I went to Lake Powell last week. Will be posting pics soon to document the trip, had a great time.
The road from here to the Lake is a 2 lane freeway and temps are over 100 degrees. The road is somewhat rough, and I suffered a blowout. No big deal...sort of. The trailer tires were manufactured in May of 06, so although they have been kept inside, they are getting old, as far as trailer tires go.
Mastercraft makes their own trailers and thought it would be way cool to have fiberglass fenders. They look cool, but didn't they ever think that you might get a blowout? Anyway, the right rear tire blew out and I did not notice it in time to stop it from whipping around and destroying the rear 6 inches of fender. The pieces were missing by the time I realized what had happened. The rear portion included a backup and running light, those are scattered along the highway as well.
I went to a local body shop and asked them to repair it. The rear portion of the fender has a variety of swirls and curved edges that are going to be very hard to make match the other side. He was reluctant to do something that won't match and he suggested I just get a new fender from the manufacturer.
I called the dealer to see about ordering a new fender...$818 plus shipping from Tennessee to Utah. I am sure a 6 foot long fender is going to be a lot to ship, plus the new lights and then my trouble to get the old one unbolted and the new one bolted on. Between all that and the new tire as well, I am looking at 1K for a flat tire.
So that has me thinking about other options. A metal fender would be nice, and a whole lot easier to repair next time I get a flat. For the price of a fiberglass fender, I could invest a whole lot in this project.
A local trailer shop has alluminum fenders that are less than $200. Trouble is that they go down further than the current fenders and they also don't have anything that would cover the trailer steps that are located in front and behind the fender well. The local auto body guy sent me there and suggested he could bolt them on and shave off the front and back and make it work. I would throw some gator grip on there and have something that might be better than what I started with.
Anyone else ever thought of something so nuts? I have posted on the MC forum, but it is generally taboo over there to think you can do something better than MC does it. Also, if you have done something non-MC to the boat, then it would hurt resale to someone who thinks that MC is the one and only way.
So....am I crazy to think I could swap out the fenders for some chromed out ones? They would look better, IMO and will never cost me $900 to fix when I get my next blowout.
On a separate note, the dry weight of the boat and trailer gets fairly high for tires with a load range C. This also applies to all of you guys with 24V and Ve and RZ4's. Then take into account that the 90 gallon gas tank is full and all the gear and you are pushing it for sure. There is only 1 tire in the universe that is 14 inches in diameter that can bump you up to a load range D, the KUMHO 857. I am considering that too. The summers here are usually 105+ during the day and I am sure the road is a lot hotter than that, so tires really take a beating. So I am considering upgrading the tires to help decrease the risk of another blowout.
Forgive my combination of ranting and asking for help. Let me know what you think.
One other option is to cut off the rear of the fender on both sides so my local shop can make them match a straight squared end. That is probably most cost effective in the short term. But then I still have crappy fiberglass fenders that are going to splinter on my next blowout. It will be time to sell next summer...maybe it would hold until then.
The road from here to the Lake is a 2 lane freeway and temps are over 100 degrees. The road is somewhat rough, and I suffered a blowout. No big deal...sort of. The trailer tires were manufactured in May of 06, so although they have been kept inside, they are getting old, as far as trailer tires go.
Mastercraft makes their own trailers and thought it would be way cool to have fiberglass fenders. They look cool, but didn't they ever think that you might get a blowout? Anyway, the right rear tire blew out and I did not notice it in time to stop it from whipping around and destroying the rear 6 inches of fender. The pieces were missing by the time I realized what had happened. The rear portion included a backup and running light, those are scattered along the highway as well.
I went to a local body shop and asked them to repair it. The rear portion of the fender has a variety of swirls and curved edges that are going to be very hard to make match the other side. He was reluctant to do something that won't match and he suggested I just get a new fender from the manufacturer.
I called the dealer to see about ordering a new fender...$818 plus shipping from Tennessee to Utah. I am sure a 6 foot long fender is going to be a lot to ship, plus the new lights and then my trouble to get the old one unbolted and the new one bolted on. Between all that and the new tire as well, I am looking at 1K for a flat tire.
So that has me thinking about other options. A metal fender would be nice, and a whole lot easier to repair next time I get a flat. For the price of a fiberglass fender, I could invest a whole lot in this project.
A local trailer shop has alluminum fenders that are less than $200. Trouble is that they go down further than the current fenders and they also don't have anything that would cover the trailer steps that are located in front and behind the fender well. The local auto body guy sent me there and suggested he could bolt them on and shave off the front and back and make it work. I would throw some gator grip on there and have something that might be better than what I started with.
Anyone else ever thought of something so nuts? I have posted on the MC forum, but it is generally taboo over there to think you can do something better than MC does it. Also, if you have done something non-MC to the boat, then it would hurt resale to someone who thinks that MC is the one and only way.
So....am I crazy to think I could swap out the fenders for some chromed out ones? They would look better, IMO and will never cost me $900 to fix when I get my next blowout.
On a separate note, the dry weight of the boat and trailer gets fairly high for tires with a load range C. This also applies to all of you guys with 24V and Ve and RZ4's. Then take into account that the 90 gallon gas tank is full and all the gear and you are pushing it for sure. There is only 1 tire in the universe that is 14 inches in diameter that can bump you up to a load range D, the KUMHO 857. I am considering that too. The summers here are usually 105+ during the day and I am sure the road is a lot hotter than that, so tires really take a beating. So I am considering upgrading the tires to help decrease the risk of another blowout.
Forgive my combination of ranting and asking for help. Let me know what you think.
One other option is to cut off the rear of the fender on both sides so my local shop can make them match a straight squared end. That is probably most cost effective in the short term. But then I still have crappy fiberglass fenders that are going to splinter on my next blowout. It will be time to sell next summer...maybe it would hold until then.
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