*THE HULL TRUTH is the world's largest FREE network for the discussion of Boating & Fishing. Whether you're researching a new boat, or are a seasoned Captain, you'll find The Hull Truth Boating & Fishing Message Forum contains a wealth of information from Boaters and Sportfishermen around the world.
Welcome to the updated THT!
If you are having trouble signing in, please email feedback@thehulltruth.com with your username and we will help you. We thank you for your patience as we help you access the new site!
I was looking at a 10,500lb triple axel aluminum. Can anyone tell me good/bad about this company and the quality of there product? Will be trailering a 9,500lb boat long distances. I'm considering them because they are local and have the trailer in stock.Thanks.
I have a 6k pound double axle. The dealer who delivered it to me from up north (long story but he shipped my new boat on the trailer for me so I didint see it before hand) was the biggest problem. I was blown away to find that it didint even have galvanized hardware. They new it was going in salt and it showed up with zinc plated I have to switch it all over and Loadrite hasnt been any help. Other than that, its a noce trailer. Mine has galvanized cross members and I am told the new ones have aluminum cross members. I had to drill into the bunks to add an eye hook and the wood look pretty yellow. It looked like pine and did not look treated. I dont know for sure but its a question you should ask. Do not buy it from Pirate Marine. Do a search inder my name and Pirate Marine for more on that saga.
__________________ Click the banners below to see our products:
I recently got a Load Rite trailer with my new boat... had it about 6 weeks. Since delivery I have had numerous problems with it. 1) Actuator kept freezing 2) Brake caliper locked up pretty tight, luckily I only trailerd 5 miles before launching and heard the grease boiling out of the hub.
Contacted Load Rite with these problems, and my dealer (my dealer worked his ass of trying to get it fixed) long story, short version, I told them about my frozen caliper and were to send me replacement parts, actuator and caliper, was I opened the box I only got an actuator, when I called to find out why, they told me because they felt that was the problem... Well needless to say the actuator was NOT the problem, and I had to go out myself and find and buy a caliper.
Since that time, I have decided to get rid of the trailer, luckily my dealer worked with me and is refunding me some of my money. Basically Load Rite is giving me money back, but I am losing about $800 in the process. Although, I would have preferred to lose less, I am just glad to get rid of it.
I think the main problem with Load Rite is not their trailers but the components they put on them. They pretty much use Tie-Down engineering brakes, actuators, etc. Which is cheap and problematic, just look through this board and you will see what I mean. (BTW, even Load Rite told me they have had problems in the past with Tie-Down, but because they re-engineered some stuff they were going to stick with them).
Personally, I would not get any trailer that used Tie-Down stuff, and would much prefer Kodiak brakes.
In the end I am ordering a trailer from Steve at East Coast Trailers (one of the sponsors here), complete with Kodiak SS brakes, electric over hyrdaulic actuator. All top notch stuff, price is only a little higher than what I paid for my Load Rite and the best is it will be here in a week or two.
Feel free to contact me privately if you have any questions.
jocojr, It sounds like your dealer is the problem. I have 7400 dual axle and had similar caliper problem. Factory replace at no charge with newer design calipers (apparently old design was causing lots of grief), flushed the system, tested actuator, greased wheel bearings and even replaced a broken light (my fault) all at no charge. Load rite are good quality trailers. I towed my 7k lbs boat all the way from NH to NJ without any issues at all.
Find a good dealer locally to service it yearly
R
Here in New England, Load-Rite is known as a pretty good galvanized trailer. I own an aluminum trailer from another manufacturer, but Load-Rite makes a pretty decent product for the money.
I have a Loadrite two axle galvanzed trailer (9800 lb) that's 6 years old. It's for a Cat and when it was delivered the first time it just flat out didnt fit the boat. The dealer and Loadrite worked with me and made everything right including fabricating new bunk brackets, supplying new bunks, center guides and a new winch stand. I'm sure it was a costly learning experiance for them since they had to replace almost everything from the frame up. The dealer did some work, Loadrite worked with me from my drawings and photos and I did some of the refitting (my choice). Theyeven sent me extra hardware for the 'future'.
While it was frustrating I can only say that Loadrite never balked at making thier mistake right and went way beyond in customer service. 6 years later there is some corrosion on the ubolts (zinc plated) but the rest of the trailer is still clean, rust free and solid.
The dealer for the trailer was Dave's Trailer Sales in Glen Burnie, MD.
jocojr, It sounds like your dealer is the problem. I have 7400 dual axle and had similar caliper problem. Factory replace at no charge with newer design calipers (apparently old design was causing lots of grief), flushed the system, tested actuator, greased wheel bearings and even replaced a broken light (my fault) all at no charge. Load rite are good quality trailers. I towed my 7k lbs boat all the way from NH to NJ without any issues at all.
Find a good dealer locally to service it yearly
R
Romanonj
I do not think this is dealer related here is why...
Load-Rite mentioned the problems previously with the calipers... my trailer has the NEW design. And I am still having problems.
Below is the long version of my story.
Bought trailer in VA, trailered boat to NY to use boat for a few weeks. While there, had the caliper problem. Called dealer. Dealer called Load-Rite, Waited for two days for return call from Load-Rite. LR tells dealer that they will contact customer (me). Dealer calls me to say that LR will be calling me to work something out. Three days go by, no phone call from LR. I then call LR myself, spoke with their tech, who claimed "He was just going to call me". Says that he will come out on Thursday or Friday to fix trailer, as trailer is in NY and cannot be moved until fixed. Wednesday I never hear from LR as when/if they are coming. Finally speak with Tech on Thursday AM, says that they are too busy to come out and fix my trailer, but will try to get a local dealer to fix it. Needless to say I was getting anxious as I was risking losing yet another weekend (at that point) w/o my boat. LR give me phone # of local NY dealer, LR says to call NY Dealer and he will fix. Call NY dealer and explain situation, proceeds to tell me that he cannot fix trailer because boat is on it. And that he cannot work on it until next week. I call LR back tell them the story, they say they will see what they can do. FInally at 4 I call LR again, I tell them I cannot risk losing another weekend with no boat. I ask them to overnite me the parts and I will fix it. They say no problem. The next day parts arrive, well, actually PART. They sent me an actuator, no caliper, even though the caliper was locked up. Pull wheel off, go to Boaters World, buy new caliper. Change caliper problem solved. Called LR to find out why I did not get caliper and the tech I had been working with is not is because he is out on the road fixing two trailers (Now mind you this is after they told me he could not GO anywhere to fix trailers as they were too busy building new ones). I then call the Sales Mgr, and I explain the problems I have been having. Says he will look into it and call me back, two days go by and still no word. I call again, leave message to this day still no reply.
At this point I am so fed up I call my dealer and ask him to see if they can get LR to take the trailer back since I have no confidence in a trailer that failed after 6 weeks and 500 miles. I also call LR and complain. Finally they relent and say they will take trailer back and refund me my money except like $800. Which I do not like but will accept since I want a reliable trailer. BTW, this is after reading all the negative stuff about Tie-Down. Which is every part on the trailer.
Note, dealer always offered to fix this for me, they just couldnt because the trailer was in NY and they were in VA and the trailer could not be moved.
Lastly, as others have mentioned the trailer is only aluminum I-Beam, everything else is glavanized. The Loadmaster I am getting (same price) is ALL Aluminum.
Just saw the comment about a LoadRite haveing a yellow pine bunk, I don't know about LoadRite bunk, but...
LoadMaster bunks are cypress.
Loadmaster also uses heavier I-beams than some other brands with same weight rating. The LoadRite I had was sold to me with Carlisle tires . Loadmaster comes with Goodyear Radials. Loadmaster stop/turn lights trap air and do not corrode. Change bulbs in seconds, no tools needed, use standard 50 cent "1157" bulbs.
I've got a '06 triple axle 10500 carrying capacity Aluminum Loadrite with Kodiaks on all 3 axles. The bunks are pressure treated pink, but unlike Cypress bunks, they are set in Aluminum tracks that pivot. It's a good design they hold the patent on that allows it to conform to the hull. The LoadRite at the 10500 carrying capacity comes standard with Eletric over hydro and 12 inch disc brakes.
The only options I had to order was spare tire, upgrade brakes, SS hardware and LED lights. Everything else was standard.
Jocojr,
I have to agree with Romanonj that the problem might be with your dealer. As your dealers customer, you shouldn't have had to call Loadrite, the dealer should have handled everything for you in getting any issues resolve.
I've got a '06 triple axle 10500 carrying capacity Aluminum Loadrite with Kodiaks on all 3 axles. The bunks are pressure treated pink, but unlike Cypress bunks, they are set in Aluminum tracks that pivot. It's a good design they hold the patent on that allows it to conform to the hull. The LoadRite at the 10500 carrying capacity comes standard with Eletric over hydro and 12 inch disc brakes.
The only options I had to order was spare tire, upgrade brakes, SS hardware and LED lights. Everything else was standard.
Jocojr,
I have to agree with Romanonj that the problem might be with your dealer. As your dealers customer, you shouldn't have had to call Loadrite, the dealer should have handled everything for you in getting any issues resolve.
- Dae
Dae,
The dealer did call them, they kept promising him that they would call me and they never did. Thats why I called LR directly... the dealer cannot make LR actually do what they promised him.
Besides, even after callling LR, they promised me that they would come and fix my trailer, setup the appt and then they claimed they were too busy to come then I findout they went some where else to fix someone else's trailer... to me THATS A HUGE Problem
The dealer did call them, they kept promising him that they would call me and they never did. Thats why I called LR directly... the dealer cannot make LR actually do what they promised him.
Besides, even after callling LR, they promised me that they would come and fix my trailer, setup the appt and then they claimed they were too busy to come then I findout they went some where else to fix someone else's trailer... to me THATS A HUGE Problem
Man, that sux. I know when I was looking to buy a trailer, my dealer gave me the regional reps name and cell phone number because I had questions he didn't have the answer to and he didn't want to hold me up going back and forth through him. The LoadRite rep as and he told me I could call him whenever.
I can tell you that part of the reason I went with LoadRite was becasue I've got a '96 trailer since new without a problem and they are located just outside of Philly. Them being in Philly pretty much makes them local to me and I've heard from others that had issues with their trailer, LoadRite did them right when they took their trailer directly to them. This is a big plus for me because I'm one of those guys that hates to wait so if I can get to the factory myself, I'll go to to make sure they take care of all my issues at once. You can't beat going to the factory since they should have all parts in stock with the knowledge to get what needs to be done, done.
I have a 6k pound double axle. The dealer who delivered it to me from up north (long story but he shipped my new boat on the trailer for me so I didint see it before hand) was the biggest problem. I was blown away to find that it didint even have galvanized hardware. They new it was going in salt and it showed up with zinc plated I have to switch it all over and Loadrite hasnt been any help. Other than that, its a noce trailer. Mine has galvanized cross members
Ditto Shame on me for not looking at the darn thing before I ordered it. Oh well, lesson learned. The good news is it will be 3 years old this winter, has made 6 trips between NJ &FL and no problems yet.
I bought a 2001 Loadrite tandem axle 6000 lb galvanized from a local dealer. The only problem I had with it was the hardware rusted out after three seasons as it was not galvanized or stainless. PITA.
I bought a Loadrite 6000 lb aluminum trailer last fall. It is 2006 model with aluminum I beams and galvanized cross members. When I had a problem with the Tie-Down backup solenoid not working, I called the dealer, who had gone out of business and could not get parts from Loadrite. Then I called Loadrite directly. They offered to either have another dealer fix it or send me the parts. Since none of the dealers were convenient, I had them send me the parts. Not only did they arrive quickly, but they sent me the whole coupler assembly, making the repair easier. So far, I am happy with the product and the support.
__________________ Chaparral 2500 SX Sport
7.4L Bravo 1
Load Rite trailer question 
THT sponsor
I have to switch it all over and Loadrite hasnt been any help. Other than that, its a noce trailer. Mine has galvanized cross members and I am told the new ones have aluminum cross members. I had to drill into the bunks to add an eye hook and the wood look pretty yellow. It looked like pine and did not look treated. I dont know for sure but its a question you should ask. Do not buy it from Pirate Marine. Do a search inder my name and Pirate Marine for more on that saga. 
