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PostPosted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 1:53 pm 
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Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2009 8:23 am
Posts: 5
Ron, thanks for the info on the Trailex Trailer and support racks. I'm probably 4 months away from my actual purchase of the PA. I'm hoping that one of the car top rack manufacturers ends up with something for my car. There is limited space in my garage for a trailer. If push comes to shove, I'll make the trailer work.

Enjoy your PA and trailer. Let us know if it was as easy to install as Trailex says is is. I suspect that the most difficult part is ensuring that the axle is perpendicular to the trailer rack.


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PostPosted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 5:41 am 
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Joined: Mon Sep 14, 2009 7:44 pm
Posts: 79
Location: Nashville, TN
I just got the last box of my trailer yesterday. UPS messed up and sent one of the boxes with all of the bolts to Florida. Well my wife and I stayed up last night putting it together and were very disappointed. There was no grease in the left wheel, and the hub was not properly tightened it has a lot of horizontal play. There was also not very much grease in the left wheel and the seal was driven in improperly and the spring for the inner seal was sticking out. One of the cross-arms that the kayaks will sit on was missing, and the holes for the eye bolts were drilled improperly for the cross-arm that did come. There was no wiring protection. There was no place to attach my ground to the trailer so I had to drill holes at each one of the lights for the grounds.

We were hoping to get on the water today after work, but that won't happen, and probably won't be able to make it out this weekend either.

Beware: If you buy a trailer check the hubs for proper grease, and adjustments. If I had not have checked this probably would not have made it 100 miles and I would have had 2 Pro Anglers scattered all over the Interstate, or just lost a wheel due to seizure.


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 8:20 am 
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Joined: Wed Aug 05, 2009 2:47 pm
Posts: 111
Location: Rogers, AR
Jmeier;
UGH...mine is partially spread out on the garage floor..considering you mentioned two PA's, I will assume you bought a larger trailer than I did, and I will also hope my single...it's the st200 will not have as many issues as you have mentioned.
I will tell you, in a phone conversation with a fellow at Trailex, I asked about any ability to grease the wheels and he said not necessary if you weren't going to "dunk" (his word) it often. If however you would, there is something he called "bearing buddies", which are supposedly bearing covers with a grease zert for occasionally adding grease to the wheels.
Thanks for your post, I am sure anyone wishing to know/buy about a trailer for the PA will be a little cautious in their move to buy one.
I might mention that the fellow I spoke to at Trailex was very helpful. Maybe you should give them a call. These bearing buddies were very inexpensive according to the guy...he might just send you a set to help make up for the inconveniences you have had to put up with.


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 8:30 am 
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Joined: Wed Aug 05, 2009 2:47 pm
Posts: 111
Location: Rogers, AR
Hey Big,
Yakima sells an outfit called a Hully Roller for car/truck top handling. This is the web page showing it...

http://yakima.com/racks/kayak-rack/prod ... llers.aspx

I didn't want to have to try to load my PA on top of my pickup alone..I'm old ya see :lol:


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 10:40 am 
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Joined: Mon Sep 14, 2009 7:44 pm
Posts: 79
Location: Nashville, TN
Ron:

I'm aware of the bearing buddies, and I also recommend them they will probably run 10-15 USD each - I'm guessing.

I'm kind of wishing I had gone with a more reputable trailer company. I ended up going with Magenta out of Hull, IA. Their customer service is great, but the build quality is not.

I'm going to give this trailer a shot, but I will probably end up going a head and welding a new axle, spindles, and replacing the hubs, rims, and tires before I really kick off next summer. I like the frame it's just the drive train I was worried about. Since I have gone over it I found that the races were not driven in all the way and fixed that, greased the bearings, and waiting for the inner wheel seal to arrive, and the upright that they left out of shipping. Last night I finished the wiring, and putting on the saddles for the rear.

I'll just use what I have for the time being testing it out anywhere from 2 miles to 15 miles since I have at least 10 boat ramps within 15 miles.


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PostPosted: Fri Oct 09, 2009 2:49 pm 
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Joined: Wed Aug 05, 2009 2:47 pm
Posts: 111
Location: Rogers, AR
Here's an update on my Trailex Sut-200-AI...this is a single trailer and the one Hobie recommends for the PA, with the addition of the PA cradles.
Jm made me uncomfortable with his trailer tales, as I thought you had bought the Trailex trailer too. Anyway I negotiated a better price from my local dealer by putting it together myself. On a scale of 1-10 in mechanical ability I'd rate myself about a 6-maybe 7 on things like this trailer.
Like Jm, my trailer boxes came on two different days. When I had all the parts, I went to the instructions, which btw were not printed, but supplied on a cd included, and started the install. In a previous conversation with the Trailex folks, I had been told to expect a good Saturday to put it together. As it turned out it took a Thursday afternoon and early evening. I actually did the wiring on Friday morning for about an additional hour. So I'd tell you it was about maybe 8 hours total, and not pressing at all. The only issue was the fender mounting brackets were not drilled well, and I had to elongate one hole out of 4 in order to install one bracket.
On the whole, I'd tell you it was a pretty easy project.
There is one thing I might do differently, and I'll be more than happy to tell you what that is in the event you decide to buy and build this trailer your self. My email address is available here if you need me.


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PostPosted: Fri Oct 09, 2009 7:45 pm 
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Joined: Mon Sep 14, 2009 7:44 pm
Posts: 79
Location: Nashville, TN
The last 2 parts of my trailer and inner wheel seal, and upright for the crossbar has came in. Not finishing it tonight after work I have an appt with a Gentleman named Jack. So tomarrow bright and early she is going together and I might just do a dry run without the kayaks just to test the waters or roadway's. I would just hate to load them (PA's) up and something bad happen that I would never speak of.

Ron:

I'm glad your trailer is going well.

I'll keep everyone updated and take some pics also.


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