Rubber padding for my canoe trailer

[Feathers]

Last summer, after unsuccessfully searching for a canoe trailer locally, I purchased an old boat trailer to turn into a canoe trailer. I've got it mostly done but right now I just have some indoor/ outdoor carpet wrapped around the bars for padding. I don't like the idea of the carpet for long term as I'm worried about it holding moisture for too long next to the steel. I saw some nice pro-made trailers at Canoecopia and they had some rubber padding material that looked great. I have 1 1/2" bars on the trailer and I'm having a difficult time finding something like those trailers had. Any ideas on where to locate something like this?

Thanks for any help!

 

[Dan Lindberg]

Tim,

Do you have bars or tubes? round or square?

Foam insulation at Menards? The round stuff that goes on water pipes?
or
Hi density foam sleeping mats, but you'll have to figure out a way to hold them on the supports,

Personally I like carpet, as it seems to have more "cushion" than the foam at M's and more durable than the foam.

Dan

 

[pklonowski]

Carpet holds water very well, so the concern is quite valid. So does old fire hose -- I have proof! Foam insulation will wear through pretty quickly... at least, the stuff I tried did.

The rubber extrusions on the trailers at Canoecopia are probably purpose-made, to fit the aluminum or galvanized extrusions that are the structural parts of the trailers you saw, and do provide some cushioning. The overall quality looked good to me; I do have a concern about black rubber coming off on wooden gunnels, and looking bad. I don't know that that would happen, but some clear plastic tubing, 1-1/4" ID or so, slit down one side, and wrapped onto the gunnels, seems to take care of that on my current trailer & roof racks. It works, so I go with it... though other ideas are welcome!