thill
Well-known member
When I got this boat, I didn't think it would handle rough water. I was absolutely wrong. This boat is amazing in big water. Very well engineered.
In my experience, aluminum boats tend to crack a lot easier than fiberglass when exposed to rough water, but I admit that my experience is not universal. In the Chesapeake Bay, you USED to see a number of aluminum bay boats back in the 80's and 90's, but not anymore. A bunch of SeaArk boats cracked badly, including one a good friend bought. It spent most of it's life being repaired, and eventually he sold it and got a Parker, which he still has. I don't think the SeaArk dealer is in business anymore. Not that they are bad boats, but the Chesapeake is HARD on boats, especially tinnies.
For truck warranty reasons, I had to weigh my truck, and trailer today, and my estimate earlier was close. Certified weight of the boat and trailer, fully loaded is 4,300 lbs:
The dealer was accusing me of overloading the truck, so I had to get certified numbers to prove my case. They were also accusing me of making the truck "squat", changing the driveline angles, so I had to take this pic:
As you can see, the truck is not squatting much. It's level at worst. This truck is rated to tow 11,300 lbs. This trailer is LESS than half of that, and the total boat and trailer weight is 9,840 lbs, almost 1,500 lbs less than what it's rated to tow. This should not be a problem.
It is a pain dealing with car dealers, but now they can move forward to resolve the issues while still under factory warranty. The service tech says the most likely solution will be that they replace my transmission with an updated version. A brand-new tranny would be fine by me!
