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Truckin's Water Toys Section
Building the Better Boat Trailer
Going to Extremes
by Steve Warner
Just like trucks, all trailers are not created equally. Take, for instance, the increasing popularity of lifted 2WD trucks. Just as late as a year ago, the suspension systems on these trucks were anything but safe, or even properly engineered. Today, that's another story.
Some lifted 2WD trucks perform better than their 4WD counterparts, with more suspension travel than ever before. Look again at car and truck trailers. The manufacturers of these haulers are as diverse as the automotive landscape. Everything from lowboys, tilt beds, and partially to fully enclosed trailers make up the majority of the marketplace.
That type of rapid change is also prevalent in the competitive world of boat trailer building. As with all suspension, car, and truck trailer manufacturers out there whose products are not created equally, the same is true in the boat trailer building world as well. Let us explain. When a hot rod or truck owner makes the decision to transport a custom truck projects, the more they would shell out on the trailers to two their little gems. However, this is often not the case.
Enter Extreme Engineering. While Extreme Engineering does not build custom car or truck trailers, the company does build some of the fines boat trailers in the world for some of the premier boat builders in the business. Names such as Malibu Boats, Eliminator Boats,Ultra Custom Boats, Hallet Custom Boats, Shockwave Boats, and Dave's Custom Boats all recommend Extreme Engineering for their customers' trailering needs. Commonly referred to as Extreme Custom Trailers, the company believes that extreme efforts lead to extreme quality, pride, and perfection. In fact, that's the motto at Extreme. The company doesn't offer kits or pre-fabricated trailers so common in other markets, such as suspension design or car trailers. Instead, every Extreme Custom trailer is exactly that, custom. Each trailer is designed to specifically fit its given or intended application, with nothing but perfection in mind. With that level of build quality, one would think there is a significant price tag attached to the trailer, but that is where the misnomer comes into play.
If someone has $60,000 to $100,000 wrapped up in a custom truck or hot rod project, why would that person put all that time and hard-earned money in a rickety $1,000 car hauler? It's the same equation in the custom performance boating business. There are numerous performance boat builders selling their wares for roughly the same prices - if not a whole lot more - and then those boats get dropped onto just-as-rickety $1,000 boat trailers.
At Extreme Custom Trailers, they believe in giving the owner a trailer with as much or more quality than the boat itself. For many people out there, short of purchasing their homes or building their custom trucks, a boat purchase is the biggest spenditure they will make. And when you consider that most boats spend 95 percent of their time on a trailer, why would anyone consider that rickety $1,000 trailer? This is not a case of "you get what you pay for." There are many variables that can separate a good trailer from an Extreme Custom trailer, the answer is really easy.
Picking the Perfect Trailer
Is there a perfect trailer out there? Depending upon who you are and what you specific needs are, any custom trailer builder can most likely accommodate you. However, with Extreme Custom trailers, it is usually the little extra touches that make
the difference. Stainless steel storage boxes that attach to the front of the trailer for additional storage for life vests, extra boat batteries, anchors, ropes, tie-downs, and so on, and other touches like that can help with the purchase decision. Other elements, such as all-stainless steel bolting hardware help provide years of nearly trouble free maintenance. Just as suspension systems are all different and significant in trucks, they are also important in trailers. Extreme Custom Trailers offers two different styles: functional and leaf spring systems. Generally, it's best to go with the company's recommendation, which is based on the type, style, and weight of your particular custom performance boat. Brakes vary greatly as well. For many builders, drum brakes on boat trailers are still standard items. Extreme Custom Trailers only offers disc brake-equipped trailers in single-, dual-, or tripe-axle applications, again depending upon the actual weight being applied to the trailer. Wheels and tires are also vastly different for a given application. In most instances, a set of 14- or 15- inch wheels and tires are more than sufficient for the common performance boater. However, just as all trucks with their suspension
systems and wild paint treatments are not created equally, trailer wheels and tires are also not equal. Most buyers of performance boats want to match their wheels and tires to those of the tow vehicle. At Truckin', with the matching boat and truck feature we run each month, this is even more apparent. We always strive to have the wheels and tires of the truck and trailer match, it just looks so much better. Extreme Custom Trailers offers all of its trailers with optional 16-, 17-, or 18-inch wheels and tires from any of the common wheel sources, such as Weld Racing, Center Line, Boyd Coddington, and American Racing, to name just a few.
Trailer Construction
Ninety percent of the custom boat trailers out there will be constructed from steel. Extreme Custom Trailers is not alone in this. However, for the ultra-exotic touch, Extreme Custom Trailers can build trailers in brightly polished, all-stainless steel. Each Extreme Custom trailer is made of steel tubing and has had its steel hand-selected to ensure it is in perfect condition. Also, each piece of steel used is as straight a piece of metal as possible to begin with, so when it comes time for the application of body filler to make it perfectly straight, this application will be as minimal as possible. This is like picking the perfect sheetmetal fender for replacement. The straighter the piece to begin with, the less time-consuming the chores of bodywork will be later.
All Extreme Custom trailers have been washed with a phosphate
etching acid that completely removes any dirt, oil, or grease from the
metal surface prior to painting. Once that's complete, the trailer's
rails are then sanded, primered, and sanded again, with any imperfections
are made and the trailer is then rolled into the spray booth and given several applications of high-quality polyurethane paint designed to resist chips and scratches. The customer rules in the color decision-making process here, especially if that individual is attempting to match the tow vehicle to the boat and trailer.
After the spray booth, each Extreme Custom trailer is then wired up with Wes-Bar lighting accessories, with either standard or ultra-bright lights. For an additional charge. Another unique feature to many Extreme Custom trailers is the front Pivit Hitch. The Pivit Hitch allows users to put their boat and trailer into storage and get the door closed by simply swiveling the hitch assembly around, which shortens the trailer's overall length by 2 feet. There are other features that make Extreme Custom Trailers the leader in the performance boat market. The company uses stainless
steel fenders, which cover the wheels and help protect against road chips. Other trailer manufacturers use painted or chrome-plated fenders that rust or get easily scratched by individuals climbing up on the fenders to get to the boat. To remedy that situation. Besides offering stainless steel fenders, extreme Custom Trailers also offers front ladders to climb up onto. Another key area addressed by Extreme Custom Trailers is the use of automatic tie-downs. These allow the users to easily tie their boats to the trailers when not in use, and best of all, these automatic tie-downs are already attached to the rear of the trailer on the rails, so removal is easy and reinstallation is even easier.
It is for these and so many other reasons that we selected Extreme Custom Trailers to provide a trailer for our custom Aftershock powerboat, which recently made its debut at the 2002 SEMA Show in the brand-new Marie Pavilion. We've included a
highlight of the construction process of the project Extreme Custom Trailers built to suit our needs for our matching truck and trailer combination.
1. Making its debut on the bran-new Extreme
Custom trailer is Truckin' magazine's 24-foot Tremor from Aftershock Powerboats, which will anchor our Water Toys section this coming year, Also fit to the trailer are a set of Boyd Coddington 17" billet wheels and BFGoodrich tires from Discount Tire Direct.
2. Every Extreme Custom trailer begins life on the framing table, where the framerails have specific dimensions for the boat. Every boat will have its
own dimensions so that the trailer can be tailored.
3. Extra care is taken to precision-weld all the joints and angles on the trailer. Take note, this trailer was outfitted with frenched-in taillights which
are an option on all Extreme Custom trailers.
4. Each Extreme Custom trailer is precisely built with proper measurements,
and all the angles and braces built into the trailer for support are checked and
rechecked on the company's assembly-line building process. All side braces
and crossmembers are checked to make sure they are level. This ensures that
the boat's trailer bunks will sit perpendicular to the bottom of the boat and the
trailer will sit level when loaded down.
5. At the completion of each task along the assembly line, each quality control
engineer checks the plans and blueprints to ensure customer satisfaction and to
double-and triple-check each welder's job process. This check and rechecking
effort goes on throughout the entire building procedure, from start to finish.
6. From there, it is on to the axle assembly. Extreme Custom Trailers recommends
a dual-axle disc brake unit with axles from Unique Functional Products
in San Marcos, California.
7. After the axles have been attached to the trailer framerails, it is time to
mock up the fender assembly. All Extreme Custom Trailers fenders come from
Fenders 'N' More in Pacoima, California. This is done with a custom-fabricated
jig made by Extreme Custom Trailers for any and all trailer applications, from
the standard 14-inch wheel and tire sizing on up to the company's totally custom
trailers running 18-inch wheels and tires. We elected to run Discount Tire
Direct-supplied 17-inch Boyd Coddington billet rollers fit with P255/50R17
BFGoodrich Comp T/A rubber.
8. Here the technician double checks the trailer's bunk height, so when the new carpet bunk fit with stainless steel bolt hardware is installed, it will be right from
the start.
9. On to the metal preparation department. All extreme Custom Trailers need
minimal body filler, as each metal framerail is strategically hand-picked to
ensure there will be the least amount of filler possible. Upon completion of
that task, the trailer's joints will all be sealed with an automotive sealer. This
ensures no water or moisture will become trapped between two different pieces
of metal. Even all the preparation in the world will not deter rust. This is just a
fact of life. However, extreme Custom Trailers does its very best to prevent rust
from rearing its ugly head for as long as possible.
10. This is how the trailer appears after coming out of the spray booth. It was
painted in bright-white polyurethane paint from Cardinal Paints in El Monte,
California. The paint was designed for high gloss and durability.
11. All that preparation and checking of heights makes installing the new
marine-grade carpeted bunks a snap. Each Extreme Custom Trailer bunk
is mounted with counter-sunk stainless steel hardware.
12. At the front, a stainless steel Pivit Hitch assembly is installed. This
is another uniquely custom touch that shortnes the trailer's overall length
by nearly two feet, so it makes storing it in tight spaces much easier.
Simply pull the slider pin and fold back the Pivit Hitch and the trailer is
now shortened.
13. Now the new Fenders 'N' More stainless steel extra-wide fenders polished
by Frutos Polishing in Corona, California, are attached to the trailer's
framerails.
14. A&B. Frenched LED RUNNING LIGHTS ARE FIT TO THE REAR OF THE TRAILER. All of the wiring is done from within the 2x5- inch rectangular tubing, so there are no unsightly wires exposed anywhere. Upon completion of
that task, the bright 6-inch oval tallights are installed into the opening.
15. Capping the new axle assemblies are the Discount Tire Direct-supplied 17x8-inch Boyd Coddinton billet wheels with BFGoodrich Comp T/A tires measuring P255/50R17
16. In addition to all the unique custom touches extreme Custom Trailers adds, one last touch is powdercoated billet aluminum step plates fitted with rubber step inserts made by Dana Marine Products in Corona, California, in our case, we elected to go with blue steps, as most of the accessory colors and trim pieces on the
Aftershock powerboat are blue.
17. No Extreme Custom trailer is complete until the company logo is attached to the side framerails.Call it the finishing touch, after all the planning and preparation that goes into every Extreme Custom trailer.
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