Thread: My version of a Land Rover off road trailer

The frame nearly completed:

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I bought a drawbar toolbox from ebay which fitted neatly accross the front of the body and still left enough drawbar length to jackknife to 90 degrees.

Rear levelling legs were also from ebay, as was the jockey wheel. I had to extend the jockey wheel and used a section of tube cut from one of the Rangie driveshafts.

At this point, the plans were evolving to incorporate a removable ladder rack type frame to which a roofrack or rooftop tent could be mounted. The frame legs would slide into the body corners and be held by a pinch bolt.

I was also planning on hot dip galvanising the entire frame. Becasue of this, I decided not to weld floor and side panels to the frame, because of the risk of the sheet warping during galvanising. The plan was to Sikaflex 3mm alloy sheet to the frame after galvanising. 3mm alloy is about the same weight as 1mm zinc anneal sheet and probably stiffer in a HT grade. Sikaflex 252 is used to bond panels to truck and coach bodies. In hindsight, I perhaps should have used less hollow sections and more open sections eg EA or PFC, as all the hollow sections had to be drilled for venting. One mistake I definitely made was to use Duragal steel sections - this was all my local steel place had in stock. While it generates a lot more weld spatter than black or primed steel, the real issue is that the galvanisers have to strip it by leaving it in the acid bath overnight. Typically this adds about $1/kg to the galvanising cost. Having said this, the rangie chassis had some fairly heavy surface rust on the inside which probably needed the same amount of time in the acid to be fully removed.

Galvanising also means that you preferably want to have all the welding done, holes drilled, brackets fitted etc that you can before hand. Its frustrating having to weld and damage the galvanising when you change your mind or realise something was forgotten.

Back from the galvanisers and axle/suspension bolted up:

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The frame without axle, suspension or wheels weighed 230 kg.
I estimate that as it stands now the Tare weight is around 350kg.

I lightened the axle by cutting off the axles from the drive flanges, there is no diff center and I removed the rotors and calipers for the time being. I'll be running oil lubed bearings and will fill the housing to the level plug - this will probably take around 5 litres as there is a lot more empty space in there now. I'll use a cheap engine oil, the wheel bearings should be fine with this.

By the time I add the alloy sheet and the roof frame it will easily be 400kg. Heavier than I'd hoped but the overall weight with a normal load of camping gear and water should still be around 750kg.
I believe a Rover axle housing is rated to 1200kg, hopefully this is an off road rating.



Still to be done:
-Wiring/fit led lights
-add sheet alloy
-fit water tank or roller drawers under the front floor (not sure which yet)
-build removable upper frame
-etch prime and paint olive drab
-registration

Registration is easy in QLD for a home built trailer - there are no inspection requirements. Its a matter of filling in 3 forms, paying the fee and engraving the issued VIN on the issued ID plate.

Looks great mate. Really looking forward to this build.

Are you using the radius arm/panhard rod configuration for the suspension?

Edit, sorry - looks like you used the rear setup?

Are you going to modify the axle to get rid of the diff housing?

Hi I've built 2 similar trailers, one with an aluminium 1 tonne ute tray and the later with an 130 tub.

The only comment I'd make is that in retrospect I regret removing the sway bar as it would ride better or prevent roll.

Well done why not use the best suspension available on your trailer.

Great build !


Are you going to re-install the shocks. Makes a huge difference. We have a similar set up on our boat trailer. using the rear of a Series 1 Disco.
The biggest issue we had was to get the weight on the drawer bar correct,


Can post a pic if you want.





Erich

Yes, the shocks have been reinstalled on the original mounts, I would say these are mandatory as without them its like a soft pogo stick.
With the shocks, the ride quality is superb, I towed my son in it around the paddock and he reckoned it was more comfortable in the trailer than the 110. This is relevant for protecting gear in the trailer, reducing overall stress on the structure and should make it tow better on rough roads - the wheels are more likely to stay in contact with the ground.

Regarding drawbar weight, the plan is to tune it with jerry can placement and whether or not I fit the spare tyre under the rear floor. At the moment there is about 40 kg on the ring, this will change when the tool box is loaded and if I end up fitting a water tank under the front floor. The water tank has to be custom made as I cant find an off the shelf one with the height I need. The quote for a custom 80 llitre tank was $300 so that will have to wait till after Christmas.

I've been quoted $450 for the 5 sheets of 3mm HT Alum body sheeting cut to size.

In regard to the question about the diff housing, I've welded a front pan to cover where the diff center was removed, and will fill that with oil for the wheel bearings. I thought about modifying it to get rid of the lower part of the housing for more clearance, but came to the conclusion that its not worth it - I'm not sure how to do it without either warping the housing or weakening it and the clearance is no worse than the vehicles anyway - if the tow vehicle gets through, so will the trailer. The top part of the housing ties into the A frame ball joint mount so that really needs to stay. It probably looks a bit funny having a diff housing under a trailer, but I can live with it....