailer and I was able to utilise the roller brackets as mounting points for the plank. I gave the plank a good dose of linseed oil (x3) and then a coat of spray on tar (underbody rust proofing). every so often I would spray the nylon slide with silicone spray....never had a problem, no warping, no cracking nothing.....worked a treat and the whole keel was supported. If I had a larger boat I would go the ladder construction with rollers....but under 4.5mtrs I think the full length slide is easy manageable.

Hey Jeno, thanks for the reply mate. I don't have any wobbly rollers on mine. I have 6" wide keel rollers in the format of 1,2,2,2,1 along the boat. I was going to change the 2's and add another roller on either end just to help support it a bit more. I'm not sure mine has the ability to spear the hull like yours did. My trailer has 1 skid at the outer sides that run 2/3 the length of the boat then every cross member has a kee roller assembly and lateral skids that run across the hull, if you understand what I mean.

Being a hornet the keel is 6" wide, will what you said work? I've looked at the ladder idea before but unsure how well it will work as all my roller assemblies have the ability to pivot and work with the hull. I'll post a photo of the trailer next time the boat is off the trailer. Here's a photo of what it's like on the trailer now.

Hi mate, yep..good photo....8 times out of 10 you won't have a problem with what you are suggesting, and if you are just doing dirt roads around Darwin it won't be an issue as long as you do the usual diligence...brace the motor well, strap the boat to the trailer properly and don't load too much weight into the boat while towing.

But if you plan and towing the boat to the Kimberley....into the gulf.....up to Coburg....then for my money and piece of mind it is worth the effort to do full keel support. I am speaking from experience...and to be honest way back then I didn't listen to the advice given to me because I had been up to the Kimberley and Kalumbaru the year before not towing anything and the road was fine. So the following year I thought great, taking the 4mtr tinny...good service of the trailer, new tyres everything checked and tightened etc, it was a Dunbier trailer. Well that year they had 3 inches of rain in 2 days while we were enroute and the road became a nightmare...also the grading hadn't been done yet because of the late season rain.....by the time I got back to Darwin after that trip, I had to rebuild that trailer. So moral of this story is if you are going to go remote...you don't have control of the road/track conditions so you need to have your trailer sorted otherwise you end up with a big headache and a ruined trip.

Jeno wrote:Hi mate, yep..good photo....8 times out of 10 you won't have a problem with what you are suggesting, and if you are just doing dirt roads around Darwin it won't be an issue as long as you do the usual diligence...brace the motor well, strap the boat to the trailer properly and don't load too much weight into the boat while towing.

But if you plan and towing the boat to the Kimberley....into the gulf.....up to Coburg....then for my money and piece of mind it is worth the effort to do full keel support. I am speaking from experience...and to be honest way back then I didn't listen to the advice given to me because I had been up to the Kimberley and Kalumbaru the year before not towing anything and the road was fine. So the following year I thought great, taking the 4mtr tinny...good service of the trailer, new tyres everything checked and tightened etc, it was a Dunbier trailer. Well that year they had 3 inches of rain in 2 days while we were enroute and the road became a nightmare...also the grading hadn't been done yet because of the late season rain.....by the time I got back to Darwin after that trip, I had to rebuild that trailer. So moral of this story is if you are going to go remote...you don't have control of the road/track conditions so you need to have your trailer sorted otherwise you end up with a big headache and a ruined trip.

Yeah the boat originally came from the Kununurra and it's a beefy little trailer, rated to 1100kg and the boat and motor would be about 400kg. I generally don't have much packed in the boat except what will be in it when I'm using it. Everything else goes onto the ute.
Does your boat sit right down between the wheel arches or do you have it up a bit?
I've done a little it of off-road work with it but nothing like hours on corrugations.