New Boler, new member, first question - Fiberglass RV
Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 02-12-2013, 01:06 PM   #1
Junior Member
 
Name: Don
Trailer: 1978 Boler 13'
British Columbia
Posts: 29
New Boler, new member, first question

Hi all:
New member from British Columbia. We just brought our 1978 Boler home this past weekend. We're not planning on a full "gut" renovation, but will be doing some work on it over the next few months, so I expect I'll have a fair number of questions that I'm hoping this forum will help with.

First question though, is in regards to towing. I'm including a picture of the Boler hooked up to our tow vehicle, a Volvo 850 wagon. You should be able to see that with the current hitch on the car, the trailer angles up slightly towards the front. The hitch we had installed has a 3 1/2" riser, not sure how important it is to try and get the trailer more level, in which case I was thinking I could swap out for a shorter riser?

I know the general idea is for the trailer to be level when towing, but have the impression that it may be more of an issue for the front of the trailer to be sitting too low rather than a bit too high?

Appreciate any feedback on this. Thanks.
Attached Thumbnails
boler01.jpg  
desy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-12-2013, 01:21 PM   #2
Commercial Member
 
Ian G.'s Avatar
 
Name: Ian
Trailer: 1974 Boler 1300 - 2014 Escape 19'
Alberta
Posts: 1,380
Registry
Welcome to the forum

Ideally the trailer should be level or very slightly lower at the tongue.
By the looks of it if you install a straight ball mount the trailer should be level.
Best method is to disconnect the trailer, level it and measure the height to top of the coupler

Take a look here: Choosing the Correct Ball Mount | etrailer.com
Ian G. is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-12-2013, 01:26 PM   #3
Senior Member
 
Trailer: 1975 Boler
Posts: 108
Registry
You may be able to use the 'riser' you have to drop the hitch height by taking the ball off, flipping the 'riser' (it then becomes a 'dropper' I suppose ...) and reinstalling the ball.
It may be too much of a drop though.
Evan Friesen is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-12-2013, 01:38 PM   #4
Commercial Member
 
Ian G.'s Avatar
 
Name: Ian
Trailer: 1974 Boler 1300 - 2014 Escape 19'
Alberta
Posts: 1,380
Registry
p.s. I have used my Volvo 740 to tow my Boler and a straight ball mount on it worked great. I am certain that reversing your current mount will make it too low, but measuring will confirm what will be the best.
Ian G. is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-12-2013, 03:09 PM   #5
Junior Member
 
Name: Don
Trailer: 1978 Boler 13'
British Columbia
Posts: 29
Thanks for the feedback

Thanks for the responses. I expect that flipping our current riser will make the connection too low, and that I'll need to swap it out for one with no rise or very little, by eyeballing it I would estimate that a change of a few inches will have the trailer pretty level, but I'll plan to sort it out through some measurement over the next while.
desy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-12-2013, 03:24 PM   #6
Senior Member
 
Thomas G.'s Avatar
 
Trailer: No Trailer Yet
Posts: 5,112
Quote:
Originally Posted by desy View Post
Thanks for the responses. I expect that flipping our current riser will make the connection too low, and that I'll need to swap it out for one with no rise or very little, by eyeballing it I would estimate that a change of a few inches will have the trailer pretty level, but I'll plan to sort it out through some measurement over the next while.
Check out Princess Auto. You can get a flat coupler pretty inexpensively there.

Standard Ball Mounts | Princess Auto
__________________
UHaul and Burro owners, join the UHaul Campers on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/groups/529276933859491/
Thomas G. is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-12-2013, 06:16 PM   #7
Senior Member
 
Name: Ron
Trailer: 2008 13' Scamp
British Columbia
Posts: 325
Welome to the forum and the ever growing BC contingent.

One other possible consideration is that most times when the trailer is in use the tow vehicle is also loaded with "stuff". When loaded it might be lower than it is now. You may want to check the hitch height with it loaded.

Ron
Ron in BC is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-12-2013, 08:06 PM   #8
Senior Member
 
Donna D.'s Avatar
 
Trailer: 1988 16 ft Scamp Deluxe
Posts: 25,697
Hi Don, welcome to FiberglassRV and THANKS for posting the pic!

You're going to get all kinds of help here from a group of very nice folks.

__________________
Donna D.
Ten Forward - 2014 Escape 5.0 TA
Double Yolk - 1988 16' Scamp Deluxe
Donna D. is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-12-2013, 09:09 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
CliveAlive's Avatar
 
Trailer: Boler American (#3104)
Posts: 554
Registry
Welcome to the forum from another Volvo tow vehicle owner.
CliveAlive is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-12-2013, 10:04 PM   #10
Junior Member
 
Name: Don
Trailer: 1978 Boler 13'
British Columbia
Posts: 29
Thanks for the welcomes and the tips. Good thought from Ron to check it out with some weight in the tow vehicle.
desy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-13-2013, 06:35 AM   #11
Senior Member
 
Name: andrew
Trailer: 17 boler
Ontario
Posts: 144
before you change anything, keep in mind it doesn't look like the car is loaded with any gear or camping stuff. the extra weight of coolers and people in the car might drop the car down a bit, making it lower to the ground. just something to consider, i know my wagon sits a little high with nothing in it but when we pack the boler and the car it does drop a couple inches. welcome to the group
andrew78 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-13-2013, 08:57 AM   #12
Senior Member
 
slavandheather's Avatar
 
Name: Slavomir
Trailer: 1978 Boler
Washington
Posts: 275
Welcome! We also picked up a 1978 back in September of last year and it is being restored now.
slavandheather is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-13-2013, 10:33 AM   #13
Senior Member
 
Carol H's Avatar
 
Trailer: 92 16 ft Scamp
Posts: 11,756
Registry
Quote:
Originally Posted by desy View Post
I know the general idea is for the trailer to be level when towing, but have the impression that it may be more of an issue for the front of the trailer to be sitting too low rather than a bit too high?
congrats on your new trailer Don! Hope you make it out to our annual fiberglass meet June 21 -23 near Mission.

As others have indicated your best to get the trailer level or slightly down vs up. If the front of the trailer is up you may find you have a sway issue.
Carol H is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-13-2013, 08:58 PM   #14
Junior Member
 
Name: Don
Trailer: 1978 Boler 13'
British Columbia
Posts: 29
slavandheather: yes, been following your posts on your reno project. We're not planning to be nearly as ambitious with ours, but learning a lot from your experience.
desy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-13-2013, 08:59 PM   #15
Junior Member
 
Name: Don
Trailer: 1978 Boler 13'
British Columbia
Posts: 29
Carol: You may just see us out there, depending on how the next few months of work go. We're working towards an inaugural camping trip the May long weekend, so should be on the road by June.
desy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-13-2013, 10:32 PM   #16
Senior Member
 
slavandheather's Avatar
 
Name: Slavomir
Trailer: 1978 Boler
Washington
Posts: 275
Quote:
Originally Posted by desy View Post
slavandheather: yes, been following your posts on your reno project. We're not planning to be nearly as ambitious with ours, but learning a lot from your experience.
Awesome! We never expected to do this, but having something "vintage" like this got us inspired to bring it back to life. And seeing what is possible from the work Robert Johans has done made it impossible to not want to do it well.

We look forward to seeing your progress!

Slav & Heather
slavandheather is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-14-2013, 12:19 PM   #17
Senior Member
 
dylanear's Avatar
 
Name: Dylan
Trailer: 2001 Scamp 13'
British Columbia
Posts: 798
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carol H View Post
As others have indicated your best to get the trailer level or slightly down vs up. If the front of the trailer is up you may find you have a sway issue.
Glad someone mentioned this! Not having a enough front drop and too much weight in the back (of the trailer) has caused my only sway. Not a good feeling.
dylanear is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
boler


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
new member w/ a new boler trailer dmcclure Hi, I am.... 10 08-10-2011 07:40 PM
Junior Member versus Senior Member ? Dave Baston Forum Admin, News & Announcements 5 01-02-2011 07:41 PM
Boler question kennybrae Problem Solving | Owners Helping Owners 2 08-07-2010 03:57 PM
question about a '71 Boler Wendy & Parker Moore Care and Feeding of Molded Fiberglass Trailers 5 09-01-2009 11:36 PM

» Upcoming Events
No events scheduled in
the next 465 days.
» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 02:54 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.