Rhodes 22 Trailer Questions

[SpringHollow]

Hi, We are upgrading from a 16' Daysailer to a Rhodes 22. It looks like the posts on this forum will be very useful as we learn.

The trailer for the boat is from the early 90's and resold from the General Boats factory in the late 80's. I am concerned about the condition of the bearings. We will regrease and monitor the temperatures but I would like to have bearings, races, and seals as well as a spare wheel/tire. Dealing long distance on this purchase has been difficult. We asked for pictures showing tire sizes etc but the ones sent do not show it. At least they show it is a 5 lug wheel! I also emailed General Boats but never heard back and the only number I could find is no longer active. Since we are getting it in 2 days, I thought I would ask here.

Does anyone know if these trailers take the standard 3500 lb trailer bearings and a 15" 5 x 4 1/2 wheel? I orders some of those bearings, seals, and races (if nothing else, I can use them on my tilt trailer) as well as some of the larger races sometimes found on boats. But if someone knows these are not what I need, then I can try to get the correct ones.

Thanks,

Ken

[Lake-Effect]

I don't have specific knowledge of the trailer for a Rhodes 22.

How far would you have to tow it to bring her home? And how big is the town where the boat is currently? You could probably buy your spares (bearings, wheel) there after having a look.

Your plan of greasing and frequent checks of hub temperature is probably sufficient to get it home, at which point you can disassemble and inspect, or let a garage take care of it.


I've disassembled, inspected and regreased both our trailer wheel bearings, and replaced one set plus seals. It's not very difficult.

[Keithward]

And if in a town with an auto parts store you can jack up the trailer
take the wheel off with the hub don’t even unbolt the wheel
to an auto parts store they can match it.
the other thing is you can jack up the trailer and shake the wheels and see if they’re loose or bad
and you could pretty easily install a set of buddy bearings
take a tape measure with you and then run to Walmart or your auto parts store and buy buddy bearings
that would be the easiest way to Greece and monitor temperatures
they make a Nautilis shell style Trailer that Jack that is extremely easy to use remove the cotter pin and the castle nut take the whole shebang to the carpart store
let them measure and fit you with the bearing
if you need to jack up that side check the tire and see if it even needs anything tighten it up a tiny bit if you can
you know one notch on the Castle nut
harbor freight sells multi-size packs of cotter keys for a couple bucks
Good luck
I have three Catalina 22s one for sale and two as part boats
all three have trailers one of them I brought from almost 400 miles away and lost a tire at 2 o’clock in the morning with no spare drove 30 miles to the nearest Walmart bought a spare tire on the wheel replaced it and continued home granted it was no fun changing the tire literally in the middle of nowhere at now 3 o’clock 330 in the morning but I made it home and now I have a spare for the trailer
Caution just because it’s a five lug there are several bolt patterns for five lug wheels the wheel diameter is not super critical but the distance between the lugs is.
Hope it helps good luck

[SpringHollow]

Thanks for the help. I lucked out. The trailer had bearing buddies on it. We greased it and monitored the temperatures. The temperatures never raised much at all; actually ran cooler than I have ever seen during the 300 mile trip.