Trailer breakdown

Why are we all worrying about trailer breakdowns? The law now says that all trailers must carry a spare wheel I believe, although I find it hard to believe that anyone would travel any distance without one, law or no law.

Honestly, what can go wrong with the average trailer? Most dinghy trailers are unbraked, so no coupling or cable problems. All that's left is wheel bearings and tyres. If you grease and adjust the wheel bearings at the start of each season they will last for many years, and cost tuppence to replace anyway. Replace tyres when you start to see tiny cracks in the sidewall or tread - you'll never wear them out, the rubber will perish first - and keep them at the correct pressures.

That just leaves the chassis itself, and if you're towing your pride and joy around on a rusted-out trailer you've only got yourself to blame!

Virtually all recovery organisations will recover a roadworthy trailer if your car breaks down. Certainly the RAC will. I can see their point with trailer breakdowns, why should they commit an expensive bit of kit like a recovery truck to picking up something as simple to fix as a trailer? Especially as 99.99% of trailer breakdowns are probably due to lack of maintenance. And yes, most trailer punctures are down to lack of maintenance. Do you know how old your trailer tyres are? Would you drive your car on 10 year old rubber? Look round the boat park at the next Open you go to, and I'd bet that at least 25% of the trailers there have perished/underinflated/misshapen or just plain ancient tyres.

Think what you spent on your boat, then find out what a pair of tyres for your trailer costs. Add the cost of a new set of wheel bearings and a wheelbrace, then work out what the 2 hours sitting by the side of the road waiting for the "very nice man" is worth to you. Spend that 2 hours doing a pre-season service on your trailer and you'll never have to wait for the "very nice man"

Any views on fixing the spare onto the trailer base?  I recently got a new spare from Northampton sailboats (brilliant service & v. cheap), but don't have a means of fixing it the base, so it bounces around the boot, and could be accidentally left at home.  I take it there aren't any problems with just getting some bolts etc and attaching it to the road base?

WildWood - you have to be a bit careful to mount the spare so that the tyre doesn't rub on the trailer chassis, otherwise when you need the spare you might find it useless! Towsure - probably Indespension too - supply a bracket you can bolt or weld to the trailer to hold the spare.

Depends, normally 8" but some are 10". It depends on where the road base came from.
Had a quick google search but the only one Trident UK do comes with 8". Best to wait till later or email RS, they are very helpful.