Camper/Work Trailer Build

[WildOne]

My next project is to build a tough off road trailer for work and camping duties. I'm loking for some advice from those that have gone down this road already.

So far i've ordered the axle (45mm square) with hubs to match my Disco, alco electric offroad brakes, offroad springs (eye,eye), tregg coupling with handbrake.
Im ready to order my steel so would like to clarify a few things first.

Questions i would like some advice on are

1. Is 100 x 50 RHS overkill for the drawbar, was thinking 3mm wall thickness.


2. Was thinking 50 x 50 x 2mm square for the chassis, or should i go with RHS?


3. The drawbar lenghth so far is looking to be 2,4m from the coupling to the axle, this is to allow me to be able to open the rear door of the Disco with the trailer hitched, rear overhang from the axle to rear of trailer is working out to 1,4m so am concerned with ramp over and departure angles. Any input here? what would "normal" dimensions be for an offroad trailer?

At this stage i want to get the trailer built, reistered and useable for work duties but will include a water tank + pump. Batteries/kitchen and tent top will come later. Overall dimensions i'm working toward are; overall length >4m, width 1,8m (to match Disco) and height of bin 1,1m to allow for a standard tent drop.

Any other advice would be great

Cheers, Phill

[LandyAndy]

Hi Phil
Look in the trailers/campers forum.
Several of us have put up plenty of info on our builds.
Once you have read mine,send a PM willing to help out with any extra info you need.
Andrew

[WildOne]

Hi Phil
Look in the trailers/campers forum.
Several of us have put up plenty of info on our builds.
Once you have read mine,send a PM willing to help out with any extra info you need.
Andrew

Thanks Andy,

I've had a look at heaps of threads showing camper builds to suit differant vehicles, your trailer looks great, a couple of details on your build would be a great help.
What RHS did you use on your drawbar?
What is the distance from your coupling to the axle and from the axle to the rear?
Size wise, is there anything that you would change if you built another?

Thanks mate, Phill

[Bundalene]

My boat trailer is about as 4wd as possible. I used the original Dunbier trailer and upgraded it to suspension out of a Series 1 Disco rear end. I used about 300mm of the original axle tube with hubs and had a 50mm bore pipe encased in a 100 x 6 mm RHS joining these. This means standard wheel bearings and S1 / Defender hubs. The A Frame, coil springs, trailing arms and shocks are all installed to the original Disco geometry. I use a pintel hook on the front end which gives excellent articulation but a bit messy from grease. The trailer is really on corrugations at speed. There are no brakes, over-rider or electric on the setup

We take this everywhere the car goes and we head north once or twice a year fishing. We did this mod about 6 years ago and have been to Weipa, Shellburne bay, Calvert river coast twice and to Nhulunbuy etc 4 times without anything other than tyre problems - and we tore off our shocks on the Numbulwar - Gove road. This setup is proven on our trailer but having said that there are some other pretty good set-ups around.

Cheers, Erich

[LandyAndy]

Phil
I only just trashed the bit of paper with all the measurements we did for licencing on the weekend!!!!!
Will get the measurements and do 1 post on the lot.
If I havent done it in a couple of days send a reminder,hopefully will do it after work tommorow.
Andrew

[LandyAndy]

Drawbar 75x50x2mm
Tregg pin to axle 3100mm
Axle to back of tray 1200mm
Box Body 2450x1220mm
Empty 580kg
Drawbar load(empty) 100kg.(inc the 2 spare wheels)
Its plenty heavy duty enough,havent used it enough to find anything I would have done differently yet.Perhaps dont use gal tube,gal sheet.Despite scrubbing with prepsol/steel wool and using super etch primer the paint hasnt stuck too well
Andrew

[WildOne]

Drawbar 75x50x2mm
Tregg pin to axle 3100mm
Axle to back of tray 1200mm
Box Body 2450x1220mm
Empty 580kg
Drawbar load(empty) 100kg.(inc the 2 spare wheels)
Its plenty heavy duty enough,havent used it enough to find anything I would have done differently yet.Perhaps dont use gal tube,gal sheet.Despite scrubbing with prepsol/steel wool and using super etch primer the paint hasnt stuck too well
Andrew

Nice one Andy, thanks for the info, just what i was after. i'll post up as i progress with mine.