Karavan trailers are JUNK!

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tarheelracer

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After moving my boat across the country I have a review to make of the Karavan trailer. We moved 2 cars and a 26' Penske truck with 10k lbs of housewares and the only thing to cause problems was this trailer. During the first day of a 3000 mile move the trailer lost a rubber bearing cover spewing grease all over the wheel. This scared me, but the bearings didn't give me any trouble for the rest of the trip. Then after about 1500 miles, the bolt that locks the swingable tounge in position SHEARED completely in half. This alone could have caused a serious accident, but luckily I saw the problem. We were in the middle of nowhere Kansas and just happened to be stopped in front of a John Deere dealer who had a quality grade 8 bolt to fix the problem caused by poor manufacturing materials. However our troubles were not over. Somewhere in the middle of no where Montana, I inspected the tires and found that good condition properly inflated tires in 2000 miles had become flat spotted and pieces of tread had come off of the tire. Lucky for us we happened to stop 30 miles from probably the only Tirerama in Montana who happened to have two quality trailer tires in stock. The tire guy said that it appeared that the tires low quality. But the trouble wasn't over with. Somewhere around the Idaho/Washington border we got flagged down by a passing motorist who spotted this!
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The winch support had collapsed, causing the boat to slide forward at least 2 feet scuffing the fiberglass on the front of the boat and allowing the boat to be completely unsecured for who know how long. We rigged up some tiedowns, because we were in the middle of no where Idaho and still had to make it another 500 miles to my new home. We also noticed spidercracks in the bow tiedown and in the starboard stern tiedown which were probably cause just from the strain of travel. I dropped the boat off at the local seadoo dealer to fix the fiberglass which hopefully will be covered under warranty. I am also speaking with Karavan trying to get a new bracket for the tongue winch. This part better be free because the failure of their trailer and parts could have caused serious injury and death to my father who was driving the truck, and it is ridiculous that a trailer that was purchased new in January would have tire problems, but even worse serious structural failures of such major things as the tongue bolt and winch support. I currently am moving in to a new place and don't have internet yet so that is making getting my trailer parts from Karavan difficult. I'll keep you guys posted as to how they handle the situation.
 
damn...i'd suggest the new winch bracket be installed an inch or 2 back..(away from truck)...this will help relieve weight on the tongue. Looks like alot of "room"/tongue length, and overtime, the weight snapped that bolt.

Probably the boat/definetly the pumps, have off somewhat ofthe trailer...whats another inch or two, but the distance would compensate alot, on tongue weight..?
 
Wow, I'm glad that everyone/thing is ok. I just had a dealing with Karavan. I called them up and ordered parts on a Monday. I was told I would have them by Thursday. So Thursday comes and goes so I call them Friday. They said 2 of my lights were back ordered and they wouldn't see them for 2-3 weeks. So that was holding up the order. I asked the lady if they were maybe thinking about calling me to let me know, she never answered. I canceled my order except for the 2 fenders I could only get from them and will probably never go directly through them unless I really need to.
 
HOLY CRAP!!!!!!! Zach, I would love to have been in on that conversation with Karavan!!!!!!

I towed that trailer over a thousand miles while I had it. I greased the bearings twice. Thank god you didnt have a bearing failure cause I would have cut my wrists right here. Did you guys do a lot of mountain running? I wonder if extended downhill braking put excessive stresses on the tongue and bow stop post??

Craig
 
I think the statement that Karavan trailers are junk might be alittle strong. Anything you buy is going to have a certain percent of owners that have issues. I can't think of any car i've owned that hasn't had it's share of issues. Why would this be any different?
 
I was told by a dealer that Seadoo is using another brand of trailers...can anyone confirm this?
 
Just curious, did you have transom straps on the back of the boat and were they tight? If you were to hit the brakes hard enough at highway speeds and the straps were not connected or not tight and allowed the boat to shift forward, you'd be looking at a whole lot of force on the winch mount. Just wondering... Also, I know this sounds ignorant but some people use their boat as a utility trailer and haul stuff in it, did you have the boat loaded with anything that would have added much weight to it?
 
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Not to be rude, but that thing looks cheap, the knuckle and bolt set up is puny compared to most.. I could be wrong! Possibly a grade 8 or higher bolt?
 
Everything was strapped on correctly and I didn't use the trailer for any utility purposes. The design on the trailer puts all of decelaration force on the winch support. The transom straps just keep the boat from shifting backwards. We did go through the northern Rockies and that's where we were having all of the problems. I still haven't been able to get replacement parts because I don't have any internet yet other than free wifi restaurants.

Cypher, I had multiple structural failures as well as soft part problems like cheap tires. Any of the structural failures could have caused serious problems. As far as I can tell those trailers are junk. I mean, couldn't they have spent the extra $3 and used a grade 8 bolts? That would have solved one of the problems.
 
Zach,

I agree with you in that the decelleration forces magnified by the massive decent from the rocky mountains overwhelmed the trailer.

Please contact karavan, if you have not already, and find out what they intend to do to make this right in good faith.

Craig
 
They let me know that this was NOT manufacturing defect but they were willing to replace the winch bracket for free, but would not pay for labor. I think they were worried about having to pay for my spidercracking which possibly could have been caused by the crap trailer, but which is being covered under warranty by BRP because more than likely, it was just cheap fiberglass. In other words they know its their fault, which is why they're giving me a free bracket, but they aren't willing to take the blame. In all, I'm fine with the result, if it were my company I would have apologized first of all, accepted blame and paid to fix it. I don't think I will have a problem bolting it back on.
 
Well, I got my trailer parts, fixed the trailer myself, and just got my boat back last week from the dealer. They repaired some very bad spider cracks at the bow and starboard tiedowns posibly from the trailer failure, in pretty decent time. About 4 weeks total. Now my boat is nice and snug in my heated garage for the winter and getting the full cleaning and repairing of minor things (bumpers just got resiliconed because a whole side came lose after being docked earlier in the summer). All in all I'm relieved I got my boat back as good as before I started out on my move. So after this, I have to say, props to Karavan trailers, BRP, and Lifestyles RV in Mount Vernon, WA(except they parked my boat under an evergreen for 2 weeks without a cover) for effectively dealing with the failings of their products.
 
Zach,

So glad to hear its back whole again. Thats a trip you guys will never forget. Next time just run the boat down through the panama canal and up the west coast ;-)

Craig
 
Utility trailers....

Well, I got my trailer parts, fixed the trailer myself, and just got my boat back last week from the dealer. They repaired some very bad spider cracks at the bow and starboard tiedowns posibly from the trailer failure, in pretty decent time. About 4 weeks total. Now my boat is nice and snug in my heated garage for the winter and getting the full cleaning and repairing of minor things (bumpers just got resiliconed because a whole side came lose after being docked earlier in the summer). All in all I'm relieved I got my boat back as good as before I started out on my move. So after this, I have to say, props to Karavan trailers, BRP, and Lifestyles RV in Mount Vernon, WA(except they parked my boat under an evergreen for 2 weeks without a cover) for effectively dealing with the failings of their products.


I do not want to be misunderstood here, so I want to say that first.

I'm glad you got your trailer and boat fixed. I'm glad the trailer company and BRP did the right thing.

What I am a bit surprised about was the fact that you drove that boat and trailer across country. Why? These trailers are not really designed for cross country trips. Their basic design is for us to pull from the house to the river for launch. The suspension and bearing systems are "light duty". I'm surprised you didn't have a bearing seizure, especially after you lost your bearing buddy.


I'm sure people pull their boats everyday hundreds of miles. But, my personal experience and understanding of material and weights, say that it's risky pulling something at speeds in excess of 60 mph for such long distances. It's real easy to see the difference between materials if you look at the thin walled galvanized trailer material verses the 1/4" solid steel wall thickness of a trailer designed for this type travel. You can also see a huge difference in comparison to the tires of a boat trailer verses a standard 18 foot utility trailer designed for long hauls.

I pulled my GTX about 800 miles in June to the Seadooforum "ride in" and rented a cargo carrier to do it. I worried the trailer would give way before I reached my destiny.

My opinion is not directed as right or wrong advice. I'm only expressing my idea on the strength and reliability of these kinds of trailers. Not just boat trailers but these little utility trailers you see for sale at Lowe's...etc......:cheers:
 
I was moving and I didn't really see any other way to get the boat from FL to WA. Moving the boat 3000 miles with a cargo carrier would have cost me $1000+. I honestly don't understand why you would build a trailer for a boat that isn't capable of moving that boat over long distances. I'm going to have to move the boat from WA to NC in another year and I'll do the same thing again. But first I'll replace the bearings, take everything that is removable out of the boat and empty the gas tank. Also, I'm going to take it to a welder and strengthen the joint that failed this last time. I might keep my eye out for a heavier duty trailer too. But in any case a trailer should be able to carry the boat on the highway anywhere in the country.
 
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I agree!....

I do agree with you. I believe that if they sell a trailer, it should be capable of hauling anywhere. But, in reality, they build things cheaply now days. If you look at the numbers, it's probably up in the 90's on how many owners only use their trailers for towing the boat to the launch and back. Your circumstances of cross country moving isnt' something that is widely done.

I used the cargo hauler cause my ski was small enough. The hauler was 12 feet long, the ski had very little room to spare.

Had I been in your shoes, I'd have probably looked into one of U-Haul's flat bed twin axle trailers.

If your going to beef up the trailer, I'd recommend that you go from the standard "el cheapo" bearing spindles (that you can buy in Walmart, along with the tires) to a standard axle. They use reliable raced bearings and road tires.

I do understand your frustration with the trailer issue and I do whole heartedly agree with you that it should be a trailer to tow anywhere, but the reality is, they do not design them for that kind of heavy use. I'm sure they probably follow the lowest requirements by the DOT to build these things.

I hope you get everything set up like you want. Your ideas on removing the fuel and other precautions will probably make a big impact. Hopefully, you won't have the same problem happen on your return trip........:cheers:
 
Yes....Great idea!

Yes, there you go. You change out that axle and stiffen your bow support, nice "road" tires and straps holding it down in the back, you shouldn't have that problem again. And a worthy trailer to boot.......:cheers:
 
i think the set-up you got will work, but from the damage that was caused, I say, your springs are too stiff. Take the bottom spring out (load spring), and that should "ease" the ride, along with, but you did replace, new tires/taller tires, for added "travel"/suspension.

If you wanna go the, replace the axle" route...go to ebay, company on there, called "Gator-Trailer"..something like that, anyway...any size axle, hub to hub, with springs, of any weight, shipped to your door, for 160 buks.
 
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