The trailer was made in 1979 and had some rust poking through the teal paint, but it was structurally sound. The surge brake system was shot with rust, a fender came off on the way to Nationals, and the bunks had been recarpeted by the previous owner before selling me the boat, but the wood was cracking and the bolts almost rusted through. Luckily, the bearings were good and never got how on any of the tows. I would need to get new wood for the bunks, new carpet, rebuild the entire brake system, solder the trailer wiring and get the tires replaced. And this was just the trailer!
My Jeep is also not the best tow vehicle. In high school I was really into off-roading and built my Cherokee into a great wheeling machine. Unfortunately, 32" mud tires,soft springs and locking differentials all make towing harder.
Furthermore, the Jeep likes to overheat and the rear driveshaft angle is slightly out of alignment, causing a vibration at freeway speeds. On the upside, I regeared the differentials with 4.10 gears to offset the larger tires. A lower gear ratio and manual transmission allow the Jeep to get as much torque to the wheels as possible. And I can fix almost anything that could go wrong with the Jeep.
The day after I got home I ordered a new brake master cylinder, brake shoes, wheel cylinders and tail lights for the trailer. They would arrive in a week, leaving me just enough time to rebuild the brakes and head down to meet Sheehan in San Diego before convoying to Florida. In the mean time I would have to search for a hoist I could use to launch Furthur so I could replace the trailer bunks. I decided to replace the 12'x2"x6" planks with pressure treated 14x2"x8" planks to give more support for the hull. Several local carpet stores gave me old rolls of carpet and I found one strip that was the right length.
Richmond Yacht Club was nice enough to let me use their hoist, so my Dad and I drove to Richmond to work on the boat. I let my Dad drive there so he could get a feel for the Jeep and give me his thoughts on its towing ability. Arriving at Richmond, my Dad was surprised how well the Jeep did. He taught me almost everything I know about driving, building things and working on cars, so an all clear from him was a good sign. We quickly launched Furthur and began ripping the old bunks out. The bolts holding them to the supports were undersized, rusty and almost worn through. The wood wasn't much better. Taking careful measurements, we cut and drilled the new bunks. We then bent them to the shape of the hull using a hand winch and bolted them on with galvanized hardware.
Next, we put on the new (to me) carpet, securing it with a roofing nail every foot. With the sun almost setting and Richmond about to get ridiculously cold, we hoisted out the boat, rinsed her with freshwater and put her back on the trailer for the drive home. The new bunks looked great, add more support for the hull and are definitely stronger.
My next objective was to get the Jeep in the best possible condition. I ran a heavy duty radiator cleaner through the cooling system and cleaned all the mud out of the radiator. This would hopefully help with the overheating issue as both the electrical and mechanical fans were working fine. I also changed the oil, spark plugs and did a few other service things to the Jeep.
Continuing with the trailer, I called several tire stores and got a great price on new tires. Then I checked my email and found out that the brake master cylinder I ordered was out of stock and wouldn't arrive until the day I wanted to leave. I frantically called local boat shops until I found one with the part in Stockton, so I canceled my order for that part. I installed the brake master cylinder I got in Stockton and began stripping off the old brake hardware. Two days later I got the new parts in the mail, including a brake master cylinder! The rest brake rebuild went fairly smoothly (except for adjusting the star wheels) and I learned how to double-flare hard brake line (its kind of a pain in the ass if you want to know). Bleeding the brakes was pretty hard since the fluid reservoir is tiny and kept sucking in air bubbles, but my Dad and I eventually got it. I reattached the broken fender and bolted on the wheels with new tires. Meanwhile, my Dad helped my last minute scramble by soldering the trailed light wiring. The next morning I finished packing up the Jeep and boat and headed for San Diego to meet up with Sheehan.
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