POD
26th November 2014, 09:30 AM
I've currently got my camper trailer stripped down as I needed to extend the drawbar a bit (okay a lot) due to the rear overhang on the 130. Thought I would put up some photos and description of how I fitted Range Rover hubs and disc brakes to this trailer, as it has been a very successful conversion and was pretty easy to do.
I built this camper trailer in 2000 for our first-ever outback trip, which included the Anne Beadell Highway, Gibb River Road and Tanami Track as the main components of a 16,000km circuit. As the budget got squeezed, I decided to not put brakes on the trailer. In order to get it registered without brakes, I ran it over the weighbridge with the camper top, kitchen, fridge box etc all removed so that it would show up as much lighter than it is in reality (PhilipA I just read your thread about the weight discrepancy of your camp-o-matic, perhaps a similar explanation?). By the time I had reassembled the trailer then added the 12 jerry cans of petrol necessary to tow it across the Anne Beadell with a V8 auto Rangie, plus a week's food for a family of 6, plus spares, tools, etc....the decision to omit brakes was not looking like such a clever idea. We live and learn.
After that trip, a service of the wheel bearings revealed that the standard trailer setup of HQ Holden-style wheel bearings was also not up to the task, the tiny outer bearings were showing signs of being significantly overloaded. I decided to solve the latter problem by installing spindles and hubs from a wrecked Range Rover, with a view to adding Range Rover disc brakes at a later date as funds allowed. It was a couple of years later that I also wrecked a 1997 Discovery and decided to add the disc brakes to the trailer, with electric-over-hydraulic actuation. This has been a very successful setup and I have promised a couple of times to describe the setup in more detail, so here goes.
I had a 40mm square axle blank machined to insert with a press-fit inside the Rangie axle spindles. As this was over 10 years ago, the drawings and dimensions are long gone, but it involved a longish round section to go up inside the spindle with a short step of a larger diameter that went in where the roller bearing and seal used to live in the inner end of the spindle. The spindles were warmed in the oven then driven onto the axle blank. If anyone decides to do this, be warned that the spindle bores (not being a critical dimension in their intended application) do not seem to be machined to any particular tolerance; the one that I had taken the measurements from went on nicely at one end, whilst the second spindle must have had a significantly smaller bore diameter, it galled when being driven on and had to be cut off. The third spindle had a slightly larger bore diameter and slipped on without needing to be warmed. Don't know how they managed to produce them with such variation, but there you are.
A weld around the circumference inside the back end of the spindle ensures they will stay put. The outer drive member serves as a bearing cap, however the stub axle had to be cut out of it as the bore is now occupied by the end of the axle.
The trailer now had standard Range Rover hubs with the nice big parallel bearings and the option to fit any of the stock steel or alloy wheels.
Installing brakes to this setup was very straightforward. I got 2 Range rover swivel housings and set to work on them with a 9-inch angle grinder until all I had left was the circle of threaded holes where the spindle bolts to the swivel housing, the 2 holes where the caliper bolts to the swivel housing, and a web of steel joining the two. This left me with a caliper bracket with the correct offset that could be bolted to the flange of the spindle. a 40mm slot was cut between the 2 holes opposite the caliper mount, to allow this bracket to be slid over the 40mm square axle and bolted to the back of the spindle.
Hopefully these photos will give a reasonable view of this from the back of the hub:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/attach/jpg.gif
The discs and calipers are from the front end of a 1997 D1, whereas the swivel housings that I massacred for the caliper brackets were from a 1986 Range Rover. The offset is the same, but the caliper mounting bolts had changed from imperial to metric between these two vehicles, so some drilling and tapping of the holes had to be done. Sourcing all the parts from one vehicle would be preferable but it was not a big problem.
Hydraulic power to the brakes is provided by this actuator, the only part of the whole setup that involved any significant cost- I got mine direct from the US when the exchange rate was significantly better than it is currently:
Dexter Electric Over Hydraulic Brake Actuator (1,600 psi) Dexter Trailer Brakes K71-651 (http://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Brakes/Dexter/K71-651.html)
The Tekonsha P2 brake controller has a mode specifically for this type of actuator.
The result is very satisfactory. The P2 controller has 3 'boost' modes which allow varying degrees of trailer braking to be automatically applied when the brake pedal is applied, with braking force then matched to vehicle braking. A fully loaded trailer with this setup seems to actually improve braking distance compared to when not towing.
A few more photos of the general setup, not looking too fresh after 14 years of hard use but will give the general idea;
An overview of the suspension and axle, with booster airbags.
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/attach/jpg.gif
The springs were from a FJ55 landcruiser, had been sitting in my shed for over a decade before I got around to building a trailer on them.
I've seen too many U-bolts broken over the years, so designed a clamping system to mount the axle to the springs, enabling 1/2" high-tensile bolts to be used instead of u-bolts:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment.php?attachmentid=87627&stc=1&d=1416956382
The 3 plates were drilled as a stack, there is a hole on the centre of the middle plate that accepts the head of the spring centre-bolt, giving positive location of the axle on the spring. The brackets that mount the springs to the frame were designed to stay put, no sign of any issues thus far; rear shackle mount shown here; also visible is the plate that mounts the airbag, allowing the air hose to run inside the chassis:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment.php?attachmentid=87628&stc=1&d=1416956726
Drawbar is welded to the front spring mount. there is a 1 1/2" plug weld hidden behind the inner plate.
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment.php?attachmentid=87629&stc=1&d=1416956890
I have never seen any need for shockers on this trailer; the inherent damping of the leaf springs is quite sufficient. The airbags were added at about the same time i did the brakes; have proven very versatile.
None of it looks very pretty at present, result of being used as intended along with sitting in the hay shed when not in use. Heaps of red dirt came out of the chassis cross-members when I tipped the frame on it's side, must pay more attention to cleaning it after future trips. Just finished extending the drawbar of the trailer, off to the sandblasters for a freshen up prior to putting the thing back together.
Next time I service the wheel bearings, I'll remove the caliper brackets and upload some photos to show them in more detail.
I built this camper trailer in 2000 for our first-ever outback trip, which included the Anne Beadell Highway, Gibb River Road and Tanami Track as the main components of a 16,000km circuit. As the budget got squeezed, I decided to not put brakes on the trailer. In order to get it registered without brakes, I ran it over the weighbridge with the camper top, kitchen, fridge box etc all removed so that it would show up as much lighter than it is in reality (PhilipA I just read your thread about the weight discrepancy of your camp-o-matic, perhaps a similar explanation?). By the time I had reassembled the trailer then added the 12 jerry cans of petrol necessary to tow it across the Anne Beadell with a V8 auto Rangie, plus a week's food for a family of 6, plus spares, tools, etc....the decision to omit brakes was not looking like such a clever idea. We live and learn.
After that trip, a service of the wheel bearings revealed that the standard trailer setup of HQ Holden-style wheel bearings was also not up to the task, the tiny outer bearings were showing signs of being significantly overloaded. I decided to solve the latter problem by installing spindles and hubs from a wrecked Range Rover, with a view to adding Range Rover disc brakes at a later date as funds allowed. It was a couple of years later that I also wrecked a 1997 Discovery and decided to add the disc brakes to the trailer, with electric-over-hydraulic actuation. This has been a very successful setup and I have promised a couple of times to describe the setup in more detail, so here goes.
I had a 40mm square axle blank machined to insert with a press-fit inside the Rangie axle spindles. As this was over 10 years ago, the drawings and dimensions are long gone, but it involved a longish round section to go up inside the spindle with a short step of a larger diameter that went in where the roller bearing and seal used to live in the inner end of the spindle. The spindles were warmed in the oven then driven onto the axle blank. If anyone decides to do this, be warned that the spindle bores (not being a critical dimension in their intended application) do not seem to be machined to any particular tolerance; the one that I had taken the measurements from went on nicely at one end, whilst the second spindle must have had a significantly smaller bore diameter, it galled when being driven on and had to be cut off. The third spindle had a slightly larger bore diameter and slipped on without needing to be warmed. Don't know how they managed to produce them with such variation, but there you are.
A weld around the circumference inside the back end of the spindle ensures they will stay put. The outer drive member serves as a bearing cap, however the stub axle had to be cut out of it as the bore is now occupied by the end of the axle.
The trailer now had standard Range Rover hubs with the nice big parallel bearings and the option to fit any of the stock steel or alloy wheels.
Installing brakes to this setup was very straightforward. I got 2 Range rover swivel housings and set to work on them with a 9-inch angle grinder until all I had left was the circle of threaded holes where the spindle bolts to the swivel housing, the 2 holes where the caliper bolts to the swivel housing, and a web of steel joining the two. This left me with a caliper bracket with the correct offset that could be bolted to the flange of the spindle. a 40mm slot was cut between the 2 holes opposite the caliper mount, to allow this bracket to be slid over the 40mm square axle and bolted to the back of the spindle.
Hopefully these photos will give a reasonable view of this from the back of the hub:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/attach/jpg.gif
The discs and calipers are from the front end of a 1997 D1, whereas the swivel housings that I massacred for the caliper brackets were from a 1986 Range Rover. The offset is the same, but the caliper mounting bolts had changed from imperial to metric between these two vehicles, so some drilling and tapping of the holes had to be done. Sourcing all the parts from one vehicle would be preferable but it was not a big problem.
Hydraulic power to the brakes is provided by this actuator, the only part of the whole setup that involved any significant cost- I got mine direct from the US when the exchange rate was significantly better than it is currently:
Dexter Electric Over Hydraulic Brake Actuator (1,600 psi) Dexter Trailer Brakes K71-651 (http://www.etrailer.com/Trailer-Brakes/Dexter/K71-651.html)
The Tekonsha P2 brake controller has a mode specifically for this type of actuator.
The result is very satisfactory. The P2 controller has 3 'boost' modes which allow varying degrees of trailer braking to be automatically applied when the brake pedal is applied, with braking force then matched to vehicle braking. A fully loaded trailer with this setup seems to actually improve braking distance compared to when not towing.
A few more photos of the general setup, not looking too fresh after 14 years of hard use but will give the general idea;
An overview of the suspension and axle, with booster airbags.
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/attach/jpg.gif
The springs were from a FJ55 landcruiser, had been sitting in my shed for over a decade before I got around to building a trailer on them.
I've seen too many U-bolts broken over the years, so designed a clamping system to mount the axle to the springs, enabling 1/2" high-tensile bolts to be used instead of u-bolts:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment.php?attachmentid=87627&stc=1&d=1416956382
The 3 plates were drilled as a stack, there is a hole on the centre of the middle plate that accepts the head of the spring centre-bolt, giving positive location of the axle on the spring. The brackets that mount the springs to the frame were designed to stay put, no sign of any issues thus far; rear shackle mount shown here; also visible is the plate that mounts the airbag, allowing the air hose to run inside the chassis:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment.php?attachmentid=87628&stc=1&d=1416956726
Drawbar is welded to the front spring mount. there is a 1 1/2" plug weld hidden behind the inner plate.
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment.php?attachmentid=87629&stc=1&d=1416956890
I have never seen any need for shockers on this trailer; the inherent damping of the leaf springs is quite sufficient. The airbags were added at about the same time i did the brakes; have proven very versatile.
None of it looks very pretty at present, result of being used as intended along with sitting in the hay shed when not in use. Heaps of red dirt came out of the chassis cross-members when I tipped the frame on it's side, must pay more attention to cleaning it after future trips. Just finished extending the drawbar of the trailer, off to the sandblasters for a freshen up prior to putting the thing back together.
Next time I service the wheel bearings, I'll remove the caliper brackets and upload some photos to show them in more detail.