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Towing a caravan chassis...

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Old Jan 22nd, 2015, 07:53   #11
green van man
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I think its the total width that is relevant and you need markers no more than 12 inches/30 cm in from the widest point. This may be reflectors but lights are preferred if I recall. Many years since I last built a trailer but essencialy what is on the back of the car must be on the trailer with the exception of a reversing light. If car has rear fog trailer needs it also and if fitted lights must work.

Trailer board £10/15 at motor factors with fog light, get it home then strip it and use the light clusters and reflectors on the trailer when built.

Paul.
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Old Jan 22nd, 2015, 18:03   #12
clarkey1984
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Thanks guys, some sound advice

After three lightboards that either don't work at all or one with a different plug on (presumably 24v as it has our lorrys reg on) I gave up for the day, but I did clear the top of the thing as it still has its ply floor intact, I also chanced on some luminous pink spray paint in the back of a cupboard so did the rear bar of it to help it stand out, I then thought I'd move it to a more sensible area of the yard so it doesn't get crunched (we have a shared yard and skip lorries are in and out all the time, and it's been abandoned on a corner) only to find that the hitched is jammed in the closed position so when you pull the lever up nothing happens, oh fu... Fiddlesticks, so tomorrow I will make a lightboard work, I'll swap the bulbs and the plug on the 24v one if necessary as I know that one does work and hit the hitch with penetrating oil.
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Old Jan 22nd, 2015, 20:53   #13
Rustyfrog
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Clarkey you are working hard for this chassis!

I hope its worth it in the end.
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Old Jan 24th, 2015, 01:10   #14
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Finally managed to get it home, it turns out that despite it being a similarly aged alko chassis to my abbey 5 berther, the hitch on this one has an additional push in button which needs to be in when you lift the handle up, it then goes an extra notch and works perfectly, that'll teach me for trying to hook up at dusk won't it.

I couldn't find a working light board so I did the only thing I could think of, and got a work mate to follow me home, all sorted and ready to start now, and so the spending money for magaluf in June v money for angle and box section to start the build face off begins
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Old May 2nd, 2015, 17:48   #15
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Thought I'd follow up on this project.

As my welding attempts of the past look like it was done by a blind man hanging upside down from a camel, at night, I elected to stick with what I'm used to, good old timber, 2x2 sawn with eased edges is what I chose to use, relitevely cheap and strong enough, I'm not planning on carrying a tonne of sand or anything like that on it so it should be tough enough.

The length that the original caravan floor would have been is 3.2m exactly, and to keep a sensible clearance from the inside of the wheels the width worked out at 1.6m, perfect.

The a frame tapers slightly all the way to the back and came up about 1.7m and the rearmost end so I cut a small slit in both sides and pulled it in square so its 1.6, then bolted the pre constructed frame down, I'll see if the guy over the road will weld along the cut for me so it's nice and strong, I may also get a piece of 2 inch box and get that welded between the 2 arms at the back as well for extra rigidity.

I then realised that in order for my floor to have somewhere to bear down on round the edges ill need to lay the floor on first, then put the sides on afterwards, that'll be 2x2 again and lined inside and out with half inch ply, hmm, the floor...

I originally wanted to use marine ply, but that can be upwards of 100 quid a sheet for the 3/4 inch stuff, and I'll need 3 sheets, bugger that, so now I'm considering using scaffold boards as they're solid timber and 1 1/2 inches thick so strength shouldn't be a problem, and will also work out much more cost effective as well, although I have set out the frame gaps to be 1220mm apart to suit plywood sizes, so I may add a few more cross braces, there is also an extra piece that I'm going to run down the middle from front to back and half lap in as well.

So once I get the boards ill creosote them and the frame so far, fix the floor down and then I'm going to flip it upside down and Shultz/stone guard the whole thing, as I am informed that it's very durable and also sticks to pretty much any material, then it's time for the rest of it to take shape.
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Old Apr 21st, 2018, 22:51   #16
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No work to do on the t4 this weekend, but what with the exceptional weather its finally time to start back up again on operation trailer build, I'd got the floor done last autumn but by mid October I'd run out of enthusiasm.

I chanced upon a 2m square pallet that was being thrown away at work because the bracing on the bottom was all broken and the corners were all smashed, it was made of 2 layers of 18mm plywood so 4 2m x1m sheets in total, and as the trailer measures 1.6m x 3.2m it was perfect for the job, and as I planned to do 600mm high sides I just dropped 100mm off my planning and zipped everything down the middle, 500mm seems ample, and I've also got a sheet left over which is handy.

Then one of my other halfs friends had put a load of old timber on a Freecycle page, we caught them a few minutes before they were about to set off for the tip, mainly consisting of 4x2 and 2x2, it couldn't be any more perfect, I got this far in about 5 hours this afternoon, tomorrow I need to finish the framework to brace it all so it's solid, make the reat door, fit and wire the lights and she'll be ready to tow, I'll ply the inside if I can lay my hands on a couple more sheets of plywood and black bitumen the whole thing over the coming weeks.
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Old Apr 22nd, 2018, 09:50   #17
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Full credit for your ingenuity but please put it on a weighbridge to ascertain the trailer weight. Given the materials used in its construction I fear it may be too heavy for its suspension. Caravans are made from flimsy lightweight materials and their suspension reflects this.

Regards Paul.
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