There's no excuse for this crap!

[GotMyAlly]

The rollers are only to keep the keel from hitting the trailer from when loading and unloading. Allison wants the boats to just barely touch them. That doesn't leave much room for error though. I have about 1/4" to 3/8" between my rollers and hull now.

The guides are the inner flat 2x6's. No weight should be on those. They're just there to guide the boat on and off the trailer. As set up from the factory, the hull is supposed to just touch the fuzz of the carpet. Mine was sitting pretty heavily on the front edge of those boards. Enough that they had a little yellow dust in the blue carpet.

All of the weight should be supported by the two outer 2x6's, the ones standing on edge. This is very different from the way most bass boat trailers are set up. Most bass boat trailers rest the boat on four flat 2x6's. I'm sure that two vertical 2x6's are stronger, but it definitely puts the weight on a much smaller footprint of the hull. I have no doubt the Allison hull is strong enough to be supported on such a small footprint.

 

[Tim Powell]

I just looked at mine and my front roller is touching the hull, there is minor marring from loading and unloading but there does not appear to be any damage.. The rest of my rollers are 1/4" away from the hull.

 

[JWolff]

All of the weight should be supported by the two outer 2x6's, the ones standing on edge. This is very different from the way most bass boat trailers are set up. Most bass boat trailers rest the boat on four flat 2x6's. I'm sure that two vertical 2x6's are stronger, but it definitely puts the weight on a much smaller footprint of the hull. I have no doubt the Allison hull is strong enough to be supported on such a small footprint.

Pros and cons to this, like you said Neal, that puts a lot of weight on a few bolts but the good thing is Allisons have less hull in contact with the wet carpet which was a hot topic not too long ago on here while discussing the hull blisters. I have all the confidence that the boat was designed to be supported like this so i have no issues with it as long as the gaps are correct. Thanks for pointing this out Neal. Will have to check mine out when it gets back from the dealership and the rear collision issue.

 

[GotMyAlly]

I left the shims in, sandwiched between the bunk and frame. That should take some (or most) of the weight off the 3 bolts that hold the bunks on. Speaking of which, the thought on only 3 bolts there had me thinking about drilling the tabs and adding a second bolt. There's plenty of surface area for that, but that'll be another project for another time.

I've also had my eye on the pillow bunk material that BassCat was promoting earlier this year. I'd like something like that on the weight-bearing bunks, but they had some issues with the material and I believe it's back to the drawing board. I like the concept though.

 

[whipper]

Sorry to hear about what happened !! I would be pissed also. Im sure it will be made right just the time away from the water sucks! my GS trailer is slick. That back rollerers brackets alone would freek me out! Very high. My back roller is way down low almost flush with the rear most cross member. The hull sits nice on angled bunks way away from the rollers. Pretty sure the hull rarely ever touches a roller loading or unloading. For sure that design is flawed for the 21. Maybe Darris will work with you on making the changes to your trailer so your happy and get that bottom blue printed for ya. Seems like the right thing to do.

 

[SmallJaw]

I'm hoping/planning on a new XB21 coming home with me one day soon. It has been a plan of mine for a while to look at getting a custom aluminum trailer made. I was not at all crazy about the Boatmate under my last boat. I priced a custom aluminum a couple of years ago and it was about $5k then. I have no clue what the price increase will be when I pull the trigger on my next boat but barring anything I don't see right now I probably will going with a custom. I can only expect/hope/demand that the deduct for the Boatmate will be the list price and not a low ball price. I don't plan on ever purchasing another boat and I sure don't want another trailer in 10 years. Heaven forbid any other issues like that hole under the roller. That would make me a less than pleasant old man too.

 

[Tim Powell]

My boatmate is a 2013 model and looks like crap! Its gone as soon as I can stop buying performance parts!

 

[GotMyAlly]

For sure that design is flawed for the 21. Maybe Darris will work with you on making the changes to your trailer so your happy and get that bottom blue printed for ya. Seems like the right thing to do.

That is the kinda service one would expect when you buy a top of the line boat - especially a repeat customer. Sadly, I'm not seeing it.

My boatmate is a 2013 model and looks like crap! Its gone as soon as I can stop buying performance parts!

The trailer under my last 21 was pretty rough in the appearance department too. But I went with the clear coat option on this one and appearance-wise it seems to be resisting rock chips, etc better.

 

[Vance]

The front roller hits on mine just like Tim's. I noticed it a while back and just never had time to address it. Its sitting on that roller pretty good. The whole trailer needs attention.

 

[GotMyAlly]

Woohoo......should have my boat back just in time for the rally. I was starting to sweat it, thought I might be running to the beach in an old duck boat this year.

 

[GotMyAlly]

Big thanks to APS Fiberglass for getting my boat taken care of on short notice. I highly recommend APS fiberglass to anybody needing repair work that isn't covered by warranty. Great work at a fair price. Good as new and ready for the rally! Just gotta put the roller and center bunk board back on and I'll be ready to hit the road.

 

[22R]

Did I miss it or what did Allison say about this ?

22R

 

[GotMyAlly]

Did I miss it or what did Allison say about this ?

22R

Not much. They said it wasn't covered under warranty and they'd be glad to fix it but I would be charged the normal hourly shop rate to do so. Pretty much passed the buck and blamed the trailer co.

Apparently it's the customers responsibility to fit the boat to the trailer.

 

[JWolff]

So everybody buying new needs to check that during pick up and be sure it is right before signing on the dotted line.
Not that I will ever be able to afford new.

 

[GotMyAlly]

So everybody buying new needs to check that during pick up and be sure it is right before signing on the dotted line.

Yep! Only thing I'll add to that is to reiterate that "just barely touching" on a new boat isn't going to be just barely touching in a few months once the nap of the carpet gets packed down and the wood of the bunks dries/shrinks. Just bolting the motor on may be enough additional weight that just touching becomes weight bearing. If I was buying new tomorrow, I'd insist on a gap between the hull and rollers (and the guide boards for that matter).

 

[John S]

Did I miss it or what did Allison say about this ?

22R

They said they would need two other trailers before they would do the fix, they would only replace the carpet bunks in the color of their choice, and they needed all the money up front, but you can only pull it with the truck of their choice.

Jack Barsh should expand his lineup. The Allison brand is losing (has lost) touch with their customer base.

 

[GotMyAlly]

My repair was under $500 locally. You know Allison's cost to repair would have been less, and that's all it would have taken to insure that a repeat customer stayed a customer in the future. A few hundred now to sell another $75k boat in a few years is a heck of a return on investment. And I would have been going to the rally telling everyone what great customer service I got, instead of "better check your trailer".

 

[22R]

My repair was under $500 locally. You know Allison's cost to repair would have been less, and that's all it would have taken to insure that a repeat customer stayed a customer in the future. A few hundred now to sell another $75k boat in a few years is a heck of a return on investment. And I would have been going to the rally telling everyone what great customer service I got, instead of "better check your trailer".

True Dat !! Hard to understand their thinking IMO.

22R

 

[Allyfishing]

Neal, how did you get the hull lifted off the bunks to work on them. I intend to shim mine up as well for I too have too much weight on my rollers. In fact, the second one back from the yellow roller has the center busted out of it and its just hangin on the rod. Just discovered this on Sunday in the parking lot of the boat lanuch.

 

[procomp]

look into Strongback Trailers in Florida, does un real work