Boat Maintenance: January 2021

Maintenance is never-ending for boats, motors, and trailers. When our shop completes service on a boat, we check the tires, wheels, and lights before the customer takes delivery. Trailer axles are a common replacement item for spring-type axles, about every seven years. Torsion axles can last eight to ten years.

Inspection of tires, wheels, lights, wiring, winch straps, safety chains, couplers, and bunk boards should be done annually. Some of the most commonly overlooked items are valve stems. Salt and other minerals are highly corrosive, attacking even valve stems.

Seawater finds its way into the tiniest spaces. When it dries, the crystalline form needs more space than the liquid. Overtime, crystalized salts destroy the bond between the vulcanized rubber and metal inserts of valve stems, and the insert can shoot right out of a freshly inflated tire.   

Check your valve stems regularly, and every time you add air. Any hint of green where the metal meets the rubber is a sign that salts are working to separate the bond, and trouble is around the corner.

Have a great New Year on the water!

Chris Mapp
Coastal Bend Marine | Port O’Connor, TX
CoastalBendMarine.com | 361-983-4841