1995 Cobalt 252 consolidated revitalization and fix-up thread

[Ytmsn]

Wow Thunder. You're like a dog-on-a-bone when you get started on a project. I admire your tenacity and wish I had the drive and skills you have to get'er done!

I guess next thing is you'll be powdercoating your trailer in your garage?

[AsLan7]

Wow Thunder. You're like a dog-on-a-bone when you get started on a project. I admire your tenacity and wish I had the drive and skills you have to get'er done!

I guess next thing is you'll be powdercoating your trailer in your garage?

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And then he’ll powdercoat everything in the garage!

[Ytmsn]

Yeah but maybe itll drive him nuts enough to give it a try. I say this in absolute luv...

[AsLan7]

Yeah but maybe itll drive him nuts enough to give it a try. I say this in absolute luv...

The man is a fixin’ up machine, that’s for sure.

[NautiGirl]

I was beginning to wonder what happened to you T... We havent seen you complete a project in like 6 days so I was hoping nothing was wrong...

You were just busy spending money!

[thunder550]

Not to say "I told you so" but.... I think I suggested that on the other forum

But I shouldn't cast stones. I'm kinda in the same boat....no pun intended. My trailer is a 1996 Pacific (boat's an '85) and until I bought the boat it mostly sat rusting in the sun. It is galvanized but the PO only used it to pull the boat out, have work done and put it back in the water....salt water. No one ever rinsed or flushed it. I've had to do all of the bearings, brakes, drums, actuator, tires, wheels,wiring, etc. and as soon as I can get the boat in the water for a week or so I need to have new bunk supports made and re-carpet. I'm into this trailer about $1700 so far and I will need to go a bit farther. I should just buy a new one but not ready to go that route yet.
Shawn

Sometimes the cheap route is most expensive. Although, I didn't have a lot of options since I was buying out of state, would have been difficult to arrange the purchase of a new trailer and delivery to the selling dealership in a reasonable amount of time. Oh well...it's only money, right?

[thunder550]

Wow Thunder. You're like a dog-on-a-bone when you get started on a project. I admire your tenacity and wish I had the drive and skills you have to get'er done!

I guess next thing is you'll be powdercoating your trailer in your garage?

I actually thought about painting it at one point. Decided that wasn't worth it. When I first saw the trailer I thought the galvanized finish was really ugly, especially being used to custom trailers that match the boat. Now I don't notice it as much. New fenders and wheels helped the appearance quite a bit. Now it only looks like it hit half the branches when falling out of the ugly tree

On the plus side, I now know that whenever it's time for a boat upgrade, I will want a trailer with EoH brakes on both axles, and set up to be able to fit common car/truck tires sizes on minimum 15" wheels.

[thunder550]

And then he’ll powdercoat everything in the garage!

Yeah but maybe itll drive him nuts enough to give it a try. I say this in absolute luv...

I was beginning to wonder what happened to you T... We havent seen you complete a project in like 6 days so I was hoping nothing was wrong...

You were just busy spending money!

Snapped a couple pics of the old hardware this morning. Most of the bushings in the springs are shot. The U-bolts are all rusty, a couple snapped off when I tried to remove the nuts, and apparently they played mix-and-match with whatever they had laying around at one point since at least one of them is mismatched to the rest.

I probably could have (and should have) just replaced the bushings in the springs and reinstalled with new hardware...the rust looks cosmetic only. The one leaf strap that's bent out could have probably been straightened. If I knew that it would turn into a whole re-positioning effort and having to move the fenders and the trailer sitting higher and everything I probably would have done that instead. Oh well, at least I know now that it's all new and should last as long as I own it.

One other weird thing is that these 5-leaf springs are apparently for 6000 lb axles instead of the 3500 lb axles that I think are on the trailer. Found a "Reliable" sticker on one of the axles yesterday. When I originally called Venture, they told me that all their trailers leave with Tie Down hardware installed. So the axles were replaced at some point, who knows if they really are 3500lb or something else. I'm going to start calling the trailer Frank, for Frankenstein. Since I've owned it, I've replaced the coupler, brakes, hubs, wiring, lights, bunks, springs, fenders, wheels, and tires. Looks like the dealer replaced the axles too, so all that's original at this point is the frame and bunk support brackets.

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[Big Block Power]

T5555550000000 I didn't know you were going after the springs. Prob because you didn't want me to say it again. You should have bought a new trailer. Heck you got one now so let's paint that sucker:-)

[AsLan7]

Paint? Gold leaf powder coat with custom engravings!

[thunder550]

So what do you guys think about this trailer level? Would you run it nose down like this? I can level it but would need to go from the current 3" raise ball mount to 7", so an additional 4". Then I don't think the jack would be able to lift it high enough to get it on and off the ball, so I'd have to replace that as well

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[thunder550]

Zoomed in on fender gaps, and you can see the equalizer tilted a bit in the background:

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Here's level:

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[thunder550]

Couple more shots of the new hardware:

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[AsLan7]

Level looks sharp! Great looking rig my friend.

New springs look great too ( even if they are not powder-coated yet)

[thunder550]

Thanks A7. So you'd run it as is and not worry about raising 4"?