Just a Little Boat Upgrade & Towing Experience

Jeff1024 · Jun 19, 2024

We were not really shopping, but the "perfect" boat just happened to come up for sale about 2 hours form us. Its a 2017 Cobalt R5 pretty well optioned from the factory including the Big Boy 8.2 Merc V8.

The 3.5 Eco pulls it well. I am guessing 7,000lb loaded on the trailer. We towed it home, mostly backroads with some pretty solid hills. Max Trans Temp was 212 Engine hit 210 at one point.

The trailer it is sitting on is terrible, the previous owner kept the boat in a slip and just used the trailer to pull it out at the end of each season. The axles are far too far back and it's putting a ton of extra tongue weight on the truck. We have a custom Trailer on order that will hopefully fix some of the squat in these pictures. Until the new trailer gets here please send thoughts and prayers for my rear leaf's.

A few pics. because the thread is worthless without pics:

Ford F-150 Just a Little Boat Upgrade & Towing Experience 20240606_183316

Ford F-150 Just a Little Boat Upgrade & Towing Experience Truck1

Ford F-150 Just a Little Boat Upgrade & Towing Experience Truck3

Ford F-150 Just a Little Boat Upgrade & Towing Experience 20240519_083650

FORDTEXAS · Jun 19, 2024

doesn’t CCD help with the rear end?
(idk if yours is equipped or not)

Jeff1024 · Jun 19, 2024

fordhouston said:
doesn’t CCD help with the rear end?
(idk if yours is equipped or not)

Mine does have the CCD. It helps with the ride, but not the squat. Just changes shock settings but the leafs are still carrying all the load.

Sparkybrent · Jun 20, 2024

Jeff1024 said:
We were not really shopping, but the "perfect" boat just happened to come up for sale about 2 hours form us. Its a 2017 Cobalt R5 pretty well optioned from the factory including the Big Boy 8.2 Merc V8.

The 3.5 Eco pulls it well. I am guessing 7,000lb loaded on the trailer. We towed it home, mostly backroads with some pretty solid hills. Max Trans Temp was 212 Engine hit 210 at one point.

The trailer it is sitting on is terrible, the previous owner kept the boat in a slip and just used the trailer to pull it out at the end of each season. The axles are far too far back and it's putting a ton of extra tongue weight on the truck. We have a custom Trailer on order that will hopefully fix some of the squat in these pictures. Until the new trailer gets here please send thoughts and prayers for my rear leaf's.

A few pics. because the thread is worthless without pics:

Your receiver hitch is only rated for 5k lbs. You need a WDH to pull your boat. My boat weighs about 8k lbs loaded and my truck with the WDH sat with barely any change in squat.

Jeff1024 · Jun 20, 2024

Sparkybrent said:
Your receiver hitch is only rated for 5k lbs. You need a WDH to pull your boat. My boat weighs about 8k lbs loaded and my truck with the WDH sat with barely any change in squat.

I understand the ratings, and you are correct we are over the weight carrying ratings of the hitch. We tow the boat about 5 total miles from a storage unit to the ramp. Yes, a WDH would help /w the squat in the rear, and I 100% understand we are taking weight off the front of the truck.

There is a ton of debate on here, but I don't believe the 500/5000 limit is a reflection of the strength of the hitch. It's Ford limiting the amount of weight that can come off the front of the truck. Even with a WDH the receiver on your truck is pulling 8,000lbs and has 700ish lbs pushing down on it. The WDH helps lever that weight to the front of the truck, but it doesnt reduce the forces felt by the hitch.

As I said, this is a temporary universal trailer that the boat was sitting on. The axles are far too far back. For some perspective, Custom trailers for the same boat put the rear tandem in front of the O in Cobalt, that's almost a foot and a half forward from where we are. Threw a pic on this post to give you an idea of how far off it is. Moving them that much is going to take a ton of weight off the truck.

Our old boat was about the same length and about 1000lbs lighter. With a tongue scale I verified it was at 525lb on the truck and never ran a WDH. It was over the 5000lb limit, but again a WDH doesn't change how much you are pulling forward.

I am hoping a custom trailer gets this to about 575 - 600ish on the tongue. At that point it would take a lot to talk me into setting up a WDH to pull it 5 miles.

Ford F-150 Just a Little Boat Upgrade & Towing Experience Screenshot_20240611_204133_Gallery

Dakar09 · Jun 22, 2024

What about that Road Active Suspension kit that helps the rear leaf springs when towing to eliminate the sag? Not sure if they work or not, but could be worth a try if your new trailer still causes some sagging.

Nice boat, btw!

Zyvin · Jun 22, 2024

Cobalt makes good stuff

powerboatr · Jun 22, 2024

SWEET
the axles dont loosen a few ubolts and slide forward to get tongue weight right
i had a LONG LONG trailer and the axles were a sub assembly that could be moved foward or aft

great looking boat ENJOY

Jeff1024 · Jun 23, 2024

Dakar09 said:
What about that Road Active Suspension kit that helps the rear leaf springs when towing to eliminate the sag? Not sure if they work or not, but could be worth a try if your new trailer still causes some sagging.

Nice boat, btw!

RAS or Airbags could be a good option, the truck does have the CCD Suspension so not sure on compatibility there. The current trailer which - as mentioned is a piece of crap lol - is dropping the truck about 2.25in.

The truck is going to squat some with a trailer behind it, that's why its raked in the first place I get that, just wanted a bit less weight on the tongue.

I bought a tongue weight scale just to see how bad this is and how much improvement I get on a properly setup trailer. Will be interesting to see.

powerboatr said:
SWEET
the axles dont loosen a few ubolts and slide forward to get tongue weight right
i had a LONG LONG trailer and the axles were a sub assembly that could be moved foward or aft

great looking boat ENJOY

Agree, I looked last weekend, six U Bolts and I could slide the trailer frame rails on the axles. I am debating messing with it over the 4th of July when we will have the boat in the water for the long weekend. I also got told by the wife to "not mess with it we have a new trailer on order and you will just break something". She may be on to something there lol.

And thanks, this is our 3rd Cobalt, they really are great boats.

nkyhunter · Jun 24, 2024

looks like the leaf spring on the trailer isn't rated for the weight, and looks broken from that pic

Jeff1024 · Jun 24, 2024

nkyhunter said:
looks like the leaf spring on the trailer isn't rated for the weight, and looks broken from that pic

Why do you say that? The boat is tilted forward, is that what is giving you that idea?

The trailer is rated to 6000lb load carrying, the boat is 4880 dry, it's close, and I haven't weighed it but it should be under or right at 6k loaded up with fuel and ready to go. Cobalt publishes dry weight w/ the base engine and no options. We have 325lb of fuel, the Big Block Upgrade ~300lb and the arch ~250. That puts us at 5780.

The boat is tilted forward b/c the bunks are setup so poorly that they are not supporting as far forward as they should be and more of the boat weight is resting in on the bow stand.

At least I think thats what it is, but now you have given me something else to check / worry about lol.

motivology · Jun 24, 2024

Sweet! Some day, I plan on getting a wake board boat. You’re right, those axles on the trailer is too far back. Where are you getting your custom trailer built from?

-DK

Jeff1024 · Jun 24, 2024

motivology said:
Sweet! Some day, I plan on getting a wake board boat. You’re right, those axles on the trailer is too far back. Where are you getting your custom trailer built from?

-DK

After some shopping we went /w BoatMate. They are close to us in TN and had, in my opinion, the best build for the price we were looking to spend.

If we were towing it a longer distance I would 100% put a Loadmaster under it. Loadmaster Spec'd 6000lb axles and 6in C Channel for the trailer. The dry weight of the boat is 4880 and the trailer they wanted to build for it had a payload of 8,897lb and GVWR of 10,668lb. They are super easy to work with, you can customize the trailer with a TON of options, you can order direct with them, and as you can see their stuff is super over built. You just pay for it.

BoatMate is putting 4200lb axles under the trailer w/ a 5in frame. 8400lb GVWR and 7100lb payload capacity. Still overbuilt, but not nearly as much so as the Loadmaster. About $3,000 cheaper than the loadmaster so you are giving up some capacity for a bit of cost savings.

The boat is 6,000lbs. So the question is do you want the trailer overbuilt by 15% or 30%. For us the BoatMate is fine and I will pocket the $3,000 cost savings.

We also looked at Heritage and Phoenix.

Heritage was around the same price as Boatmate - but was only going to use 3750lb axles for a payload of 5900lb. Just too close to the boat weight for me. I am sure I could have talked options with them, and they build a good trailer, but since BoatMate had what I wanted at the right price I didnt go any further /w Heritage.

Phoenix was more expensive than Boatmate cheaper than Loadmaster but the specs were pretty close to BoatMate. Phoenix is in Michigan - totally makes sense right? - and delivery fees would have added to the price, w/ BoatMate being close we can just go pick up the trailer on our way to the lake.

More than you wanted to know, but hope it helps if you decide to ever do a wake boat. Boatmate is the OEM for a ton of WakeBoat brands so hopefully this helps maybe.

motivology · Jun 28, 2024

Jeff1024 said:
After some shopping we went /w BoatMate. They are close to us in TN and had, in my opinion, the best build for the price we were looking to spend.

If we were towing it a longer distance I would 100% put a Loadmaster under it. Loadmaster Spec'd 6000lb axles and 6in C Channel for the trailer. The dry weight of the boat is 4880 and the trailer they wanted to build for it had a payload of 8,897lb and GVWR of 10,668lb. They are super easy to work with, you can customize the trailer with a TON of options, you can order direct with them, and as you can see their stuff is super over built. You just pay for it.

BoatMate is putting 4200lb axles under the trailer w/ a 5in frame. 8400lb GVWR and 7100lb payload capacity. Still overbuilt, but not nearly as much so as the Loadmaster. About $3,000 cheaper than the loadmaster so you are giving up some capacity for a bit of cost savings.

The boat is 6,000lbs. So the question is do you want the trailer overbuilt by 15% or 30%. For us the BoatMate is fine and I will pocket the $3,000 cost savings.

We also looked at Heritage and Phoenix.

Heritage was around the same price as Boatmate - but was only going to use 3750lb axles for a payload of 5900lb. Just too close to the boat weight for me. I am sure I could have talked options with them, and they build a good trailer, but since BoatMate had what I wanted at the right price I didnt go any further /w Heritage.

Phoenix was more expensive than Boatmate cheaper than Loadmaster but the specs were pretty close to BoatMate. Phoenix is in Michigan - totally makes sense right? - and delivery fees would have added to the price, w/ BoatMate being close we can just go pick up the trailer on our way to the lake.

More than you wanted to know, but hope it helps if you decide to ever do a wake boat. Boatmate is the OEM for a ton of WakeBoat brands so hopefully this helps maybe.

Wow - you definitely did your homework. I’ll keep BoatMate in mind if I need a custom trailer built. I won’t get a wake boat until I get a house with some acreage. But this is good info to know.

Definitely post a picture of the new trailer once you get it.

-DK

John Stones · Jul 1, 2024

Interesting insights on trailer modifications for better weight distribution. Planning ahead for that custom trailer sounds like a smart move. Enjoy the long weekend on the water with your upgraded setup!

Just a Little Boat Upgrade & Towing Experience

Jeff1024

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