crossy67 Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 Hi.I am looking for a trailer but having trouble finding the right one. I may have to revert to plan B, build my own. I know of a UK caravan I could butcher for the chassis, how would I go on with this? Any problems you could for see?Thanks.Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 Our friends made their own. The rest of the story is more than a little frightening as it started to come apart fully loaded on the motorway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anton Redman Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 Main discussions as below. Following a reorganisation the link to the rules is no longer valid.http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/2/2549631/ShowPost.aspx#2549631http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/2250154/ShowPost.aspxhttp://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/2582809/ShowPost.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave21478 Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 I did the same a while back. The price of new trailers is shocking and the state of second hand ones is often very poor so I make my own.1 caravan chassis, cut down at the rear and the A-frame shortened and bent inwards to give my desired overall length. Some 40mm box, some 20mm box, some pine tongue and groove flooring and some ply for the sides, a weekends work and there it is.....[IMG]http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc297/dave21478/short/DSCF0001-4.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc297/dave21478/short/DSCF0002-1-1.jpg[/IMG]No carte gris, but I have plated it at 499kgs max. It is obviously capable of carrying more - however filling it to capacity could get me booked for overloading. No different to any of the new trailers for sale which are also plated at 499kgs but have prominent advertising saying the axle is rated to 850kgs or whatever it may be.[;-)]Ok, its not a modern galvanised effort, but it cost me under €150 in materials, and is significantly stronger than the equivelant new trailer, which would cost about €700 or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachapapa Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 Nice job, well executed!I am always pleased to read your posts, replete with ingenuity and resourcefulness.In fact I sometimes wonder if you are not actually a pole masquerading as a brit.[:P] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 No, Pacha, he's a British-born Pole living in France and thus has adopted all the advantages of the natives of those countries without the corresponding disadvantages.So, he's inventive like a Brit, hardworking like a Pole and er.....careful with his money like a Frenchman (no, don't be offended, French people, I mean knows how to make his money go an awfully long way[:D])Heck, it's Sunday morning and it's too wet for boules and too dreary to accompany OH and dog on their walk so I'm just cooking and vegetating. I'm looking for amusement and hope someone or other will tell a better joke than that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 If I say our friends trailor didn't look anything like Dave's it will be no exaggeration. Chalk and cheese the difference in construction. We got a call saying that they had had a problem on the autoroute miles from us. Off we went, they had gone off abandoning the trailor on the hard shoulder. Quick call from me to tell them that they needed to get it shifted toot de sweet as it was dangerous. They did after argueing a bit............. saying no one would know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachapapa Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 [quote user="sweet 17"]No, Pacha, he's a British-born Pole living in France and thus has adopted all the advantages of the natives of those countries without the corresponding disadvantages.So, he's inventive like a Brit, hardworking like a Pole and er.....careful with his money like a Frenchman (no, don't be offended, French people, I mean knows how to make his money go an awfully long way[:D])Heck, it's Sunday morning and it's too wet for boules and too dreary to accompany OH and dog on their walk so I'm just cooking and vegetating. I'm looking for amusement and hope someone or other will tell a better joke than that one.[/quote]At a loose end.....definitely OT.[:)]If I was to tell you that there was a thriving baroque choir in the middle of tha amazon jungle manned by head shrinking jivaro indian tribesmen who had learnt their repertoire direct from the jesuit missionaries centuries ago. Would you believe me!A recent concert from the quai de branly museum in paris.Enjoy!http://liveweb.arte.tv/fr/video/Moxos_Baroque_indien_Bolivie_Amazonie_San_Ignacio/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 I guess they must have learned their repertoire BEFORE they shrank the missionaries' heads?On a more serious note, I am now getting increasingly vexed that we don't seem able to get arte in the present home and I am just wondering what little man I can get in to sort that out for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pachapapa Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 Arte is one of the base 18 channels provided on the TNT service.Check with a french neighbour as to which TNT channels they can receive.If positive then check the direction of the aerial or aerials; highly unlikely that there are two.If you are receiving the TNT but not Arte then you probably have not retuned your TV or set top TNT box when you moved house.The retune involves reinstalling the TV by initiating the automatic scan option, it will take only 3-4 minutes.When the analogue service was terminated there was some fiddling with the frequencies and the strength of signal.Check your TV manual for details of doing a retune.or synchronisation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 Thanks, Pacha.....coming to my rescue yet again![:)]Will have a go tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 Nice job Dave and may you successfully lug many an overweight cargo in it.The thing which strikes me at first glance though is the handbrake. As this is only required on trailers in excess of 750kg it's a bit of an instant giveaway to a switched on gendarme as my ex neighbour found our to his cost when he got pulled for using his ex UK/Dutch sourced 750kg trailer. Our local gendarmes got him, fined him €90, and told him not to use it again until it was registered which, for the particular model, was effectively impossible as no C of C was available. My new French maufactured twin axle trailer is rated at 500kg yet each axle has a sticker saying 500kg and with the sole addition of brakes is plated at 1000kg - and of course sold at 2x the price. This thinly disguised subterfuge is clearly is a much played game in France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave21478 Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 The brakes are fully functional, but I have a proper weight plate on it saying max 499kgs. Whilst the law states brakes are required for the larger trailers, there is no law saying they cant be used on sub 500kg one either! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 Absoloutely but few if any would bother fitting them to a 500kg trailer potentially marking it out for unwelcome attention [;-)]What is it's unladen weight, it looks quite heavy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 I bought this one sight unseen on E-bay: [IMG]http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff295/jr7man/Trailers/CIMG2632.jpg[/IMG]I had to repair it as the sub chassis containing the running gear was rotten and the wheels and suspension had ripped off of one side.I too intended to make up a 499kg plate but decided against it when I put it on my corner weight scales and found that it weighed 750kg unladen [:-))]I am stumped as to where I can remove even one kg to give it a one kg payload [:(]I suppose that i could remove the brakes [:-))] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 The dimensions of the trailer were definitely misdescribed in the auction and me with my eternal optimism and reading that it was ally construction thought that it was even smaller and lighter than it was, I got a real shock when I turned up to collect it with the biggest Ifor Williams plateau that exists only to find that even without one pair of wheels it was wider than the trailer deck which had underslung wheels.It does indeed have aluminium bodywork, aluminium roller doors front and back and a thin translucent fibre glass top but it is coachbuilt on a massive steel chassis and 2200 kg suspension units, the wheels I think must be military or land rover perhaps, I have never seen such heavy rims.I have in fact lightened with my repairs and by replacing the parquet floor with thinner plywood but it is still a monster and far to big for my tow car even unladen although it tows OK at low speeds with both roller doors open, the frame is so rigid that it does not twist in the slightest.I repaired it on the flatbed trailer, outside and with snow on the ground, the big problem was how to get it off the Ifor trailer as once repaired the wheels were hanging out each side in mid air, I eventually extended the bed with some planks as seen below and used a 12v winch to slowly release it.[IMG]http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff295/jr7man/Trailers/CIMG2569.jpg[/IMG]It remains one of my better punts as it cost £205 and stands me in less than £300.I doubt that i will be able to resell it in France though unless I find another Chancer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickles Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 Yikes! Chancer, that looks to me like the rear bodywork of a chassis-cab van (a la Luton) which has been grafted onto trailer suspension. How wide is it?I have frequently looked at the weights of the van-trailers (eg Indespension) with a view to hiring from time to time - they are quite heavy. An 8' by 5' by 5' Indespension double-axle van trailer which is smaller than yours and has a 2600 Kg GVW comes in at 585Kg empty. An 8' by 5' by 6' single-axle van trailer with a GVW of 1100 kg comes in at 500Kg empty.To get down to anything that can get away without brakes in the UK, you'd need the smallest in their range, an unbraked 750 Kg GVW 6' x 4' x 4' single-axle box van with an empty weight of 240 Kg. I think it is very difficult to self-build a covered trailer and keep the weights down.Mind you, at the price you paid ... it was a bit of a bargain.RegardsPickles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 The body is a little over 3.5m long by 1.8m wide by 2.2 high just under 14m3, add on the wheels which protrude just beyond the mudguards and it is 2.33m wide.It has a sort of welded internal steel frame that hangs just under the roof, a kind of internal roof rack which must add considerably to the weight but is very usefull for tying stuff off to and means that you can actually walk on the roof with a crawler board.I also bought a bargain folding caravan from Ebay that had lost a wheel, that was a real punt as I gambled that by taking enough bits and pieces I could tow it back to do the permanent repairs but it was a long way from home, she turned out to be an absolute jewel and included a virtually unused awning that was not even mentioned in the auction, £200 again [:)]Trouble is it is beginning to look like a trailer park out there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 This one I am particularly proud of:[IMG]http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff295/jr7man/Trailers/CIMG0452.jpg[/IMG]Its my tilting bed motorsports trailer now in storage with the Elan.I was working on an ex farm and spied what appeared to be a single rigid axle agricultural trailer buried in brambles, we pulled it out with a tractor and found that in a previous life it too had been a caravan chassis back in the days well before Alko Kober got onto the scene, the axle was 3" solid steel!!! which I still have, never yet found a use for anything so heavy, the towhitch didnt even lock on the ball, it was just an open cup but the thing was so nose heavy that I managed to tow it home to deccortique the carcass, I did a lot of lightening and fabrication adding ' mini indespension units that I had gathered, I made a tilting drawbar using a 70's side lift car jack and there are a tiny pair ov beaver tails at the rear to extend the bed for loading/unloading. Overall it is remarkably light, even the tyre rack is made from 20mm SHS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 [quote user="Chancer"] This one I am particularly proud of:[/quote]The trailer or the Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious on top of it?[Www] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave21478 Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 [quote user="AnOther"]....What is it's unladen weight, it looks quite heavy.[/quote]Its not that heavy actually. On my local weighbridge it tipped the scale at 210kgs, although that was without the spare wheel and carrier that I made later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crossy67 Posted November 7, 2011 Author Share Posted November 7, 2011 So how heavy can a trailer be? Is the limit 750kg inclusive of load and trailer, meaning for a 499kg payload the trailer needs to be sub 251kg? Am I making sense?[8-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickles Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 [quote user="crossy67"]So how heavy can a trailer be? Is the limit 750kg inclusive of load and trailer, meaning for a 499kg payload the trailer needs to be sub 251kg? Am I making sense?[8-)][/quote]Which limit do you mean?In the UK: the maximum GVW/ MAM (ie trailer plus load) for an unbraked trailer in the UK is 750Kg. Braked trailers can be far heavier than that: the limit then becomes what is allowable for your particular model of car, and if you are a relative youngster, whether you have passed the new trailer test. In France, the important limit is 500Kg MAM, because above that point the trailer needs to have its own carte grise, and I think that you have to have the relevant licence endorsement on your French licence and IIRC a medical certificate from your doctor to say that you are fit to tow (my understanding is that this "medical" consists of a count of limbs and eyes, and the handing-over of a cheque).RegardsPickles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 [quote user="Pickles"] (my understanding is that this "medical" consists of a count of limbs and eyes, and the handing-over of a cheque).RegardsPickles[/quote][:D]Mine also included an in-depth analysis of the various merits and de-merits of Morgans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crossy67 Posted November 7, 2011 Author Share Posted November 7, 2011 I want the trailer to carry under 500kg so it doesn't need a cart grise but what if the trailer comes in at 500kg. I have no idea how heavy the potential chassis will weigh when stripped and by then it will be too late. Is there a limit to what the under 500kg trailer can weigh unladen?Ta Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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