Ramlin? Eagle? Off Brand?

[Skidave]

I have an Eagle for my 2003 206. I like the trailer build quality and I have the carpeted bow stop, swing away tongue, disc brakes, etc. My only complaint is I think the bunks sit higher than a Ramlin trailer (and maybe other manufacturers). Some of the ramps I use are not very steep, and the extra few inches of those bunks make a difference when the boat is not deep enough in the water.

My old Nautique had the factory CC trailer. The bunks were right on top of the trailer rails and the Ramlin trailers look like they are built the same way. Please correct me if I am wrong.

Right now, I'm worried the boat will not fit into the garage of the house we just purchased. Again, the extra inches might make a difference...

Eagle has good customer service and good parts department. However, the company ownership was changed in 2003 or 2004 and previous trailer warranties are no longer valid. I had a few run arounds with this, but it was worked out.

Dave

[Quinner]

A few pics of my Eagle trailer.

[cboland]

With all of this talk about trailers, I was just curious whether you guys would like to see CC go back to building their own trailers with the opening of the new factory? I don't know if this is even possible and/or practical, but assuming it is, do you think this would be a good move on CC's part?

Personally, I do. For one, nobody knows a boat better than the manufacturer. It seems only natural that a boat manufacturer could design a trailer that fits the boat better than anybody else in all aspects. Secondly, I think it helps the brand image. It pains me to see a beautiful 50k Nautique coming down the road on some crappy and ugly Shore land'r. If every boat out on the road is riding on a consistent and standard design trailer, I think it helps out the image of the boat a lot more. Just my $.02. It looks like MC has had success in their trailers and I think they look pretty good. From what I hear, they're not bad trailers either.

[bkhallpass]

cboland,

From CCs point of view, as a business proposition, it's not a good idea. Not sufficient profit in
it to compete with regional trailer specialists. Overhead including shipping costs, safety and licensing
issues specific to states, etc. Also, regionally, there are preferences for trailers - tandems, galvanized,
etc. Finally, the dealers get better deals from the regional companies, and so they make better profits.

BKH

[blaker19]

Dorsey

We use Dorsey Trailers for all of our boats...They are located in Oklahoma.

[redelf75]

RE: Dorsey

And Ramlin is almost like a sub-division of CC. They work hand in hand with CC, sizing up new boats, long before they hit the market. Their trailers are customized to CC boats.

The best thing I like about their trailers, compared to Eagle, is that the boat sits lower, so the center of gravity is lower. I consider that a major safety advantage.

[jhiestand]

It looks like MC has had success in their trailers and I think they look pretty good. From what I hear, they're not bad trailers either.

Oh my gosh, MC puts SICK trailers under their boats! I've long envied my buddies' MC trailers with their quad disc brakes (even back in '00), mag wheels, oil-bathed hubs, custom-fitted bunks, prop cage rollers and silky-smooth low profile actuators. I continue to struggle with the finicky actuator on my Ram-lin and am dreading the day the wood all around the wheel wells rots out. NONE of that stuff on the MCs! I guess the trade-off is I'm sure the price of CCs would rise even further if they went back into the trailer business.

[krs0394]

The picture of the prop guard on the trailmaster looks like it's about 2 inches off the ground. Do you have problems with it scraping? I have a little incline in my driveway and it doesn't look like that trailer would make it up. Also, are the tail lights flush in the frame?

I have 7 inches from the floor to the bottom of the prop guard and have had no ploblems with it hitting anything, The tail lights are flush mount. These trailers are custom built from the factory to fit your exact boat -- unlike the shore landers. It's good to see locals Yellow_Flash_Colorz:

[skiinxs]

Prestige has been improving every year. With the '06, I think they have them pretty well dialed in. (I have had an '02, '03, '04' 05, and am picking up my '06 tomorrow). In addition to the oil bath hubs, disk brakes, aluminum diamond plate, and torsion axle that was on the '05, they have made further improvements for '06. The swing away tongue has been improved to a more conventional design, LED lights are now standard, The prop gaurd has been improved, and they have changed to a round 7 conductor light plug that fits most late model trucks without an adapter. The electrical cable is now a really nice heavy coiled design that has a clip on the trailer frame to secure the plug when not in use. They have also finally listened and installed the coupler flush instead of the crazy added on effect they have done every previous year. This will keep me from having such a high ball mount. (Previously if you wanted to pull the trailer level, you had to use a ball mount that was so high the tongue jack would sometimes run out of range before it was high enough to clear the ball.) I have had boat buddies installed on each of the trailers. Prestige does not offer them as an option, but they will build the correct width attachment if asked. I have never had any trouble loading the trailers with the boat buddies. They allow me to avoid the "crash pads" that seem to me to be a very outdated design causing rub rail damage, cover wear, and hassles putting covers on and off when the boat is on the trailer.
Dave

[jhiestand]

Interesting how people's opinions differ on the 'ole crash pads. My '01's rub rail still looks fantastic in the front. It's the carpet on the pads that take the beating. If you get a cover designed to fit around the pads, it's not a hassle at all. I've read how some people think the pads are ugly and old-fashioned, but I wouldn't own a trailer w/out them given a choice. When driving on I can see where I'm going and how close I am.

Each to his own, I guess!

[bkhallpass]

On the Zieman, DHM, and Sport Boat trailers popular here in the West, the crash pad posts flip forward
with the removal of a quick pin so putting the cover on is not an issue.

BKH

[Hollywood]

I love the crash pads, you can come in on a slight angle and end up straight everytime!

[nautique95]

I like them, that is why I mounted them on my Prestige. As was stated earlier, with the roller stop, if you have a ramp with a steep incline, if you are not careful, you will peal your pinstripping off -- not good!

[speck]

on my eagle they put traditional greased bearings (hubs), not oil bath. i heard bad things about the oil bath, and when i talked to the people there, they said they used to use them but they stopped because of problems. i'm glad.
oil baths look cool, and work, until the day they leak or let water in and then you could seize a bearing and burn things all up.
just MO
also my eagle has leaf springs, which at first i didn't like, torsions are cleaner looking, but leafs will level the load on each axle if your height on your ball isn't quite right, and are easy to inspect. they looked better than i thought when i got the trailer.
mine only has one axle braking, which i'm told is more common.
the crash pads make it so much easier to fling the boat on the trailer, esp. if you have a current to deal with like i do. a driver can't see a bow roller from the drivers seat when the boat gets close. i would need my wife to point for the last 2-3 feet on my old boat. get crash pads

[CHassmann]

Don't the newer Ramlins have the bow stops that aren't carpeted? I think that is a good option.