Trailers

[CLXCraig]

Has anyone made their own trairler?

Are there rules/tests for trailers?

Is it easier/better to make one from wood panels, or metal? and where do you get sheet metal & box section from?

Hope you can help me

Ta, Craig

 

[arseofbox]

Are there rules/tests for trailers?

I looked into it a while back and couldnt find details of any formal qualification / certification tests, although I would expect it to be covered by Construction and Use regulations.

Is it easier/better to make one from wood panels, or metal? and where do you get sheet metal & box section from?

Personally Id rather go for metal throughout as it's behaviour under load is generally easier to understand (wood grain throws up all entity of problems), although Ive seen a fair few that have a metal chassis with a wood load carrying 'box'. But metal joining and general fabrication is less straightforward than wood (e.g.: sheet metal bending and welding are difficult to master!).

Sources for materials are steel stockholders (look in Yellow Pages and Google for online ones) - dont expect small quantities, 'Metal Supermarkets' if you have a local branch are good too for smaller runs. You could also look to reclaim materials from a scrap merchant.

 

[AppleSei]

https://www.fiatforum.com/cinquecento-seicento/199338-cinquetrailer.html

This may be of help

Legislation is due to change so if you are serious about your idea id proceed with it asap, homemade jobs are soon to be clamped down

 

[x Alex x]

i wouldn't bother making my own, my trailor was only £40, metal frame with good wheels and wood, lightboard and stuff, buying the lightboard and tow hook would probably set you back more than that

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

i wouldn't bother making my own, my trailor was only £40, metal frame with good wheels and wood, lightboard and stuff, buying the lightboard and tow hook would probably set you back more than that

What Pikey you get that off of for £40. Thats too cheap!

 

[x Alex x]

What Pikey you get that off of for £40. Thats too cheap!

a bloke out the paper, had a choice of a few, could have had a proper 2 bike trailor for £30 not a crappy one, a one that carries full superbikes! could still get it actualy but i'm skint and don't have a towbar

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

a bloke out the paper, had a choice of a few, could have had a proper 2 bike trailor for £30 not a crappy one, a one that carries full superbikes! could still get it actualy but i'm skint and don't have a towbar

Bloody hell, lol, looks like I'm coming up to near yours when I want to buy a trailer then

 

[balidey]

Best option? Get an old knackered caravan, rip body off. This leaves you wth a good (if its galvanised) chassis, plenty of extra metal to make a framework, the suspension (the most expensive single items to buy if you want to make a trailer from scratch) the hitch, possibly brakes, all the electrics.

And it gets one more caravan off the road

Making a trailer is fairly easy. Just go to a local Halfords, look at a small Erde type trailer. Anything you make WILL be stronger than one of those, so as long as you feel its strong enough, it should be. Good old common sense is a good indicator of if something is strong enough. Remember, YOU are loading it, YOU are pulling it, so if YOU are happy with it then it should be OK.

And it depends what you are after, a trailer for putting some stuff in to take to the tip? A nice looking one for taking on holiday? A heavy duty one to carry a car? Just decide what you want and try and copy an existing one.

There are currently no laws on home made trailers, but that will change, but probably not for the next few years.

 

[rallycinq]

Aye, but naw.

A caravan built since 1982 will have only a very basic chassis that requires the caravan shell to be rigid.

Can be done, but needs strengthening, and welding galvanised is dodgy.

Cheers

SPD

 

[balidey]

A caravan built since 1982 will have only a very basic chassis that requires the caravan shell to be rigid.

Can be done, but needs strengthening

Yes and no, depends what its being used for. I have seen some quite late caravan chassis turned into car transporter trailers with hardly any extra work done at all. You will need to look at the van chassis before deciding if its a good one to use or not

welding galvanised is dodgy.

Good point. Although if welding outside then it shouldn't pose a real problem if done in small amounts

 

[rallycinq]

And it gets one more caravan off the road

Great, means I can sell another new one.

Cheers

SPD

 

[balidey]

comment was meant in jest. I love caravans really.
Its just that old ones can make such good trailers. A friend has made a car transporter, jet-ski trailer, boat trailer from old vans.

Last trailer I personally made was from 2" steel angle for the lower frame, 1" steel angle for the uprights and top frame. Panelled in originally in wood tongue and groove. Took ages to prep and needed yearly work to keep looking good. Few years ago we ripped out the wood and re-panelled it in alloy planks that snap together. Looks good, really strong.

My car trailer was made by someone else, its very light, but old. Its made from (from memory) 3"x2" RHS, not sure on thickness. Simple ramp on the rear, think scaffold boards for wheel runners. Not a patch on a Brian James, but cost about a 10th of the price. And its less of a target to get nicked.

 

[default_user]

I use a home made trailer quite a lot. Me, my dad and my brothers all chipped in to build it with our various skills. We used 40mm x 40mm box section galvanised steel for the main construction and panelled it with plywood sheets. For the axle we used the back axle from a scrap Volvo 340 including the leaf springs. These days if I was to make another one I'd use something like a Corsa van rear axle complete with suspension. The only major skill you really need is welding. I'd be very wary of towing anything just bolted together.

And what's this about new legislation? Sounds ominous. Any links to more information?

 

[AppleSei]

And what's this about new legislation? Sounds ominous. Any links to more information?

someone mentions it in the linked thread, you'll have to look - they seem to be in the know more than me, maybe worth a PM to them?

 

[Focus Owner]

we made out own our of metal
dunno about the rules tho we just did what trailer maker in yard told us to do roughtly

ours is probably made of 3mm thick metal allt he way around
unfortunatally i cant get any pics since its at a mates atmo

tip tho if you use metal and paint it paint it with a soft thick paint then when you hit it it dont remove any paint and just dents

i think my dad said the breaking system on ours could take alot more weight than was neciseery.

getting metal from
try barrots and steel scrappist

50X50 box 6meters may have being 9.5 should cost about 15 quid