Another trailer project

[silversurfer]

Trailer

And please dont forget that you will still be governed by the ORIGINAL gross weight, should be on the plate, but on that van only around ONE ton gross weight. Its a bit too easy to overload a trailer of that size !!! Wish you luck

 

[mich]

Hi Chaps!


its been a while since the last update cause I was really busy with the trailer and work and trying to spend time with my girlfriend as well, so I had no time left over to update the thread. But fear not, progress has been made and I haven't decided to abandon the project.

A quick word of warning for anyone drawing inspiration from these photos. Be warned! It takes a lot more time and energy that you might think to do this kind of thing. And also keep in mind that her indoors might get ****** off for not seeing you anymore for 1 and a half months. You might end up sleeping in the garage for a while... I have to admit that I have been getting quite stressed about the trailer, because of work, and private commitments which all had to be honored too, so it all got a bit too much at one point. But its getting better now that most of it is done. Just keep that in mind and don't set yourself to tight a deadline.

I also noticed that you guys were discussing weight allowance and stuff. I had my own concerns about that so I did some research online and uncovered a site dedicated to the Thompson caravans. http://www.gtfavouritecaravanparks.co.uk/thomson/1970brochure/1970glendale.htm. As you'll see from the link the maximum gross weight for that chassis is 850Kg. So If you're planing to build a trailer that can carry more than say 500-600kg, you should be looking at buying a longer caravan, with higher weight allowance. Do your research before you buy the chassis tho!

Now. Here's some photos:

That's the trailer flipped over onto its underside. I cleaned the chassis rails in the same way as the top parts and then coated it in rust preventing paint. Pink was the only colour they had left in the shop!




Coat of black Hammerite on top of the rust prevention stuff...


Trailer flipped back over and offered up the mudguards to start welding the mounts to the chassis.


As you can see in the next 2 photos, good penetration *is* possible with gasless wire, but you have to turn the welder right up. Not ideal. And the splatter can be a right pain in the ****!




Then started to fit the length-wise supports. That's all 40x40x4 angle iron.




The rest of the pictures speak for themselves

 

[mich]

That's how I made the tailgate. I just used bits of 16x16x3mm angle iron for it. Squared up by eye!













That's after the 2nd coat of black Hammerite. Time and the weather really didn't play ball so it took me a while to get the 2 coats done.




Water and more water.... pain in the ****.


That's the last coat of paint. Its Hammerite with Waxoil. Its *really* water repellent, as you can see from the photo. Should keep the rust off for a while and works great as stone chip.


Today's work: Lights mounted, wired in and all tested. A trailer of this width apparently needs a fog light on the right. Gotta buy a number plate light as well and mount that.


What's left to do:

* - Repair the metal rod that connects the two hitch to the brake system. Its corroded beyond use and can no longer be adjusted, so I need to replace the rod and the turnbuckle.

* - Clean and re-paint tow hitch

* - Cut to size, and mount wood to side panels. Then paint with varnish.

* - Buy OSB, cut to size, paint and fit.

* - New rims and tires. New Jockey wheel.

THATS IT!!!

 

[SC_BK]

Today's work: Lights mounted, wired in and all tested. A trailer of this width apparently needs a fog light on the right. Gotta buy a number plate light as well and mount that.

IIRC you also need front position lamps if the trailer is over 1.8m wide, and that looks just over that number.

Reverse lamps are useful to have too! I have them on 2 of my trailers, and the box also has worklamps, LED interior lighting, and a rear view camera

Don't forget of course you need 2 rear red triangle reflectors, and extra reflectors on the front/sides are a bonus

 

[mich]

IIRC you also need front position lamps if the trailer is over 1.8m wide, and that looks just over that number.

Reverse lamps are useful to have too! I have them on 2 of my trailers, and the box also has worklamps, LED interior lighting, and a rear view camera

Don't forget of course you need 2 rear red triangle reflectors, and extra reflectors on the front/sides are a bonus

Thanks for bringing that up!

Just had a look and found the following on: http://www.ntta.co.uk/law/trailers/lights.htm

=============================================
All trailers built after Sept 30th 1990 require front reflectors. They must have front reflectors and, if they are more than 1.6 metres wide, front position lights.

and

Certain trailers must have side position lights which show white to the front and red to the back. In addition, trailers over certain lengths must have amber side reflectors.
=============================================

So I'll have to fit some front and back position lights. I have all the reflectors for the back and the side. Gonna fit them to the wood, once its mounted.

 

[SC_BK]

Yeh I never bothered with front position lights on my caravan chassis trailer as they're only ever towed by my vans which are wider anyway

 

[Justme]

Just a few comments

Nice work
Would have been quicker to build one from scratch
Trim one of those tail gate hinge pins by 1/2" or so. Then its much easier for one person to re fit it if you take it off.

 

[mich]

Hi Chaps,


another night, another dollar... I built a new brake rod last night and cleaned and mounted the towhitch back onto the trailer. All greased-up and has now got its first coat of black hammerite.

 

[white van man 2]

don't forget a number plate light too! does the tailgate clear those rear lights ok?

 

[mich]

don't forget a number plate light too! does the tailgate clear those rear lights ok?

Yup, number plate lights ordered and on their way. And yes, the tailgate does indeed clear all the lights. The way the hinges are mounted it just swings 'around' the lights and misses them

 

[pidgeon chit welder]

Would an intermediate support on the longest length of the brake rod at mid point etc be advantageous to stop the rod blouncing and eventual fretting of the rod thread & adjustor eyes like seems to have happened on the original rod ?

I seem to recall that lots of trailers have a simple bracket with a hole to suit a 20 mm electric back box grommet . The brake rod is passed through the grommet whichk is fitted in the 20 mm hole and ablob grease is applied on the friction bit area.

 

[Paul.]

Would an intermediate support on the longest length of the brake rod at mid point etc be advantageous to stop the rod blouncing and eventual fretting of the rod thread & adjustor eyes like seems to have happened on the original rod ?

I seem to recall that lots of trailers have a simple bracket with a hole to suit a 20 mm electric back box grommet . The brake rod is passed through the grommet whichk is fitted in the 20 mm hole and ablob grease is applied on the friction bit area.

When it was a caravan it would have had a piece of webbing strap looped round it and nailed to the wooden floor to take the bounce out of it.

 

[Justme]

You will want a pair of lock nuts on that brake rod adjuster to stop it working loose / tight.

 

[mich]

When it was a caravan it would have had a piece of webbing strap looped round it and nailed to the wooden floor to take the bounce out of it.

Ahh! That's what that piece of fabric was around the brake rod!!

Many thanks for that advice BTW, I'll have a look into securing it again. And the turnbuckle does have a lock nut, but only one at the moment. I've not been able to find an M12, reverse thread nut yet. Need to have a look around.

 

[white van man 2]

I've not been able to find an M12, reverse thread nut yet. Need to have a look around.

http://www.boltmeup.com/m12-stainless-left-hand-lh-12mm-thread-full-nuts-4-pcs-1786-p.asp

 

[mich]

Hi Chaps,

not much to show physically in terms of updates, because I haven't fitted the wood yet, but I have done a number of other things. I finished the wiring now, fitted a new plug to the trailer, cause the old plastic plug was a gonna, fitted new jockey wheel, fitted the 2nd left hand threaded nut to the brake rod, painted the tow hitch and then spent 2 evenings trying to iron out a weird electrical issue where the rear lights on the trailer would all short to earth... I traced that down eventually to the little "beep, beep" box that sits in the back of the car and beeps whenever the indicators come on. I had to rip that thing out and wire everything in directly.

The last photo shows a mockup of how the wood will look once its done. I've de-nailed the old caravan floor, which is nice and dry and solid, and I'm using that. Recycling! I'll see if I can get the sidewalls all done this weekend. I hate working out there at night for hours on end. Its a bit depressing when it still gets dark so early....

 

[oz.]

That is what in my area would be described as "Tidy, like"

 

[mich]

Hello Chaps!

quick update on the status of the project. Managed to get all the wood for the sidewalls cut and painted. Twas a lot quicker than I had envisaged.

Cleaned and varnished the original badges that were on the trailer and stamped the new Gross Weight plate as well. Waiting for the varnish to dry now on the wood so I can mount it permanently. Then all that's left will be mounting the reflectors, the marker lights, number plate and the floor! Not long now!!

 

[madkayaker]

is a date plate a requirement?

 

[Paul.]

Nice job mich, the Thomson plate is irrelevant now, that applied to the original body and identified it as a 1971 Thomson Glendale, van no 256, the chassis looks a bit older probably 1967 if I read it right, that was quite a common occurrence in those days,
I like the last picture, It looks as if you just bought it from Ikea