2017 Bayliner VR5 w/Galvanized single axle trailer SUSPENSION ISSUE

[freechip]

Hello fellow VR5 owners, just taking time to share something I've experience recently in hopes it saves someone else issues and headaches.

Bought brand new 2017 VR5 in early march of 2017 (custom order) and was delivered to dealer in May. First tow home it looked like my tires were low in psi but when I got home they were good. Called up dealer and expressed concerned that I thought and it felt like the vessel is on the heavy side for said single axle Karavan trailer and they informed me that this was the trailer for this vessel from Bayliner (package combo).

Forward spring of 2018 and I already need NEW tires as the side walls on the tires looked like that has been slashed by wolverine all around them BOTH. Both new tires and shortly after I received a recall or service bulletin from Bayliner/Karavan that trailers with build dates & serial numbers ### had received many warranty claims for suspension issues and Karavan had an updated u-bolt heavier duty kit along with a suspension plate that needed to be added.

After contacting Karavan directly due to personal issues with dealer they informed me that they had sent out plenty of these kits directly to customers and this could be done for me if I was comfortable doing the update (which I was and did perform)...

To this date even with the updated kit I still had the feeling boat is too heavy, ( Funny enough with the newer VR's you can get a tandem axle trailer that was NOT available option in 2017)

Forward to yesterday - I'm 2.4km away from boat ramp. Towing mid way home going in residential area about 30km/h hitting uneven pavement made nothing of it BUT the reaction of pedestrians on the sidewalk made me chuckle and they reacted by jumping and screaming. shortly after I started hearing what sounded like something rubbing and when I rolled down my windows I notice in the mirrors I could see one wheel slightly sticking out the fender and the other not. So I decided to pull over to investigate thinking the fender had maybe come loose and could be rubbing on the tire.

Here's the fun part.

The instant I braked to pull over the surge brakes on the trailer did their job and while looking in the mirror while I was pulling over the fender exploded, axle moved backwards causing wheel to get jammed up under frame and rear fender bracket, wheel locked up and I saw something fall out and hang under the trailer. Walked to investigate and sure enough leaf spring completely broke in half which cause the axle to be able to move freely and backward when I braked resulting in the wheel getting jammed up in rear fender bracket and bending it which caused it to also break.

PIC will follow in following post.

Contacted KARAVAN directly which I will say great service has they replied almost instantly but part of the communication I learned that there is in fact an UPDATED VERSION of the actual leaf spring.

SO I am just posting NOT to complain about the situation BUT simply to WARN fellow VR5 owners with a single axle trailer to make sure they contact their bayliner or karavan dealer to make sure they have both updated hardware from the 2018 recall/service bulletin and also the update springs. Maybe a recall/service bulleting does also exist for the spring BUT my dealer having being bought out by another company maybe they failed to warn me but either way guys make sure you are up to date on this suspension issue with these trailers provided with the VR5 of that year at least.

[freechip]

In one of the picture there is one with a RED arrow, this arrow is pointing to the ADDED piece that was part of the 2018 recall/service bulletin I had received.

[freechip]

Got ride home (only 1km away at this point) got truck jack, tools and couple pieces of 2x4. Jacked trailer up to take weight off on wheel and axle, removed the the broken fender completely, position the spring back in place best as we could and using ratchet strap we attached the axle to front cross beam and secured it in place. Spring could NOT support boat anymore so we had to put piece of 2x4 between axle and frame so frame wasn't sitting directly on the axle. Picked up fender pieces and drove home. total distance from boat ramp to home is 2.4km but this ride took 2.5hrs from out of water, temp repair and being parked in driveway.

What an experience. I have two options to travel to & from, HWY or residential streets, sure glad I picked residential this time, would have probably soiled my shorts if this had happened at hwy speeds.

[vr5200]

Thank you for posting...............and including pics

I have a boat/trailer that was assembled in June of 2017.

It is considered a 2018 model and I do remember getting a trailer spring recall notice and the dealer replaced them in November 2018.

I do not know if the hardware was updated as well.

I also had to have my axle replaced a bit earlier in August 2018 due to excessive tire wear on the outside edges.....the loaded camber angle was wrong on the original axle.

At first, Bayliner was not clear in their specs on the weight of my I/O VR5.

As time went on, they broke down the difference in the OB vs I/O and the number is about 3300/3400........originally the spec sheet said about 2900 but that was with the standard 115 OB......and back then they did not list the OB and I/O models separately.

[freechip]

To be clear VR5200 my trailer is dated 4/10/2017 and what I got in 2018 for the suspension "update" was replacement U-bolts with plate or bracket and a piece to be added to the assembly between the spring itself and axle since mine is a "spring under" setup. In the chain of emails sent back & forth day of incident the rep mentioned "updated springs" being available. That is something I was never made aware of and for this post and keeping things updated I still haven't heard back from my submitted claim.

[88fourwinns]

Looks like a broken spring, maybe defective from new. I would for sure get that boat weighed, I learned not to trust manufacturer's "estimates" of the boat weight. Case in point, my boat is ancient, a 1988 20' Four Winns Horizon H-200. Factory estimate of weight with the 4.3 V6 is approx 2700 lbs, so if you add 500 for gas, accessories, extra battery you're at approx 3200 lbs. Sounds OK for a single axle trailer right. Well I finally weighed mine not long ago, Boat & Trailer weighs in at 5050 lbs. Weighed trailer seperately and it's 850 lbs, which is more or less normal for a heavy duty single axle (2x3 drop axle, 6000 lbs rated with 12" brakes). So the boat, is really 1000 lbs heavier at 4200 lbs. And the deck was redone in 2007, no water found in foam, etc when it was dug out. So get it weighed, make sure the axle, springs, hubs, etc are up to what it weighs.
No wonder our old '98 Jeep Grand Cherokee with the 4 liter six struggled with this load (the tow rating for that Jeep was 5,000 lbs so it was a little over the max).
Our '07 Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi tows it much easier (rated at 7,200 lbs).

[Shehateme]

I purchased the 2021 vr5 and it had the option to get a tandem axel trailer. At first I didn't want to but I figured four wheels is better than two incase I have a blow out. With all the gear in the boat, a full tank of fuel and the tandem axle it does feel quite heavy, especially when the trailer gets filled up with water and you're also hauling atleast the driver and someone else out of the water.

It mentions the dry weight on the website is 3300lb's with the standard engine (I'd assume the 4.5l?). So you add on the swim platform and the wake tower if you have them, it can add up to a lot more than just 3300lb's when loaded right up. Whats a single axle good for? 5000lb's?

[88fourwinns]

Well it depends on the frame thickness, springs, axle, hubs, brakes & tires. For a boat that size, there's no way you'd want anything but a 2x3 6000 axle. Keep in mind that 5200, 6000, and 7000 lb axles all used the same spindles & inner bearings, the differences are in the hub and outer bearings, these outer bearings are bigger in the 6000 and 7000 axles. When you go to 6000 you will have a 6 lug hub, to 7000 you'll have an 8 lug hub, and 16" tires.
The best I could do with mine is approx total weight capacity of 5660 lbs, because a 225/75-15 load range E trailer tire gives you 2830 lbs each, and a pair of 5 leaf 26" springs gives 5700 lbs, my uprated axle/hubs/brakes are rated for 6000. Based on weighing it the trailer + boat is 5050 lbs, trailer is 850 and the boat is approx 4200 lbs. So equipping it that way gives a nice safety margin, but you really have to weigh it to know what you are dealing with. You could go a little better by going to a 16" rim and tires, but still are limited by whatever the lowest rated component is in the mix, in this case the springs, so I left it there. And going with taller tires raises the height of the boat on the trailer and also may require raising the height of the fenders.

[freechip]

Plaque on trailer says it’s rated for 4,100lbs cargo and GVWR is 4,853lbs all axles.

starting take things apart as I’ve been receiving stuff from KARAVAN and I’m finding unequal length bolts and bolts way over tighten to a point where bushings aren’t free to spin and leaf spring chewed half way threw bolt.

at this point I’m getting very concerned that regardless their “updated” spring kit is this is something I’m going to be concerned with every time I trailer the vessel.

i will for sure once being able to get on the road is going to going weight the boat/trailer setup

Karavan are helping me so far, received 3 of 4 boxed today. Ups forgot one box at depot so they say. Waiting for reply
for the bolts and bushing issue.

[freechip]

Quick update. I’ve received the “updated” spring kit and can clearly see the difference. It was easy to spot, went from single leaf setup to 5 leaf.

now waiting for weather to cooperate so I can assemble

[Shehateme]

Only single leaf eh? My tandum i'm pretty sure is atleast 3 or 4 leafs. Should make a good difference.