Eclipse weight?

[alsantini]

Has anyone weighed your Eclipse on the trailer?  I had ply separation on 2 tires on the way to Florida.  One totally blew apart and the other one was on the way out.  Tires had less than 10k miles and were 3 years old.  185 13R load range D   Should have been plenty.  What load range tires are on your trailer?  Thanks.  Sail on    Al

[waterwheels]

I got so I was afraid to trailer anywhere with the little tires that came with my trailer. They did not seem to hand any highway speed and were just about the limit for the boat empty weight.  Finally put on some 15" radials with higher load and speed capacity. Had to put new fenders too. Wasn't cheap but we now are not afraid to trailer to more places than just our home port. Money well spent if you want to keep it a trailer sailer.

There is a lot riding on those tires.

Don

[alsantini]

Don.  3 years ago I gave up on the 10 inch tires that came on the trailer especially since the galvanized fenders refused to stay put.  I broke many of the brackets.  Bought the current tires and wheels which are ST185 70R 13.  Vibrations immediately came down to nothing.  I had no hint that I had tire issues until the right side trailer came apart.  Tire store said it was a tread separation including the left side.  My current concern is putting a set of good tires on the trailer prior to coming home 1300+ miles in the Spring.  Have you had any issues launching with the taller tires?  Some of the ramps I frequent in Florida are really shallow.  That is why I went with 13 inch tires and new fenders.  Still interested in actual weight of the boat on the trailer.  Think when I get back to Florida I will search out a weigh station and pay to get the information.  I will share.

[lkm]

Hi Al,
Check your email of Dec 20, 2015, 10:46pm.
I sent you where my P.O. did this including weights with and without loads.
Larry. 

[waterwheels]

Al,

For me it was the weight and speed. The information on the Com pac website says the Eclipse is 2200 pounds empty. Now add a motor, battery, gas, water, etc. I'm sure it wouldn't take too long to be over 3000 pounds.

My 10" tires that came with the boat trailer were rated for 1060 each, times 2 that is 2120 not even enough to move the boat empty. Kind of a disappointment I would say. Good thing the boat quality makes up for it.
The 15" tires I installed are rated for 1820 pounds each bringing total to 3640 pounds. They are also good to 81 mph. I was told the 10" shouldn't go over 50 mph.

Going from the 10" to 15" has only raised the trailer 3" which does make quite a difference. I have not had any issue launching however I have been fortunate to have good deep launches.
I also like the extra clearance that the 3" provides for the trailer axle when traveling down the road. I don't worry near as much if I have to straddle some road kill or debris on road.
Be interested to hear how much your boat weighs if you get a chance to find a scale.

Don

[alsantini]

Larry.  Once you jogged my feeble memory, I searched my Eclipse file and voila, there it was.  Thanks.  Looks to be 3,612 in sail condition on a trailer.  I figured 3500, so I was close.  Tongue weight of about 200 says the tires need to have a load range of minimum 1700 lbs each.  Just the info I wanted.  Thanks again.    Al

There is a lot of information on that one sheet.  Good info for everyone's file.  Can you make it available if people send you a message with an E mail?  I don't feel good about "me" supplying it since it is from you.

[captronr]

Don, I am plagued with very shallow ramps with very gentle slopes.  My issue is (1) getting the trailer in deep enough and (2) being able to motor the boat on the trailer into the keel guides.  More often than not, I end up on top of the 2x4 rails, which requires subsequent retries.  (None of the ramps I use have docks beside the ramps.)  I have goal posts, but even with moving them around, they don't seem to solve this issue.

Pondering how to make this easier, I am currently thinking of getting a 2nd receiver hitch that has a 4-6 inch rise over what I currently use.  My thinking is this will allow the rear bunks to go deeper, and might hopefully guide the keel into the guides easier.

I will do some measuring in the spring to see if this is feasible.

If you have moved from 10 -15" tires, you might want to adjust your hitch height as well.

Hope this helps.
Ron

[philb Junkie19]

I launched at low angled ramps with my 16 and 19. The trailer on the 19 already had a tongue extension but building one forthe 16 was very straight forward. I also built one for my Oday 23 trailer. What's needed is just a length of 2" ssquare steel tube 8 or so feet, longer if you can fit it. and two short pieces of 2 1/2" tube, about 3 or 4 inches long welded to the side of the existing toungue. On my 16 I may have attached under the existing tongue or that may have been the one I put on my O'day 23 trailer. I think using 2 1/2 with 3/16"? sidewalls may make a good fit but I'd try a slide test. The right size is out there. Bolt a new hitch to the extension and bring the trailer and parts down to your local welding shop for a quick weld job ( One may need to ad spacers by the 2 1/2" in. pieces. Drill holes for pinning with the extension both in and out and compensate for those shallow ramps or larger tires.

[slode]

I've been running load range E 205/65-10 tires on mine with no issue so far.  I don't know what came factory for load rating but the E's are 1,650 lb. each and rated to 65mph.  So they should handle a pretty well loaded Eclipse.  Keeping them at 90 psi is the important part.  I've seen plenty of blown out trailer tires that are high load rating but only had 50-60 psi in them.

Hard part is finding the E rated 10" tires in a store.  They are readily available from Etrailer.com so I got two sets right away so I have an extra spare I throw in for longer trips. 

[Ken J]

Phil - do by chance have pictures of the 19 extension setup - did the 2" box handle the weight ok ?

Thanks - Ken

[philb Junkie19]

Ken, l tried posting a pic after reducing it with infan to under 250k. it got rejected as a file not allowed although it is a jpeg.  I tried changing it to a gif but am out of my element. I will email it to you.

The 2 inch square tube is plenty strong for towing in theparking area, launching and retrieving. The 19 is listed at 2000#, 200 less than the eclipse. With a very long extension it may flex a little towing in the lot but more than sufficient to handle the weight applied.

In the pic you'll see that a previous owner of the 19 used aluminum square fittings bolted to the trailer tongue rather than the steel tube welded on but it gives a good picture of the arrangement and location of the square sleeves. 

[philb Junkie19]

Ken, looks like it's at least as hard for me to send a pic through this site's email. If you send me a reqular email address Ill sen the photo.

[lkm]

Hi Al,
If you know a better way to post, please go ahead.
I tried, but I get error that the pdf files are too big for attachments, apparently
Note also that this trailer was custom so numbers might be different than yours (mine had larger wheels, running boards, etc)
Picture for comparison
Larry

[alsantini]

Larry.  I don't know about posting it here since it has a tremendous amount of information that might not come through at the lower resolution.  But guys, send me a message with your E Mail address and I will send you a high res copy of the page.  It really is interesting and perhaps a bit over the top, but good to have for the file.
Al

[Eagleye]

Al,
I have learned to never ask for a gals weight.......



-Allen