Trailer conversions

[kevanf1]

There is also a very similar 'Trailer Manual' from Porter Manuals written by Lindsay Porter (written a lot of Haynes manuals).

http://www.porterpublishing.com/

For some reason the individual links to the manual categories were not working when I looked but they are on Amazon and of course you can do eBay searches.

[bnicho]

I've built and modified trailers myself, it's not too hard.

This was the most recent build:











The bits are pretty cheap here. I get most of my bits from a local place:

http://www.marshall-eng.com.au/index.html

If the trailer weighs less than 750kg gross, is less than 3m long and narrower than the tow car, it doesn't have to be registered. Anything bigger has to be registered but it's only $35 a year and there is no RWC (MOT) inspection for trailers.

Brakes are needed for anything over 750kg gross. My little trailer above is only 140kg tare, 400kg gross. 400 gross is the max a Moke is allowed to tow.

Cheers,

[OneCarefulOwner]

Well, a quick rummage got me the Haynes book for a fiver, posted. Now for some light reading

[kevanf1]

I've built and modified trailers myself, it's not too hard.


If the trailer weighs less than 750kg gross, is less than 3m long and narrower than the tow car, it doesn't have to be registered. Anything bigger has to be registered but it's only $35 a year and there is no RWC (MOT) inspection for trailers.

Brakes are needed for anything over 750kg gross. My little trailer above is only 140kg tare, 400kg gross. 400 gross is the max a Moke is allowed to tow.

Cheers,

Different rules in the UK though We don't have to have trailers registered or tested (at the moment) but if if it 750kg or over then it does have to be braked. There are worrying rumours that over 750kg trailers may have to have their own 'MoT' style test at some future date...

[kevanf1]

http://www.minitrailers.com/tralaw.htm might be of some use. Note that they also mention an as yet to be announced 'MoT' on trailers. I think anybody who uses a trailer needs to keep an eye on this situation.

[Mattcortes]

Next year all new build trailers will need to pass type approval similar to the iva for kitcars. The mot has been threatened for ages.

[kevanf1]

Next year all new build trailers will need to pass type approval similar to the iva for kitcars. The mot has been threatened for ages.

How will they know when a trailer has been built? None (under 750kg load) currently have any form of registration or documentation to show when they were built. If I spruce up my (now) 16 yr old trailer it will look brand new, what will stop the police pulling me over and asking for IVA style documentation. Are we all suddenly going to have to register our trailers? Nice little earner if they are but how on earth will they do it? The logistics of it are mind boggling as there are thousands if not millions of trialers out there dating back decades upon decades.

This could be interesting....

[OneCarefulOwner]

Presumably it can easily be assumed that any trailer being sold new from a dealer will have been built recently... Private build trailers will have to go on the honour system.

[kevanf1]

Presumably it can easily be assumed that any trailer being sold new from a dealer will have been built recently... Private build trailers will have to go on the honour system.

In 20 years time you'll be able to build a 'new' trailer, rough it up a bit and claim you have just brought it out of the old shed where it's been sat for 25 years at your grandad's (who has just died).

The system is massively open to abuse and this means the bureaucrats will know this. This then means they will impose more restrictive rules and of course more expense for those of us who use trailers I guarantee this will not be pleasant..

[Mattcortes]

I doubt the burden of proof will be on home built trailers and as long as they are safe there will be no come back but all new trailers built by trailer manufacturers have to have a name and serial number showing build date and weight limit. The manufacturers also have to show that the can build in sufficiently high numbers exact copies of the design that has passed approval.