EZ Loader trailer Repair

I have a 1996 27' Wellcraft Excel I am pulling on a EZ loader trailer that I believe is the original trailer, both were not in bad shape, just neglected. I am nearly finished restoring the boat and am now doing the same to the trailer. I have replaced the jack, winch, rewired the lights and now need to replace all 32 rollers and all 4 wheel assemblies. I am not familiar with the way its set up. The front wheels have a drum/bearing assembly but there are no brake lines to speak of and the rear wheels just have a simple hub assembly with a bearing. I have been trying to find a vin number or any kind of way to identify the model of trailer, but have been unsuccessful. Trying to identify what I have so I can order the correct parts.

Ayuh,.... Brakes on one axle is typical,.....
You need to find the part numbers off the bearings, 'n seals,.....
The fact that it's an ez loader don't really matter,.....
'n for the price of 32 rollers,... I'd convert it to bunks,.....

I have an EX Loader trailer that needs rollers and I'm not going to spend that much money on rollers when I really prefer bunks. The price of rollers is prohibitive, IMO- lowest price I have seen is $17 each and for 32 rollers, it's more than $500.

Post photos.

I have been looking for a good way to convert to bunks and saw a photo of a trailer that had the bunks attached to the roller arms- I'm trying to fond more of the extruded Aluminum parts like the one in the photo that have the roller arms U-bolted to them, so I can remove the roller arms and attach the bunks- these would allow me to set the tilt to match the hull. My trailer has two on the rear tube, but the ones on the front are smaller and fixed.

If you're in Northern Wisconsin, someone is selling complete tube/roller assemblies on Craig's List- looks like EX Loader parts.

Ayuh,..... I'm not following what yer saying,...... Is this picture yer trailer,..??

I'd bolt the wood to the box tube, 'n bevel the wood to match the hull,......

bondo said:

Ayuh,..... I'm not following what yer saying,...... Is this picture yer trailer,..??

I'd bolt the wood to the box tube, 'n bevel the wood to match the hull,......

Click to expand...

My trailer- I have considered a lot of ways t do this but using these plates would be the easiest way to match the hull. EZ Loader sells a different version, made of galvanized steel- shipping would double the cost. The whole reason for changing to bunks is due to the condition of the rollers being dicey and I want to get it in the water without having any of them falling apart as it's being launched or loaded onto the trailer. I don't like rollers and spending $18 each isn't gonna happen.

The front rollers are held in place with the smaller brackets-



As a 'get it done ASAP' measure, I might move one of the large plates to the front and use the two smaller ones in the middle two positions with an added bunk bracket like the one in the next photo-

Whether you do bunks or rollers I would for sure put brakes on the second axle. If you have 3500 lb axles a pair of 10” brakes is inadequate to stop a 27’boat, they are only rated to stop 3500 lbs. A 12” brake is rated to up to 7,000 lbs. Hopefully you have 6 lug axles & 12” brakes.
I know rollers are expensive to replace but here a bunk trailer would limit when I can launch the boat due to the 6-8 foot tide swings every 6 hrs. If you have steep ramps it’s fine. Shallow ramps & tides not convenient.

louc said:

Whether you do bunks or rollers I would for sure put brakes on the second axle. If you have 3500 lb axles a pair of 10” brakes is inadequate to stop a 27’boat, they are only rated to stop 3500 lbs. A 12” brake is rated to up to 7,000 lbs. Hopefully you have 6 lug axles & 12” brakes.
I know rollers are expensive to replace but here a bunk trailer would limit when I can launch the boat due to the 6-8 foot tide swings every 6 hrs. If you have steep ramps it’s fine. Shallow ramps & tides not convenient.

Click to expand...

It's a 17' 4 Winns on a single axle trailer.

I have launched at low angle ramps but I won't drive in so far that my tow vehicle is in the water- I have several launches on Lake Michigan within only a few miles and I don't plan to tow it very far. Also, rollers make dents in hulls and I like to distribute the load over a large area.

I have a 20’ Four Winns H-200 on a Load Rite roller trailer the boat is 35 years old no dents in the hull. 24 rollers. The total weight boat & trailer is approx 5,000 lbs. Boat itself is estimated at about 4200 lbs.

louc said:

I have a 20’ Four Winns H-200 on a Load Rite roller trailer the boat is 35 years old no dents in the hull. 24 rollers. The total weight boat & trailer is approx 5,000 lbs. Boat itself is estimated at about 4200 lbs.

Click to expand...

Mine has a few dents, but I don't know how it was stored before I bought it- maybe they loaded it with heavy stuff and it was in a hot place, whatever- all I know is that the dents are directly above the rollers- haven't seen cracks in the gelcoat, but I would have changed to bunks even if I had no dents. I worked on boats for several years and it wasn't rare- talked with a few people recently and they all made the same comments about rollers- I know they use many rollers, specifically to distribute the load over a large area, but the area above each roller is pretty small.

Regardless, I'm not paying the high price to replace the rollers and it's getting bunks.