Thread: Thinking of buying a trailer - help please!

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i take it your not after a full camper?, below is another i came across on another forum.

GT Camper Trailers - tough top quality Australian made on or off road camping trailers

That's right - I'm not after a full-on camper trailer just yet. Maybe in a few years

Unless you're looking at loading it up more than 700kg you don't need brakes, well at least by law in Vic. I'd consider putting electric brakes on anyway for off road use. Nothing worse than having the trailer try to overtake you on a slippery track!
Suspension can be simple but make sure you have eye to eye springs (if leaf) with extra attention to the hangers. AVOID 'SLIPPER SPRINGS' at all cost!
If you're going to be using it off road, get a decent chassis under it, a tube chassis, not one made of angle iron.
Get an off road hitch such as a Treg so that the trailer can twist independently of the vehicle (Ball type hitches are very sus off road).

Hope that helps

Trailers for offroad use abound in the market place.
If you are going to do serious offroad - steep/slippery slopes then electric brakes are a must have - need to factor in extra costs for vehicle. For serious work also need to consider track width being the same or very similar to the tow vehicle. A strong chassis ie box steel not angle iron, as mentioned above, is important as the draw bar will bend/break if not strong enough. Wheels to match the vehicle are useful but cost/availability maybe an issue here as much as the offsets required to mach the width of the towing vehicle. Springs are an issue - coils are the luxury, double eyed the standard but slipper leaf springs are a no no. I would suggest that shock absorbers are worth the cost as they will reduce the rebound. Hitches are usually Tregg or pintle for the army types. Another point to consider is the vehicle tow limits wrt brakes. Also consider the size of the bearings - donot use the standard cheap trailer size as they will not cope with hard offroad work.
It maybe worth while to buy a good second hand one first with the idea that you learn with it first.

Endorsing the earlier posts - Having just been through the same exercise I strongly recommend a good strong second hand is much better value for money that buying new
Try this site http://www.campertrailers.org/
Go to the camper 'Trader Page' and watch for a while (weeks) and something ideal will appear fairly regularly - typically around half the price of new for something in very good condition – the trailers that have been sitting a while are typically crap or overpriced or too exotic – the good value ones typically move readily
Spend some time and effort going to look at the short list that you develop - like any purchase avoid jumping in too soon - there are some shockers as well some bargains
Watch out for being bedazzled by the features and extras which disguise a weak trailer - go for a strong and solid build trailer and minimise the extras to what's affordable
You dont need the grief that a weak trailer will bring especially outback.
Same wheels all around would be lovely but way down the priority/value list I discovered
Agree an off road hitch is a must
I watched for and found one with independent suspension alko type and pleased I did
Galvanised if possible
Paid $7K for mine second hand found on the site above

Na. Jump straight in and buy a optioned up Ultimate Elite. If you like that style of camper and you can afford the mid 60's they are asking for them they are a great bit of gear IMHO.

Get one that's hot-dipped galvanised. I spent a stupid amount of time looking for trailers on ebay last year and the number of new trailers - under three years old - that were for sale for a fraction of cost price due to rust holes was astounding.

Gal trailers hold their value significantly better than the others.

I bought two gal trailers and sold one. It was 25 years old and had been parked outside at a beachfront house. There wasn't a spot of rust on the body of the trailer. Interestingly, the galvanised tool box - not dipped with the trailer - was starting to rust. So, quality of galvanising makes a difference in the long haul, too.

[QUOTE=sam_d;1531238]I've decided that the time has come to buy a trailer but I have barely any knowledge of the things.

All I am after is a nice small(ish) off road box trailer - maybe 6x4 - to carry extra fuel, water, gas bottle and miscellaneous camping gear for extended camping trips and maybe a trip up to Cape York next year.


Sam,
if your close to Moorebank go and have a look at this trailer.
www.manheim.com.au/ttpm/items/3189506/1996_rack_tactical_trailer_-box-domestic-'referringPage=SearchResults

all it should need is a new coupling & the lights rewired.