New Loadmaster Trailer & 2014 R5

[Snowman8]

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I gotta say these are two of the finest built trailers I’ve seen on the forum. Great example for others.

And thanks for the pintle hook education with pics S8. Great stuff.

Thanks! Sorry but sometimes I get to rambling a little (a lot) when I am try to explain something... especially when I’ve had a few barley sodas!

I guess all I am saying is to pay attention to load ratings of tow vehicles, hitches, receiver ball mounts and trailer balls. It is easy to overload those items these days. There is so much cheap crap out there today! Most 2” trailer balls are rated for a measly 6000lbs pulling 7-8000lb trailers. When you are buying that stuff look for something that is rated for the load, they do make heavy duty trailer balls that are rated for the loads we pull. They just cost a few bucks more but break downs are not cheap!

[BobRae99]

Here are some pics of what I’m describing.
Also, their ladder design sucks. I sent mine out to a local fan shop to correct it.

I’m wondering about the ladder top step placement. Let’s say an inexperienced boat loader backs this trailer an extra couple of feet into the waster and the boat floats forward to the bow stop, with the stop contacting the hull lower down than if the trailer was not as deep in the water. Doesn’t that allow the bow near the chain locker to potentially contact the top step which, from the picture looks to be pretty close to the hull when the boat is loaded?

[Snowman8]

Looks beautiful. Do they only sell through a dealer, or can you work with Loadmaster directly? What was the final build cost?

As Tusc said you contact Loadmaster directly. They are very great people to work with and make the build process very easy! If you ask for something special they basically say “yes” or if they say no they tell you why and suggest something a little different and usually better. These are not cookie cutter trailers. They build to carry a load first and look good second, I’m not saying they look bad either because they look terrific! I’m saying they carry a load better than they look! Most trailers look good and have just enough GVWR to carry the load they are built for. The GVWR of my trailer is double what I need, I can basically haul my R5 with an R3 sitting on top of it and still be under the GVWR of the trailer.
This trailer was $7700 but I pretty much put every option they had on it plus a few of my own, and Tusc’s... they only thing I didn’t opt for is EOH brakes. I took the standard electric brakes because here in central MN the trailer will never see salt water and they are super easy to work on.
You might as well have the finest trailer to pull the finest boats out there!

[Chrispval]

Just found and adding the trailer spec sheet for 2018. I am guessing this hasnt changed much.

2018 Cobalt Trailer Data.pdf

[Big Block Power]

This is what I have on my one ton work truck. This is better example of a pintle hitch.

Yes I get this pintle set up. I just never saw this set up with a ball. So does that top tab push in to release it?
You have electric brakes on the trailer correct.

[Snowman8]

This is what I have on my one ton work truck. This is better example of a pintle hitch.

Yes I get this pintle set up. I just never saw this set up with a ball. So does that top tab push in to release it?
You have electric brakes on the trailer correct.

Yes, just pull the top pin and it slides in so its flush and re-insert the pin and it stays flush. I bought the GenY because it will still accept a standard 2” receiver ball mount for a larger drop or rise.
Also yes about the electric brakes. I didn’t opt for EOH because I will never be near salt water. Electric brakes are really simple work on and cheap. 4 loaded backing plates are less than $200. The only other things in in the system is a breakaway switch and a breakaway battery that are also really cheap and easy to replace when they go bad. No fluid leaking from the master cylinder eating paint away from the trailer, or brake bleeding when doing repairs. Plus no slamming of the hitch while starting and stopping! You just need a brake controller in your tow vehicles.

[Big Block Power]

This is what I have on my one ton work truck. This is better example of a pintle hitch.

Yes I get this pintle set up. I just never saw this set up with a ball. So does that top tab push in to release it?
You have electric brakes on the trailer correct.

Yes, just pull the top pin and it slides in so its flush and re-insert the pin and it stays flush. I bought the GenY because it will still accept a standard 2” receiver ball mount for a larger drop or rise.
Also yes about the electric brakes. I didn’t opt for EOH because I will never be near salt water. Electric brakes are really simple work on and cheap. 4 loaded backing plates are less than $200. The only other things in in the system is a breakaway switch and a breakaway battery that are also really cheap and easy to replace when they go bad. No fluid leaking from the master cylinder eating paint away from the trailer, or brake bleeding when doing repairs. Plus no slamming of the hitch while starting and stopping! You just need a brake controller in your tow vehicles.

Yes very nice. Electric is nice and easy. Worked on a ton of them on campers. Agree no brake fluid.

[Snowman8]

This is the hitch I use on my wife’s F150 in the 5” drop and 1 position up. I think its called 5” drop with 4 positions. They have many variations. Spendy but versatile and well built! The thing weighs 44lbs! Notice the J for the pintle eye to rest in. That is what keeps the hitch from sliding all over the place. There is some movement but the weight of the trailer keeps it in the groove. I had a pintle with a flat bottom and no J shape to it. It was terrible because the eye slides back and forth without anything to keep the eye in place.

https://genyhitch.com/product/mega-duty-16k-drop-hitch/

[Tuscany]

Here are some pics of what I’m describing.
Also, their ladder design sucks. I sent mine out to a local fan shop to correct it.

I’m wondering about the ladder top step placement. Let’s say an inexperienced boat loader backs this trailer an extra couple of feet into the waster and the boat floats forward to the bow stop, with the stop contacting the hull lower down than if the trailer was not as deep in the water. Doesn’t that allow the bow near the chain locker to potentially contact the top step which, from the picture looks to be pretty close to the hull when the boat is loaded?

At first glance, it looks like it could be a problem. From this point of contact, the boat will not come any closer to the step, or rise up because the entire front of the boat will start leaving the bunks to do so, which boat weight will not allow.

[Tuscany]

Here are some pics of what I’m describing.
Also, their ladder design sucks. I sent mine out to a local fan shop to correct it.

I noticed that the ladder isn’t very user friendly... I have grip tape on order already and I like your handle on the top! My dealer helped me setup the bow stop. He told me to get it as high as possible because in a panic stop or accident boats have a tendency to climb up the V block. I will probably leave it at this height once I try loading it from the water to make sure it works here. I will take your recommendation about just cutting the set screw (bolts) off and just drilling right through and bolting it solid. Now that you mention it I see where it could just push back inside the tube. I also opted out of using the boat buckle brand tie downs because I think they are only rated for about 2000lbs. I have a 10,000lb strap on the front pulling down and slightly back so hopefully that helps stop forward movement. Thanks for the suggestions back while I was building this trailer last winter too! It is by far the nicest pulling trailer I have ever pulled, and I pull a lot of trailers!

Before you start cutting, and altering.. Trust me on this one and try setting it up the way I am suggesting. No matter how you set up the block, by itself, it’s not going to stop the boat from moving in an emergency braking situation.

Your dealer isn’t considering the bow geometry here. It’s not a 90 degree bow angle. It’s closer to 45 degrees and the degree difference between higher and lower are almost the same. The only option the boat can go in an accident, or emergency braking...in either block position..is UP...
The V block isn’t a stop-all. It’s a catch all. A solid v block and a 90 degree tie down back to the trailer work together making it a stop all, and both are useless without each other. Moving the block back and dropping it all the way down into the tube insures that there is NO possible way the telescope setting will ever fail.
If you brake hard enough to actually move that boat in my suggested configuration of tie down, you hit something in front of you, and the boats on its way to beIng on top of you truck anyway..

Also with the block slightly lower, it will start guiding the front into place sooner when loading.

[Snowman8]

Here are some pics of what I’m describing.
Also, their ladder design sucks. I sent mine out to a local fan shop to correct it.

I noticed that the ladder isn’t very user friendly... I have grip tape on order already and I like your handle on the top! My dealer helped me setup the bow stop. He told me to get it as high as possible because in a panic stop or accident boats have a tendency to climb up the V block. I will probably leave it at this height once I try loading it from the water to make sure it works here. I will take your recommendation about just cutting the set screw (bolts) off and just drilling right through and bolting it solid. Now that you mention it I see where it could just push back inside the tube. I also opted out of using the boat buckle brand tie downs because I think they are only rated for about 2000lbs. I have a 10,000lb strap on the front pulling down and slightly back so hopefully that helps stop forward movement. Thanks for the suggestions back while I was building this trailer last winter too! It is by far the nicest pulling trailer I have ever pulled, and I pull a lot of trailers!

Before you start cutting, and altering.. Trust me on this one and try setting it up the way I am suggesting. No matter how you set up the block, by itself, it’s not going to stop the boat from moving in an emergency braking situation.

Your dealer isn’t considering the bow geometry here. It’s not a 90 degree bow angle. It’s closer to 45 degrees and the degree difference between higher and lower are almost the same.
The V block isn’t a stop-all. It’s a catch all. A solid v block and a 90 degree tie down back to the trailer work together, and both are useless without each other. Moving the block back and dropping it all the way down into the tube insures that there is NO possible way the telescope setting will ever fail.
If you brake hard enough to actually move that boat in my suggested configuration of tie down, you hit something in front of you, and the boats on its way to beIng on top of you truck anyway..
No matter how high or low the block is set, the bow angle will lift the boat up and off the bunks to move. Given that, with the front tied down, it’s not going anywhere anyway. Also with the block slightly lower, it will start guiding the front into place sooner when loading.

I’ll mess around with it today and drop it. What else is there to do these days but to go driveway boating..

[Tuscany]

With the ladder, I had my fab shop widen and change the angle of the steps to parallel with the ground. I’m not sure what Loadmaster was thinking here, except just welding up something fast and without forethought. My body guy matched it perfectly and added a grip agent to the step and platform paint.
That platform at the top? I can dance like BB on top of it, and easily walk from the boat to the trailer, even after a few cocktails. Honestly, I was worried about my wife when loading from the truck to the boat before launch. She climbs safely up and down that thing like a monkey now.

[NautiGirl]

Well I got it home this week. The EZ fold bimini is installed, and the boat is on the new trailer. Now I am just waiting on my graphic guy to cut me some Cobalt R5 vinyl decals for the blank space on the trailer.
This trailer tows like a dream! It doesn’t even feel like a trailer is back there compared to the old trailer. Except there is about 7000lbs behind me... No bouncing or wandering at all. Very impressive!
Now if we can just have a few more days like today we will be in the water in no time at all. But for today I was driveway boating!

Looks great Snowman. Curious, did you put airbags on the F150 or is that all stock? It's sitting really level, looks great.

[Snowman8]

Well I got it home this week. The EZ fold bimini is installed, and the boat is on the new trailer. Now I am just waiting on my graphic guy to cut me some Cobalt R5 vinyl decals for the blank space on the trailer.
This trailer tows like a dream! It doesn’t even feel like a trailer is back there compared to the old trailer. Except there is about 7000lbs behind me... No bouncing or wandering at all. Very impressive!
Now if we can just have a few more days like today we will be in the water in no time at all. But for today I was driveway boating!

Looks great Snowman. Curious, did you put airbags on the F150 or is that all stock? It's sitting really level, looks great.

Yup, it has airbags with about 40lbs of air in them to keep a slight rake in the truck. Otherwise I have to raise the hitch to the next slot up 2” because it levels the truck out and the trailer is slightly nose down. This trailer sits about 3-4” higher than my old one because of 15” tires and the larger 6” frame. I use air bags in all of my trucks because I like them to retain the stock ride height while loaded. That way my headlights don’t blind everyone at night too.

[Snowman8]

Here are some pics of what I’m describing.
Also, their ladder design sucks. I sent mine out to a local fan shop to correct it.

I noticed that the ladder isn’t very user friendly... I have grip tape on order already and I like your handle on the top! My dealer helped me setup the bow stop. He told me to get it as high as possible because in a panic stop or accident boats have a tendency to climb up the V block. I will probably leave it at this height once I try loading it from the water to make sure it works here. I will take your recommendation about just cutting the set screw (bolts) off and just drilling right through and bolting it solid. Now that you mention it I see where it could just push back inside the tube. I also opted out of using the boat buckle brand tie downs because I think they are only rated for about 2000lbs. I have a 10,000lb strap on the front pulling down and slightly back so hopefully that helps stop forward movement. Thanks for the suggestions back while I was building this trailer last winter too! It is by far the nicest pulling trailer I have ever pulled, and I pull a lot of trailers!

Before you start cutting, and altering.. Trust me on this one and try setting it up the way I am suggesting. No matter how you set up the block, by itself, it’s not going to stop the boat from moving in an emergency braking situation.

Your dealer isn’t considering the bow geometry here. It’s not a 90 degree bow angle. It’s closer to 45 degrees and the degree difference between higher and lower are almost the same. The only option the boat can go in an accident, or emergency braking...in either block position..is UP...
The V block isn’t a stop-all. It’s a catch all. A solid v block and a 90 degree tie down back to the trailer work together making it a stop all, and both are useless without each other. Moving the block back and dropping it all the way down into the tube insures that there is NO possible way the telescope setting will ever fail.
If you brake hard enough to actually move that boat in my suggested configuration of tie down, you hit something in front of you, and the boats on its way to beIng on top of you truck anyway..

Also with the block slightly lower, it will start guiding the front into place sooner when loading.

I dropped the bow stop all the way down today. I also got those unsightly hard water spots off the chrome bow scuff plate before someone called me out on it. It was a nice day for driveway boating too!