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Caravan trailer / transporter conversion
chris-g - 19/1/12 at 03:15 PM

Hi All. Due to me having a narrow drive, I am planning on building a transport trailer that will fit my requirements. I have been looking at using a caravan chassis as the basis of the trailer. Having researched the net and this forum, it seems it is quite common to convert a caravan, but I have also come across a number of negative comments regarding their suitability. I would appreciate any thoughts, comments, experiences good or bad from those who have built and/or used a caravan based transporter. It will be used for a 7 type car weighing in the region on 600-700kgs.
Thanks for reading.

[Edited on 19/1/12 by chris-g]

jacko - 19/1/12 at 05:12 PM

I would not use a aluminium caravan chassis , apart from that why not as long as the weight is not over the axle specifications

rj - 19/1/12 at 05:24 PM

I built mine from a twin axle caravan chassis, its galvanised steel. Its been brilliant, used it for my Nova rally car, then a friends Impreza rally car, and now the MK, tows very well, dosnt wiegh a lot and fits thro a std garage door

rpm - 19/1/12 at 05:53 PM

i built one from a single axle chassis but added a second axle which i got with the chassis as a spare( £50 for the whole lot), it towed fantastically solid as a rock at 70. make sure you spend time working out the axle position/weight distribution if you do this, but it's a cheap way of getting a good trailer

big_wasa - 19/1/12 at 08:15 PM

I made one, never had the car on it but did use it for general stuff and it towed great. I will look out for another in a few months as I sold the last one.

vyperstrype - 19/1/12 at 10:04 PM

I converted a single axle Alko caravan chassis a couple of years ago for carrying the Indy about. It tows superbly on the motorway, and weighs next to nothing. Also as said before it all fits into a standard garage. I paid £80 off ebay for mine and was lucky that without modification i was able to get on and off the trailer bed between the tyres on the trailer, which was a worry but you can always widen the axle beam.
I enjoyed making mine and would highly recommend converting one.

tul214 - 20/1/12 at 06:17 AM

I did it. £50 for the caravan chassis and £150 for steel.

When my car sold I sold the trailer for £350

trailer3
trailer3

trailer2
trailer2

dhutch - 20/1/12 at 10:54 AM

quote:
Originally posted by tul214
I did it. £50 for the caravan chassis and £150 for steel.

When my car sold I sold the trailer for £350
Looks tidy.
- Did you ever weight it or have it weighed?
- Would be interesting to know how light you can get it.

Daniel

tul214 - 20/1/12 at 12:35 PM

quote:
Originally posted by dhutch
quote:
Originally posted by tul214
I did it. £50 for the caravan chassis and £150 for steel.

When my car sold I sold the trailer for £350
Looks tidy.
- Did you ever weight it or have it weighed?
- Would be interesting to know how light you can get it.

Daniel


Never weighed it but it was quite strong. I probably overdid it with the steel but it towed well and was pretty easy to man handle into the garage, even with the car loaded.

Bit of a pain having to sort the ramps etc everytime I wanted to go out though. Definately a lot easier if you can store it somewhere.

Mark

SPYDER - 20/1/12 at 02:30 PM

Mark, what was the noseweight like on your trailer. The pics show the car well forward of the trailer axle. Did this make the noseweight excessive?


Geoff

tul214 - 20/1/12 at 06:08 PM

Never actually weighed the nose either

I pulled the trailer/Tiger with my dads ML and a diesel mondeo I had at the time. Neither had any problems and neither 'looked' nose heavy.

chris-g - 20/1/12 at 09:57 PM

Thank you for all the responses. A good bit work there Mark, it looks spot on. I am sold on the concept so its time to start looking for suitable donor.
I might have to think about making the trailer narrower, probably the same width as the car so that I can get past it when its on the drive. Does anyone know how the axle and centre tube is constructed? Could a piece be cut out of the tube that connects the axles together and then be welded together with suitable reinforcement?