First time with a bunk trailer. One of my side bunks has a pretty good bow to it. Can see daylight and not making contact throughout.
What is the answer here? Replace the bunk? Is there adjustments that can be made?
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First thing I would do is take the boat off and thoroughly inspect the bunk. It might be rotted there, it might not. If the wood is rotten, you’re gonna definitely want to replace it. If it’s not rotted, you might be able to straighten it out again with some leverage from below.
If you travel long distances I maybe would worry about it. If not it will be fine. Roller trailers have been existence for a long time and many are / were under fiberglass boats.
It’s covered in carpet not sure how to inspect it. It’s not soft.
Take the carpet off? Are bunks usually marine grade wood? Wasn’t even sure if it was some type of synthetic
I don’t see anyway to straighten it, other than flipping it over. But then the boat would be on the seam
Are bunks usually marine grade wood?
My bunks are treated boards. I have a Ranger bunk trailer, I think you do too.
They do make bunks that are made of a synthetic material if you decide you want to replace them. They are called Ultimate Bunk Boards. I don’t personally know anyone that has them, but they have good reviews and you won’t ever have to worry about replacing carpet or rotted wood again.
Ok thanks. It is a Ranger Trailer.
I wasn’t sure if this was a DIY job or not. But if it’s a simple as getting a treated board from Home Depot and covering it in carpet I can probably handle that.
The bow is actually worse than it looks in the pic. Really only contacting the hull a few inches on front and back of the board
I would inspect the bunk as listed before. Make sure no lags, bolts, etc are protruding and could damage the boats hull. If the carpet is ripped, it is time to replace the bunk. Might as well do both if you are doing 1. Not a difficult task. If the carpet is intact, the bunk is securely attached to the trailer frame, no wiggle to bunk with boat off trailer and the bow is not terrible, wood is still solid. You will probably be ok to use. Keep an eye on it. Where on the bunk is it bowed?
I would just flip it. You mentioned there was a seam on the opposite side. If it’s a carpet seam and no wood showing and no staples I wouldn’t worry. If wood or staples are exposed I would probably get a new board and carpet.
I have a Ranger trailer also but haven’t experienced what you are dealing with.
The bunk is only going to carry the weight of the boat where the bunk is supported underneath anyway. The fact that it’s not touching in the middle isn’t going to make any difference. It’s not supporting any weight anyway and is only going to conform to the shape of the hull anyway.
If support was needed somewhere in between, the trailer would have additional supports.
It looks like crap but functionally it’s still doing what’s it’s supposed to.
The only thing to worry about is why there is now slack in the board allowing it to bow in the first place. Are those supports bent in toward each other? Are they coming loose from the supports to the point where there is now slack in the board?
The bunk is only going to carry the weight of the boat where the bunk is supported underneath anyway. The fact that it’s not touching in the middle isn’t going to make any difference. It’s not supporting any weight anyway and is only going to conform to the shape of the hull anyway.
If support was needed somewhere in between, the trailer would have additional supports.
It looks like crap but functionally it’s still doing what’s it’s supposed to.
The only thing to worry about is why there is now slack in the board allowing it to bow in the first place. Are those supports bent in toward each other? Are they coming loose from the supports to the point where there is now slack in the board?
I think he’s more worried about the pressure points on the hull than the trailer. But yeah, science.
Correct. There are no other support points. Just the bolts in front and back, nothing in the middle to support the bunk.
It’s about a 10 yrs old trailer/ boat. Just new to me.
I think he’s more worried about the pressure points on the hull than the trailer. But yeah, science.
The pressure points against the hull is exactly the same whether it’s touching the full length or not. There’s only going to be pressure on the hull where it’s supported by the trailer. Especially since the wood is far more flexible than the steel. The wood only distributes the pressure a few inches wider than the actual mounting point. It’s all about how flexible the wood is.
It only takes a few lbs to flex that piece of wood when it’s only supported by two tiny points. That means it can only apply a few lbs to the hull in the middle where it’s not supported.
Just replace it simple.
It’s going to bug you if you don’t.
It would bug me too. 
I’ve been told if you replace with a treated board and carpet make sure you use stainless steel staples.
I tried to delete my comment because you were actually half right, but you’re tracking further off course. If the bunks were more rigid than the hull, then you’d be more correct.
I’d think up a good analogy if I hadn’t soaked up so much “sun” today.
Unless your going to add another trailer support in the middle replacing the board won’t help much. If you really worried bout it you could add an aluminum channel underneath the wood so its doesn’t flex as easy.
Just replaced my bunks about a month ago. One had a bow in it like that. Looked at it without the boat on the trailer and found the board was split in the center. Only thing holding it together was the carpet. Checked the other bunk and found the bolts had rotted out the wood and that bunk was barely attached to the frame. This was on a 4 year old trailer.
Replaced with Ultimate Bunk Boards earlier this summer. So far so good.
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