smally21

+2 on the kittens. pike fisherman in alsaska. not a huge cat lover but its over the top. could care less about a mouse quite frankly. the world is full of mice but muskies are hard to find.

i haven't had an issue with the buckles myself...not that impressed with them vs. big honking load strap over the whole boat. that is usuallly how i trailered big stufff.. keep it from bouncing..

make sure the boat is centered before you put on the straps. they can loosen off because the light boat is finding its own center after loading.. any 1.5" buckle/cam strap will do you fine, if you dont like the one you are using. another option you might like is to buy a 15-25 foot strap and go right over the boat from fender bracket to fender bracket..makes it very secure if you are having securement issues...

upgrading my digital package to HD was something like 8$ a month. buy a couple of kijiji receivers (check the serial's with provider beofre buying) and you are off. or the 'pace' unit at future shop for 150$. great increase in picture quality. dont know where the hundreds of dollars a year is coming from. its not that much. what is a better use of money, buying HD tvs and not using them to their potential or paying a little extra for HD? if a better image is worth it, spend it. its no one else's business how you 'operate'.

i had no idea! legend of motorsports. saved chrysler. and the shebly mustang.. he would probably like to have the shelby daytona back but otherwise one of the greatest automotive influences ever. would be nice to pass away leaving your mark (literally) on millions of vehicles. a friend builds replicas of the shelby cobra - had an opportunity to see the real thing..performance almost untouched today.

article brings up great and frustrating points. the internet is like a carrot on a stick, we have exposure to the american's fantastic price and selection but in many cases can't purchase the item or it gets cost prohibitive for other fees. customs fees can be mitigated or avoided with careful shopping/shipping. unfortunately customs fees often appear as a 'surprise' compared to similar purchases. duty is a rarity these days. pay it on remarkably few items. there is a still a huge, unexplainable gap in canadian/american pricing. lawnmower is 349 here 189 in the states. ridiculous. recent buying experience required almost 20$ in shipping for an envelope sized item from the states. bought similar item off ebay from asia, shipped for 2.50$. online shopping is a great way to do business, needs some tweaking on this side of the border for sure.

i wouldn't imagine on board charging is much of a consideration in a one man inflatable. covering the terminals would seem prudent. you couldn't lay something across the terminals if you tried, but if you weren't trying you can do it easily... Drifter yer inflatable pontoon looks awesome. looks like it should have a machine gun mount and some navy seals in it..

Apologies but the weight a tire is loaded with has no affect on its pressure reading. Same interior volume, same volume of air. the tire changes shape when loaded, not size. temperature is about the only factor that will change the measured reading. ratings are for cold tires.

how about a camp stove that charges your cellphone?

were the boat and trailer a package? just curious as to the weight of the boat and the capacity of the trailer. not in the way you think..as in overloading. underloaded trailers ride like lumber wagons, bouncing and drifting can lead to scalloping... just an idea. everything else seems to have been mentioned..i can certainly understand your concern to just chew up another set..

same post, same problem. in a single use i find it gets right stuck. there are a few ideas here i haven't tried. but i share your pain. you're not imagining things...

I share BB's thoughts on this issue. New vehicles come with longer and longer corrosion warranties because they are doing a better job of building and painting. Do you see alot of rusty cars on the road these days? all kinds of 10 year old cars driving around without any rust on them (I hear it now - maybe they all got sprayed). I feel i used to be able to age a vehicle by its appearance - but im surprised again and again by the condition of say 6-7 year old vehicles. My toyota is 5 years old (the longest i've ever owned a vehicle) and has no rust anywhere. It has barely rusted underneath.. IMO the era of rusted out heaps is past. To be fair i dont keep vehicles long but the last 3 I bought the dealers have reccomended the same thing - nothing. If it buys you some peace of mind, and if it is increasing resale values, great. Of course, you can't really say the oil spraying protected your 10 yr old vehicle unless you have an untreated one right beside it... Local MOE was in a rustproofing place at the same time we were for inspections, and said he wasn't worried about run off from the building as the product was basically animal/vegetable oils..not sure about that one. There may be other ways to spend your hard earned dough making your vehicle perform/last longer..enjoy the new to you ride either way!

good lord man! manitou rapids is a long way from hamilton!

while all comments are right on the money, and you cant dispute that you should do all those things.. How many people do you think maintain their trailer brakes several times a year, if at all. How often do you see a guy sitting at the ramp for hours waiting for his brakes to cool? (and why are they that hot in the first place?) How many thousands of boat trailers out there have electric brakes? Every braking system is near completely exposed to the elements and gets soaking inside and out every time it rains, and sits soaking wet after use..ever dry off your car's brakes? What percentage of braking systems lock up, rust out, warp, blow magnets apart, etc? (without reasonable age or neglect) My point being that while all are true, the majority of trailer owners will preform little maintenance, and can generally expect a decent lifespan from their brakes. MUCH longer if they follow the sound advice of the previous posters.. In many years of having the trailer shop, I saw almost none of the conditions described. (to be fair - most of our work was on newer equipment - or else we'd advise replacement anyway). and in the rare case these things occurred, replacement was quick and rarely that expensive. If I haven't said it already, not knocking or disputing any of the points made previously!

if you dont mind the drive to milton, try Cerka Industries for parts. local to you would be trailer world (its near the TSC on the east side of brantford). decent guys, supply alot of Dexter parts. if you took the trailer there they would likely know what you need with a quick look...

5 bolt=3500 6 bolt=5200 8 bolt=6500 the post and places to buy the parts was on a while ago. replace the entire axle with a braked axle is the easiest. swapping the hub and brake assy is cheapest. you have a 3500 lb axle, parts are almost always standard spring centre and spring length is only measurement required (as long as the offset is standard) most likely two wires down one side, then across the axle. i dont think it would ever be worth swapping out the trailer with another, who knows..its only a couple hundred dollars and a few hours... if the deal was there i suppose. wish i still had the shop i could meet all kinds of OFNer's and do this job for rye bottles..

its irrelevant how you get caught. if you weren't breaking the law, you wouldn't get a ticket. if one wanted to avoid being 'entrapped' or caught by 'dirty tactics' of the police one could just not use their phone in the car.

same experience as BB. white twister tails work 90% of the time. oddly, the fish there must have measuring tapes, because sometimes it was 3" and sometimes 4". if neither worked, slow death hooks with worms were very effective. never tried the bucktails but ya cant argue with 1000+ fish!!

learned another new thing here today! fallfish who knew. it kinda looks like an ugliest fish contest around here..

hey mercman how does an appliance repair dude know so much about how/where people shoot themselves during the act of suicide? Come on fella! you dont know jack about how people end their lives. and spouting off like you do is nonsense. (yer a good guy otherwise) there are people that are disturbed/ill whatever in all walks of life. I think JR's arms were bigger than his waist...

great solution..especially if you can lean on the dealer to discount the upgrade for inconvenience. i have no idea - do tillers come that big?

it would be worthwhile to find out when the turbocharged engine puts out its peak tourgue vs. the normally aspirated engine.. id rather have 240lbs at 2000rpm than 258lbs at 4500rpm.. just something to chew on..

im with the hang a different motor off it idea. each of the top manufacturers make a good product with similar performance and cost. of course, if the dealership only represents one brand this could present a problem. going to be a long wait with the weather this nice in april. id also look at just buying something else or somewhere else. which would be tough because you probably did lots of research and shopping, and have to start again.. good luck Lund Guy sorry to hear.

awesome. gene roddenberry would never have forecasted this marvel. there is nothing like "getting away from it all" - can't go camping without an iphone!

it is not reccomended to exceed the towing capacity. there is no hard rule on the acceptable percentage. totally subjective to one person's experience or opinion. more likely the latter. the vehicle is rated and warrantied for the job you want it to do. no problem. just make sure you buy the "highway version". it has special equipment for on ramps. i hear next years Q5 will come with an "off ramp kit" and make sure it comes equipped with special "boat ramp tires". if ya dont know what you are talking about dont give advice.