Trailer

[boydy1989]

Built myself a trailer the last few days.

Using someone elses MIG, wow what a difference... Made me think that maybe my technique isn't aweful, my little tiny cebora is just not up to much...

Also, ran out of gas on my mates (who owns the MIG) bottle, so i brought mine round. Apparently, the same stuff - argoshield light from BOC, but my bottle suddenly made the welds so much smoother, less crackling, less blobs... Any ideas?

Gotta do a bit more to the trailer til its done, going to put some propper lights in it, and straighten the tub, and make a new crossmember.

also going to eventually connect up the axle's drums using a master cylinder I have laying about, so it should be a fully (hydraulic) braked trailer.

Im quite happy with it

 

[boydy1989]

oh yeah and I know it needs some new shocks

 

[rtbcomp]

You won't have much payload if it's unbraked!

I'd do a bit of research regarding hydraulic brakes, I think they may be illegal on a trailer.

 

[boydy1989]

i know unbraked its not a big load, (750 KGs MAM) but ive gotta move house next week so i really needed it rolling...

according to my father (traffic cop) hydraulic brakes are fine on a trailer, but it needs a mechanical hand brake, not using stored pressure. So, ill have to think of something...

Maybe a locking pin or something.

 

[Ducati]

i know unbraked its not a big load, (750 KGs MAM) but ive gotta move house next week so i really needed it rolling...

according to my father (traffic cop) hydraulic brakes are fine on a trailer, but it needs a mechanical hand brake, not using stored pressure. So, ill have to think of something...

Maybe a locking pin or something.

You need to take great care with what you do re. the brakes, as RTB said do some research first.

You will find for them to be effective you will need a hydraulic or spring damped coupling to prevent ' hunting ' on over-run or light braking, especially when fully laden.

Ideally you don't need the trailer brakes to be applied with light braking, only with heavier braking the damper gives a short delay to allow this.

You will need a purely mechanical handbrake system that will hold the trailer on, I think from memory, a 1 in 6 slope.

The handbrake system will also have to incorporate a breakaway system that will apply the brake should the trailer become detached.

You may also be required to have a ' secondary coupling ' ( normally chains ) that in the event of the trailer becoming detached has two functions, one is to keep the trailer attached to the towing vehicle, the second is to prevent the hitch contacting the road and the trailer doing a bit of pole vaulting

Don't want to appear a party pooper for your project which you are doing well with

The problem with home designed brakes and brake systems is that you only know if you have got it right when you really need them

One other small point, do the hubs / backplates you are using have both means of applying the brakes ie hydraulic and mechanical or are they hydraulic only because the donor vehicle had a transmission brake ?

 

[boydy1989]

interesting points.

the drums currently are hydraulic only, but i have some schemes in mind to investigate to rectify this.

the hitch on it is a spring damped coupling already, so I hope ill b ok there.

interestingly, with those tyres on it the payload will only be a bit over a ton anyway, allowing for a safety margin.

 

[madkayaker]

i'm doing simply resurch at the moment as i'm about to build a sanky trailer (have tub, hitch, landy axle and hubs and break cylinder) the only info i had found was not helpful by sankey trailers are hydrilic braked as was the AA recovery trailer when the missus was recovered and that had no handbrake et alone a machinical one! my other idea was to use the handbrake cylinder from a series transferrer box and there the same size and operation as a series break drum cylinder

 

[boydy1989]

thats very interesting to know, that was one of the options i was considering.

ive found this

http://www.towitall.co.uk/law/trailers/brakes.aspx

which outlines dates and what you actually need, etc, which makes for interesting reading.

 

[madkayaker]

fitting the parking brake might be intersting. or is the rear hubs you useing twinn cylinders and you replace one cylinder with a cable operated jobby

 

[boydy1989]

i was wondering if I could remove the adjuster on the backplate and fit the mech actuator there, as I can't imagine the wear rate of the shoes will be significant...

 

[rtbcomp]

I've added that link to the Links section.

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?p=195257#post195257

 

[Ducati]

i was wondering if I could remove the adjuster on the backplate and fit the mech actuator there, as I can't imagine the wear rate of the shoes will be significant...

Then how would you initially set up the drum to shoe distance ?

 

[rtbcomp]

Rear brakes on a Landy axle are single leading shoe with a double-ended slave cylinder.

Don't know about the later ones, but the Series brakes have snail-cam adjusters, rather than an adjuster at the opposite ends to the slave cylinder.

 

[madkayaker]

i would be interted to see how sankeys do it. i must confess to have never seen in the hubs on one. what about useing a cable sytem with a cone that pulls agenst a big spring and the cone pusses the shoe agenst the hub in place of the adjuster for the handbrake

 

[rtbcomp]

Then how would you initially set up the drum to shoe distance ?

Do what Volvo do and set the adjustment on the brake cable at the lever end. You'd need a Bowden cable though, rods & standard cables may operate the brakes as the suspension rises & falls.

 

[rtbcomp]

i would be interted to see how sankeys do it. i must confess to have never seen in the hubs on one. what about useing a cable sytem with a cone that pulls agenst a big spring and the cone pusses the shoe agenst the hub in place of the adjuster for the handbrake

Girling mechanical brakes upto the early post-war period work like that, the shoe springs are sufficient to retract the actuator when the brakes are released.

 

[boydy1989]

I was probably going to use a bowden cable for the mech brake anyway, as they seem more sensible to me.

The Sankey brakes use a square pyramid shaped adjuster, which you wind in and out to adjust them.

rtbcomp, the later drums also have a snail adjuster, right up until discs were fitted.

I like the idea of the volvo style adjustments though, especially as coil sprung landy hand brakes use a cable operated expander, so this could be the way to go...

 

[madkayaker]

i was planing to use the handbrake expander when i do mine as the nato hitch i have is designed for cable operation

 

[boydy1989]

which hitch have you got for yours?

 

[madkayaker]

i looks alot like a peak caravan hitch with a nato on! its not the long thin one you normally see