Towing Alaska to Mexico

[AKBR]

I intend to tow a 2006, 26M with a steel trailer from Palmer, Alaska to San Carlos, Mexico in early November. I plan to take a couple of extra, spare tires and an extra set of bearings. I considered taking an entire hub assembly along but haven’t found one yet.

I’d like to hear from anyone who’s done long-distance towing with the steel trailer. What problems did you encounter? Better yet, did you make it with no problems?

Also, I thought some people might be interested in looking at pictures of sailing the Mac in Alaska. Here are two links, one to my wife’s blog and the other to her photo album. They contain more than just sailing photos, so you’ll have to sift through a bit.

Enjoy.

http://jillcaho.blogspot.com/
http://picasaweb.google.com/jillcaho

[Trouts Dream]

I installed a set of bearing buddies. These are spring loaded reservoirs that make sure there is always grease in the bearings. Easy to check every couple of hours and a grease gun (a must in my opinion) can quickly top up if the resevoir is low. This has also proved beneficial to keep water from getting in to the bearings during launch as there is a slight pressure in the bearing assembly.
Probably good idea to take a credit card for the just in cases. Good Luck

[Pete]

From my younger years of towing a travel trailer around the country, i would say there is more to worry about in your tow vehicle then the trailer. Number one being your cooling system. I would assume you are using a full size truck or suv. If its fairly new probably not a problem, but if its more then 10 years old I would have the cooling system flushed. I don't really know about the new macs but from what i can see they tend to be light on the tongue weight. I prefer a heavy tongue of at least a couple hundred pounds. Pack the heavy stuff up front in the boat. Mount your spare tires on the tongue. You may want to get some sway control. With the travel trailer it completely eliminated the white knuckles. Last strap the boat down. You really can't over do this. Think if you do have an accident you want them to stay together.

Pete

[pokerrick1]

What Pete said - - - strap it down

Rick Less in Las Vegas

[c130king]

Heavy weight jack. I have a 2-ton model I think. Also, probably a good idea to have spare bulbs or lights plus wires, connectors, crimping tool etc....

And trailering insurance. BoatUS seems to be a good deal to me. Never used it but nice to know it is there.

I have gone 650 miles twice and 250 miles once and will do 450 miles twice over the XMas break. I have the bearing buddies and use a strap over the stern of the boat. Have never had an issue...knock on wood.

Good Luck,
Jim

[Kelly Hanson East]

Are you sure Mexico wants Alaska???


Seriously,,,

1 Strapping down the boat isnt just a good idea, its the law in most states I know of.

2 For a trip that far, you should buy a trailer tongue scale and get it right

3 If the bearings havent been cleaned and packed in the last 3 years, do it before the trip.

[R Rae]

All of the above are good suggestions. Every summer I travel from Alabama to the Canadian Maritimes and back, and normally without any real hassles. This year was different.

15 miles into the journey (2100 miles total) I discovered one of the bearing buddies had come off. OK says I, perhaps I didn't tap it on properly. On went a spare B. Buddy and off we go again. At 50 miles I decided to re-check all was well, and of course it wasn't. So on goes my last spare B. B. but this time I didn't feel happy that the press fit (which was certainly adequate,IMHO) was going to be good enough that I pulled out a new roll of Gorilla glue duct tape (awesome stuff, but twice the price) and after Acetone cleaning the hubs and B B's I applied 3-4 wraps of the stuff around both left and right wheels. This solved my problem, and just to be safe they will remain taped up for ever, as far as I'm concerned. Mind you, ambient temp. at the time was around 92 F. and that could have been a factor too.

Next event was when one of my 2 year old Marathon tyres ran over something at the 400 mile mark. When I pulled over (after being flashed by a passing motorist. Nice bloke) I discovered a 2 inch gash in the tread. Luckily I had started using 'Ultraseal' in my tyres, for when the tyre deflated it still managed to retain 20 psi which surely saved my rim from taking a beating.

Otherwise the trip was excellent.

Good luck, and have a safe trip

R

[bscott]

I've lost Bearing Buddies too--don't know why but now I carry spare OEM axle caps and extra grease. Harbor Frt has an aluminum wheeled jack that is worth it's weight in gold if you have a flat.

BCB

[AKBR]

Good ideas, thanks.

I'm making a list of your suggestions.


BR

[AKBR]

[quote="Kelly Hanson East"]Are you sure Mexico wants Alaska???


Ha!

Good to see the punctuation police are paying attention.

BR

[Chinook]

I've towed our X on its steel trailer about 40,000 miles thus far (and next week I've got a 3000 mile trip ahead of me, getting back from the Chesapeake to Washington. In all that distance I've had a total of just 2 flat tires. Neither caused any problems, but the tandem axle helped a lot in both instances. I've had 2 other road problems, but both were mostly my fault. I ruined a set of brakes going down an extended down grade, with the surge brakes engaging and overheating the brakes. It's advisable to avoid long slow grades of 9 percent. I also lost a fender after hitting a bad chuckhole on the freeway. I had attached the tie down strap to the fender bracket, instead of to the trailer frame.

I've trailered between Wenatchee, Washington and Prince Rupert, BC twice, with no problems. The roads in BC were just fine for trailering, along most stretches. I've also trailered from central Washington to San Carlos. I went down I-5 to LA to visit family along the way south. The freeway through the Central Valley was in very bad shape, with lots of chuckholes in the concrete. I wouldn't recommend that route. It isn't very direct in any event. The route down from Nogales to San Carlos is really quite good. It's a 4 lane divided highway (toll road). The driving lanes themselves are fine. Biggest hazard is the complete lack of shoulders in most cases. Edge of pavement drops off abruptly, so you don't want to drop a wheel off the edge of the road. The speed bumps in the middle of towns are pretty strange, but well marked, both by signs and by the vendors who congregate there. At the border crossing you want to take the truck route rather than going through town, but be careful going back north. We got caught in an amazing semi truck traffic jam.

The usual precautions apply to trailering long distances. Periodic checks of hub temperature, making sure lug nuts are tight, checking tire pressure. Good luck with the trip. Long trips like that are one of the things that make owning a Mac worthwhile.

[AKBR]

Thanks for the info Chinook.

I agree. Being able to trailer the Mac is a huge advantage. We occasionally kick around the idea of “upgrading” to a bigger sailboat but always decide to stick with the Mac because of its versatility.

BR