small, lightweight car trailer wanted,
to carry a locost / pug 205 trackday car.
Cheers
Ray
Me too!
If your looking for a new trailer let me know your required specs and I can send you a quote and a drawing.
Me three.
There must be a market for a trailer the same size, style and capacity as the Brain Jomes Minnow, without the cost. My BEC Indy just fits on a
Minnow.
Gross capacity 1380 Kg
Load capacity 1005 Kg
Body length 3.37m (11ft 0in)
Body width 1.65m (5ft 5in)
Overall length 4.57m (15ft 2in)
Overall width 2.03m (6ft 8in)
Anyone do a book "now you've build your own sportscar for £250, build a trailer for £100"?
Mike
Try Woodford Trailers.
Got a single axle trailer with ramps that slide in under the bed and complete with wheel rack for about half what Brian James wanted.
Also, when I picked the trailer up, they told me that they used to make the Brian James Trailers when they were next door.
I like the single axle trailer as its much easier to move around by hand without the need to jack the front wheels off the ground like you have to do
with a 4 wheeler!
Cheers
Mike
I've been refurbing an old trailer for the past year or so. Cost will be alot more than £100
With hidsight I'd have bought a secondhand Brian James one for £500ish.
I know a person or two on the lookout for cheap small double axle trailers, definately a market for them.
I wouldn't trust a single axle with my pride and joy incase it got a puncture or worse.
Ned.
Yeah, c'mon guys. With all the car designing thats going on on here, surely someone can come up with some plans for one ? (including donor parts
to keep cost down etc.)
Just remember that it is now illegal to build any trailer that uses reclaimed parts. The suspention and brakes must all be purpose made for the job
and not sourced from the scrappy. (although not many plod would be arsed to grovel in the gravel to check)
these chaps gave me a very competitive quote for complete axels.http://www.alstontrailers.co.uk/
Been looking into trailers a bit. This seems a good deal for £150.
Wheels x 2, 2 x 750kg suspension units, jockey wheel, tow hitch and breakaway cable.
Link to ebay here
If I could make the chassis and ramps weigh 250kg could I put my Indy on it?
Does anyone know if it would have to have brakes / over run brakes?
Cheers
Mike
mike you can only tow 750kg unbraked! Anyway you need to make it bigger than that to get my citroen home 
this relates to the weight overall:
quote:
Category B:
Vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes MAM and with up to 8 passenger seats
Category B vehicles may be coupled with a trailer up to 750kgs MAM (allowing a combined weight up to 4.25 tonnes MAM) OR a trailer over 750kgs MAM provided the MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen weight of the towing vehicle, and the combination does not exceed 3.5 tonnes MAM.
Just checked my own car's towing capacity (Audi A4):-
Max. Towing Weight - Braked 1700
Max. Towing Weight - Unbraked 730
So 500 kg Indy plus 230 kg trailer would be OK?
Mike
raceleda hubs on the trailer, sorted 
on a serious note, yes, i believe you are ok with that. Its unlikely a traffic cop is going to weigh the trailer, if you appear to know the law he
will likely believe you that it weighs right.
However, 750kgs is a lot to haul around unbraked - legal or not, is it a good idea?! no idea myself, but i would look into the price difference to see
if it is worth the risk. Someone also pointed out the single axle risk, consider that too.
I read somewhere that you can get tyres in two segments, so that a puncture doesnt result in total deflation
[Edited on 22/10/05 by JoelP]
a two axle set up from towsure would come to £164, with an additional £60 for 4 wheels. Add to that maybe £50 of metal, and you're off! infact,
im tempted myself
(su51x2(350kgs suspension),s14x2(two axle mounting plates, could be skipped), cheapest jockey wheel (ton rated) and cheapest hitch (750kgs rated))
[Edited on 22/10/05 by JoelP]
I think £50 for metal is very optimistic, a trailer requires a fair amont of decent size box section and sheet for the deck.I was going to scratch
build one but ended up going the caravan chassis route and strengthening with some 40x 80 mm box and a welded on deck , i got the box from a scrapyard
and had the deck plates cut and folded from 2mm.The chassis had a manufacturers plate on it and was old enough to avoid any problems with construction
and use regs .
The good thing about caravan chassis is that they come with a braked towing hitch etc which is expensive to buy new.
It was a two wheel trailer and towed really well.There are some pics of it in my photos.
Paul.
quote:
Originally posted by JoelP
a two axle set up from towsure would come to £164, with an additional £60 for 4 wheels. Add to that maybe £50 of metal, and you're off! infact, im tempted myself
(su51x2(350kgs suspension),s14x2(two axle mounting plates, could be skipped), cheapest jockey wheel (ton rated) and cheapest hitch (750kgs rated))
[Edited on 22/10/05 by JoelP]
I've found a caravan breakers in Oldham. He wants between £35 and £60 per chassis! Hmm donor
Ebay
Anyone know the rules / regs on conversions?
Mike
The major problem with single axle trailers and punctures is that the tyre parts company with the wheel. I have experienced this very thing twice,
whilst towing a boat on one occasion and a caravan on another.
There is a product on the market called a "tyreon band" which fits round the wheel centre, stopping the tyre from parting company with the
wheel.
Very effective in the video's of it in use .
750 kilos on an unbraked trailer is quite a handfull and I would not recomend people inexperienced in towing to even think about it. especially with a
small car as the tow vehicle.
As a point of interest the max recomended towed weight is 85% of the towing vehicles kerbside dry weight. Even with a braked trailer. Irrespective of
the manufacturers max towable weights.
1. Its Complete Towed Unit = 750Kgs... ie Trailer + Load, not just the load of 750Kgs. Above this you need brakes.
2. Anything over 750Kgs needs brakes.
3. Also remember to Tow anything over 750Kgs... You YOUNG 'Uns MAY need to take the towing test. (Passed Driving licence after a certain date
'93 or 97 comes to mind) you will need to check this. Caravan Club website is a good source of info on Towing.
Most caravans come with braked wheels.
Also remember if you are buying a Caravan chassis...It WAS a Caravan. Check the chassis / CRIS number to see it isnt stolen. Lots of Vans dissapear of
peoples drives, and end up being scrapped in surroundings simmilar to those in the photos.
All I am saying is do the checks, ensure you are covered by your licence, and what you are buying is not hot.
If your Locost weighs in at less that 750kgs... WHY put it on a trailer? Just use an A Frame. Braking is not required for less than 750Kgs.
I DO AGREE... It can be a handfull.
Dont Exceed 85% of the Towing vehicles weight... Its OK until you get into difficulties. (been there) and NOT funny on a Motorway with Coaches coming
past, as their Bow Wave, WILL throw you a couple of feet to the side.. Dead Scary.
Use as heavier car as possible to keep the weight ratio down.
Now you know why I drive a Land Rover
i was snaking big time a few months ago, that was a 406 pulling a sierra on a big trailer. Got to 60mph and a wobble started (as i overtook a lorry),
there was no stopping it. Ended up in a bit of a feedback loop, wildly swerving as the trailer was essentially steering me, with my inputs echoing
back bigger each time! Regained control by braking onto the hard shoulder.
In future, id not exceed 50mph.
I'm never sure on this one!!
What is the max I can tow with my Sierra XR4x4? (which weighs 1325kg)
My trailer is 485kg unladen, and I tow it with cars of up to 1300kg on it. This obviously means I am towing 1785Kg on the back of a 1325 kg car, is
this legal?
I assume it must be as cars towing cars on trailers are commonplace. I assumed I could tow anything up to the GTW on my Sierra's VIN plate, as
long as it didn't exceed 3500kg total mass???
Also means I ought to get the trailer brakes working, which is awkward as the hubs , drums etc are no longer serviced parts and nobody does
replacements so I need new units!!!
Those estimates above omit the cost of an anti lock reverse hitch. £120-£150. And a pair of anti lock reverse braked hubs will be another £120.
ItIS illegal to build a new trailer without the brakes and such, but how do they know when it was built?
I went through this with DVLA and vosa recently. As there is no check on trailers, they have no build dates. If you've just refurbished your old
trailer with a coat of paint, and it looks new, how can they tell the age anyway?
So, those old Metro hubs are still useful, and better still, mk3 on escort. A friend has just built one with Mondeo hubs and brakes.
I can get my hands on trailer parts at really good prices, if I can be of assistance. I'll post prices when the new catalogue gets to me, if
anyone is interested.
on the traffic cop issue, well there,s a story,we built a 4wheel trailer fully breaked etc, my mate rash got pulled and made to off load the car he
had on and was taken to a weight bridge...........
we then had to make a plate for the trailer with a manufacturers name and
trailer weight..........
as for the build plans we used the indespension catalogue it used to give
details on trailers with drawings,just copied one of theirs............
have a look at this site
http://www.indespension.com/trailers.htm
hope the link works
couple of trailer pics with seven style cars
on + free catalogue
Your Car Hand Book will give you a figure for the "Maximum Braked Trailer Towing Limit".
This is the figure you need. Its the Max amount you can Tow.. Thats Trailer AND Load.
Most cars it roughly equal to the vehicle weight... BUT LOOK IN the HANDBOOK..
ie RTFM.
Most 4x4's Land Rovers, Shogun's etc can tow much more 3.5 Tons with my Landy . I mean proper 4x4's not Fiat Panda 4x4, and Sierra 4x4
etc.
Most Cars, with a trailer and a car on the trailer or a Horse Box in tow (My pet hate weight wise especially loaded with horses) are almost certainly
breaking the law.
If you are going to tow a trailer with a car on it, use the correct weight Towing vehicle.,
1. Its against the law not to.
2. its downright dangerous both to you and other road users... Oh and Train Passengers
If you are on the limit, then use a caravan stabiliser bar as a minimum.. they cost £40-60, and are well worth it.