Carpet for bunks

[coachlaw]

That stuff is probably a lot better than the Academy bunk slicks Coe. Good choice.

There are a lot of things you can do to prevent electrolysis. Some of them are pretty darn involved, like installing sacrificial anodes on your boat below the waterline. This is really for boats that remain in the water for loooong periods of time. For most of us, our boats sadly spend most of their time on the trailer. Salt water is the perfect electrolyte. I don't pretend to understand or explain it all as well as TXSHOCKWAVE (James), but the problem is that the carpet gets wet with salt water and stays wet for a while. Those contact points where the carpet hits the boat are where you are losing aluminum one atom at a time. James said that they have done experiments and this electrical circuit can actually produce as much as 1 volt. Doesn't sound like much, but it keeps doing this for days on end until your carpet is dry. The slicks or boards that Coe is talking about are designed to insulate the boat from completing the circuit. This is not that big of a deal for fresh water vessels, but most of us here are of a saltier breed. Oh, if you use treated lumber on your bunks, the copper in it makes the electrolysis even worse when combined with the carpet.

[gsb]

Switched to the black plastic bunk covers from McClain recently. Very easy to install. Loading and unloading have been easier. Never unhook before your wheels are in the water!

[Swells]

Umm ... are you folks talking about the padding that goes on the rails of your boat trailer?

Bunks? I thought you were having sleepovers or something.

If so, the guys down there are going to 12-inch very hard plastic with countersunk holes in them, which you space on the rails every other foot. The wood and carriage mounting bolts will rot before this stuff has a problem.

Not sure about the screws backing out - the trailer I know with these skid pads is only 2 years old and no screws working out. I guess you could drill a pilot hole and fill it with Loctite before running a S/S screw home if you wanted.

[coachlaw]

We call's 'em bunk boards in these here parts Sammie!

Yeah, I had a couple screws work their ways out a bit. One gave the hull a little scratch. I just keep an eye on 'em now. Takes about 15 seconds to inspect 'em.

[txwhaler 22]

x2 seen it happen in person

Be very careful using something slick on your trailer bunks like teflon. On a steap incline a boat will slide off before you are ready for it to slide off. Especially if you have unhooked the bow hook. Use caution!

AQUA PIMP

[D-I-A]

I install vinyl fences down in galveston and when Ike came in washed one of our fences I went down and got the posts they are a perfect 3 5/16" on the inside walls so I split the posts in half and made that my bunk protector.