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Guide-on posts make it easy to load your boat onto your trailer and back your trailer down the ramp. They clamp to the rear of your I-beam trailer frame and extend out of the water, providing visual targets to center the boat between during loading.
Features:
Specs:
Note: Check with your state Department of Transportation for restrictions regarding maximum trailer width.
Guide Your Boat Into and Out of the Water with Ease
When your boat trailer has been backed down the ramp and is partially submerged, these 75-inch-tall guideposts that are mounted on the rear corners of the frame will stick out of the water, giving you two highly visible targets to guide your boat between for loading. The PVC posts also provide a visual aid to help you back your boat trailer down the ramp when you're unloading and loading your boat.
Installation
The posts are simple to install. Slide the PVC posts over the galvanized steel support posts. Then use the included I-beam clamps to mount the posts on the top or below the trailer's I-beam frame, as close to the rear corners as possible. Adjust the posts so that the distance between each post and your boat is less than 1 inch.
Pre-Galvanized Steel
Pre-galvanized steel parts are stamped from a sheet of steel after it has already been galvanized. The edges of pre-galvanized parts often lose their zinc coating during the stamping process. Because of the thinness of the coating (less than 1 mm) and the fact that the edges remain exposed, pre-galvanized parts can begin to oxidize and rust quickly, so it's recommended that they be primed and painted.
Customer Satisfaction Score:
95% were satisfied with this product
5% of customers were not satisfied
Ratings & Reviews
Package arrived damaged but the guides were not harmed. Guides/hardware are very rugged and I believe they’ll meet my expectation when I’m able to install and use this spring.
Very heavy duty. Longest clamp bolts were still too short for our Easy Loader I beam trailer. The need to be primed and painted is puzzling for a product that is designed to be immersed in water.
The I-beam clamp kit was very easy to install and adjust to the trailer and boat. They seem very robust and while only using them a few times so far I think they will hold up very well and work perfectly to guide the boat on the trailer. Great product!
CE Smith I beam bracket design was a must due to the size of my aluminum boat trailer. However the I beam brackets needed slight modification, and the hardware (bolt) were 3/4" to short.
Awesome makes loading boat effortless.
etrailer has been my-go-to source for all my boat trailer needs. Their parts have always coordinated with my equipment and their tech advice has been helpful. Ordering is easy and convenient and delivery prompt. You guys are time-savers and problem-solvers. Thanks.
We love the boat trailer guides we purchased. They were so easy to install and they make loading the boat so much easier! Thank you for a great product!
I ordered a set of ce smith boat trailer guiding post via phone, instead of online, because I had specific questions about the product prior to purchasing. My specific questions were answered by Heidi M who was familiar with the product. She took my CC information and processed the order successfully. I received the product via USPS free shipping (purchase was more than 99$) on-time as promised. This is my first time doing business with etrailer, overall I am very satisfied with etrailer service, website and personnel. Will definitely purchase from etrailer again, based on my positive experience, will recommend etrailer for friends and others.
I haven't used the guide-ons yet, but it looks like they will do the job perfectly. I was thinking about making my own guides, as I did on a small aluminum boat trailer, but decided to get the CE Smith guides instead. After paying the high prices for all the parts needed, I would have wound up with inferior guides, and would have wasted a few hours making them. Also, some welding would have been needed. Too much work to justify making them. Price was right at etrailer, so it was a no-brainer.
I am very pleased with the trailer guides and the installation went well until I found that the inside diameter of one of the PVC pipes was almost one eighth inch more narrow than it should be. This pipe did not fit over the steel post of either guide. I ended up using a grinder to grind down just enough of all four sides of one steel post guide to allow the PVC pipe to slide down. This problem could have been found before shipping by simply trying out the fit before it was boxed. I have been pleased with e-trailer for previous purchases and am pleased with the delivery and overall quality of these guides; however, I should not have had to make major modifications in order to compensate for a manufacturing defect.
Installed this on my manic tilt trailer that sits a 2005 Four Winns 194 Funship. The trailer is a pain to load this boat from the water. I purchased these in hopes it would make it better by allowing me to better judge how far to pull the trailer in and give me a reference to know when the boat was centered on the bunks. It installed in the matter of a 30 minutes which included taking it out of the box and my helper was 10 yrs old. They seemed a little wobbly it ended up sturdy during towing and turns out you want them to be forgiving when loading the boat. They worked out perfectly as I’m now able to know when the boat is centered, no more out and in to adjust the boat for center!!
Shipped fast and installation was very straightforward.
The trailer has been outstanding and I have towed my boat from Florida to Washington state and back and all over Washington State. The only problem I have with it is the surge brake which is manufactured in Atlanta. The diaphragm that keeps the outside air out of the brake fluid and is supposed to be glued to the filler cap keeps coming adrift and when it does that, the brake fluid squirts out of the breather hole. The manufacturer has been quite helpful and gave me two more caps, but the problem continues. So I travel with three caps and a tube of superglue! The brake fluid probably breaks down the glue. I check it daily when I am on the road and two caps are used for the 3300 mile trip to the far corners of the Nation.
Great addition
So easy to load a big boat on trailer in any condition
The clamps are galvanized and rugged. Two bolt lengths were provided so I had a wide I-beam I wouldn't be off to the hardware store. My 3" I-beam used the shorter bolts and they included washer and nylon insert lock nuts. The 90 degree bend metal box tubes are also rugged; didn't measure the wall thickness, but its certainly stiff enough for the job. PVC pipes and caps included. Probably took me 15 minutes to install and that's because I was fussy with the gap I wanted between the PVC pipe and the rub rail on the boat. The only blemish is that the tubes have black marks on them most likely from shipping as the metal box tubes are shipped loose they can bang around and mark up the PVC pipes. The hardware is bagged so there is very little chance of coming up short on the hardware. The tubes are long, and I do mean long, but with some of the steep boat launch ramps I use having that added length is a lot better than coming up short.
Overall, it's a quality item and if you want all white pipes, be prepared to clean them up when you are ready to install them. Try some naptha first and if that doesn't do it, go to a mild ScotchBrite pad. I have not yet launched or retrieved my 20' Key West with these trailer guides in place, but I expect no problems whatsoever.
The guides work well and seem to have a solid mounting system. Three things that I think would make them better is hot dip, galvanized tubes, stainless steel hardware and bolts to hold the PVC onto the tubing.
Great. Easy installation for I-beam trailer. Instructions were easy to follow.
I have had the posts on my trailer for about a year now. I installed them per instructions and tightened the clamp bolt. They have fallen off twice in that time. I believe the problem is the bolt itself. It is a partially threaded hex bolt, with about 1" of shoulder before the threads begin. The nut will run up all the way and "bottom out", so I may not be able to achieve the maximum clamp force. I will drill holes in the I-beam and use square U-bolts. Other than that, I lost a cap very early on, so make sure to glue them on.
Very helpful
I got the 75 inch guide post with I beam clips and they were super easy to install and I couldn’t be more happy with the product. Amazing customer service of etrailer. They were very helpful on getting you information and making sure the product you order gets to you in a timely manner. The product you see in the picture is the product you will be getting.
Very happy with guide on post! The brackets fit my huge 7.5 x 4.5 I beams on my trailer! This trailer hauls a 2001 Sea Ray 280 Sundancer that is 31.9 ft long and 9.5 feet wide. This kit works perfect and came with all the hardware I needed!
Very simple installation. It took maybe 20 minutes. Seemingly good solid construction. Went on my 4" I-beam trailer no problem.
My only complaints are that the PVC came scratched up from rubbing metal parts inside the shipping box. Some protection in packaging would have been nice.
Also, and I'm not sure this matters, the posts lean slightly in once installed. Meaning they stick out farther at the base than they do at the top. For my boat I would have liked to have them lean slightly outwards to hug the boats profile. Either way, I'm going to see how they work this next weekend and if its a problem I will bend the metal posts out slightly.
Still a 5 star review for now!
great quality, the top pvc close out pieces came broken.
I'm putting lights up top so don't need them.
No holes to run the wires for the upper lights
These guide-ons are a great product. They were easy to install and rugged enough to guide on my 24ft SeaPro
Kate F.
10/8/2025
Install looks great William, glad we had the right guides for you to get you back on the trailer safely. What body of water are you mainly going out on? We have a Ranger and spend a lot of time on the Lake of the Ozarks, and Mark Twain Lake here in Missouri.
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Chris M.
7/7/2017
Been a year with a dozen launch and retrievals will never have another boat on a trailer without them. Absolutely no problems with the hardware easy to adjust even after a year in and out of salt water and the amount of flex in the tubes is just right to keep the boat aligned on the trailer without impact. Excellent.