New trailer or keep older heavier one

[TheEntertainer]

Morning all,

I’ve got a 10year old pretty rock solid x-camper trailer, 7x4 with electric breaks, 500mm high sides and a lid.

The draw back is it is very heavy, tare weight with tent and all was 690kg. I’ve taken the tent, stove and sink out and guessing its still around 490-500kg and to heave to push around the yard unless it is on level concrete.

In light of fuel economy, wear and tear on the car how much difference would it actually make should I scale down to more light weight 7x5 box trailer with a tare weight of 260-300kg?

Cheers

J

[trout1105]

Personally I would keep the old trailer as the extra weight in it is because it has more steel in it and is more robust that a regular 6x4 tip tripper [thumbsupbig]

[Slunnie]

Is the trailer used offroad?

My thinking is that 250kg is a pretty light trailer in terms of construction. They go light in the drawbar which is a failure point at the front of the box, and they go light in the chassis, which is a failure point where the suspension points mount in. The box rigidity should be ok though because the stiffness there is mainly generated from the trailer sides. When you up the weight, you're also upping the strength in these key areas which I think will make a big difference in reliability offroad. A 250kg trailer is made as lightly as they can possibly make it in all areas, and thats not always a good thing. If its an offroad trailer, it should also have a 45mm axle, and you will probably find a 250kg box will have a lighter axle in it than this, especially if it is unbraked (ie 750kg rated).

I'd just keep and use what you have personally. You may find better rolling tyres helps.

[John_D4]

I’d keep the old one also. Also you’d have to consider if the fuel savings is going to be spent on the purchase of the new trailer.

Eg. Spending $1000 for a new trailer so you can save 1 or 2lt/100km

[TheEntertainer]

Yes, I think I’m convinced for now. The frame, a-frame and all is pretty rock solid. The lid is heavy, i guess if I remove it I might save 45kg, I can also take the water tank and steel protection of, might save another 20kg, back stabiliser legs another 5kgs. It all adds up.

Thanks for the comments all!

[Hoges]

If it's light weight you're after, have you considered a folding trailer...? (google "Harborfreight trailer). The same product is distributed in Australia by Carlex a.k.a Folding Trailers, Lightweight Trailers, Kayak Trailers, Motorbike Trailers, Boat Trailers, Easy Trailer (http://www.easytrailer.com.au) Various sizes, a 6x4 is less than 200kg tare and can be rolled in the "upright" folded position through a standard -width door. It will carry a 'distributed' 500kg with ease. I first saw one covered in dust and dried mud at a service station behind a LC80 series ...the bloke told me he had just towed it loaded with a small trail bike and camping stuff across the Simpson! My son now has one -it's basically a flat top---with DIY fabricated bolt on bits -mainly out of 17mm construction ply, it appears in various guises -flat top/sided/cage with multiple tie-down points--- depending on what it's required to carry. With the sides bolted in place, it's amazingly strong. Personally, I'm past trying to manoeuver heavy stuff. This one moves quite easily.

[TheEntertainer]

Hi all,

I've removed the front alloy box and spare wheel and it has already made a big diff, it seems all the extra weight on the front jockey wheel has made it real hard to move around the yard by hand. See attached image of before I removed them. hopefully it attached.

157365

Will move the spare wheel to the back and I can then fit 3 bikes on the a-frame instead of on the lid as I did before. That would enable me to either put a light weight lid on or remove the lid when not needed.

cheers

J

[trout1105]

Are you able to fit an extension on the A frame like us fishes do on our boat trailers for beach launching, Dead easy to move a heaveyvtrailer with the draw bar extended [bigrolf]

[TheEntertainer]

Ok, with all the camping gear stripped of and a full load up to Goulburn and empty back 400km I ended up with 8.7L per 100km. More than happy with than!

[BigJon]

I reckon my camper trailer would be closer to 1.8t...

[TheEntertainer]

I reckon my camper trailer would be closer to 1.8t...

So what consumption do you get with such a heavy load?

[BigJon]

I just did a trip through SA, Vic, NSW and Qld. Including a week on Fraser Island. Total average for the trip was about 15l/100km. Almost all highway driving was done at the legal limit, except for between Walgett and Nyngan after dark where we saw probably over 500 roos. Towing with 3.6l Vogue. Camper trailer is a big box, plus a roof top tent on it, so a fair bit of windage to go with the weight. A previous trip without the roof tent on the trailer saw nearer to 13l/100km. A trip to Brisbane with no trailer had it in the nines.

[TheEntertainer]

Last trip to Goulburn and back with the strpped trailer I got 8.6 kilometres per litre.