Thread: Box Trailer Buying Advice

It is true in one sense that you can never have a big enough trailer - but its all horses for courses. 8x5 would be very easy to overload - especially if you don't uprate the axle. I get the feeling JC has at least some limits on funding. Hence I suggested 7x5 as a sensible compromise.

I suggested electric drums JC as they're low maintenance, and simple. If you break brakes in the bush, I'd reckon finding something to macgeyver the show back onto the road would be easier for electric drums. Drums are also easier and cheaper to source in LR stud pattern.

It is easy enough to swap out a trailer axle for a heavier duty one, but then you've paid twice. Likewise leaf springs. You can go from leaf springs/solid axle to fully independent, but it's an exercise in fabrication and I'd imagine a costly one at that.

If you look in the classifieds here, im sure you could find a set of rims with serviceable tyres you could buy for not much more than a weeks worth of beer. Delete the wheels/tyres from the price of the trailer to easethe wallet pain of electric brakes. You can then run the tyres ragged and buy some new rubber and paint up your rims nice, or onsell them for a marginal loss and buy some flash new ones down the track when finances permit.

Doing this with the DO35 (good choice btw) and the LED taillights (another sensible option) could even save you a bit more. Worth looking into anyway.

Hope that helped

Spot on Cammo. The limit is kind of arbitrary and imprecise, but having just bought a house and facing a none-too-cheap relocation across country I need to save every penny I can within reason.

Just found another custom mob down Mandurah way. Seem pretty switched on and not quite the same cookie cutter approach of some of the others. We'll see how we go.

Looks like 7x4 (and a bit - they said they can easily go 1250 to avoid having to grease up pallets, Gyprock, etc.) is it. Seems to give me the best of both worlds.

Going double eye 65mm leaves, but the other bits and pieces of the running gear and brakes is all TBC. I'll be guided by the fabricator and by the advice received here before I make the final call.

All this advice so far has been greatly appreciated guys. Thank you.

I'd search ebay and find a well made existing trailer used ..... A lot just sit around so slowly rust away un-used. Register it in Victoria if you can. they are only $50 a year regardless of size.

If I wanted it for shifting across country I'd go look for something like this ...

5x8 Enclose Trailer in VIC | eBay


sell it when I get there (they are ALWAYS worth $$$ ) and I've all finished, then buy a box trailer for general use. Box trailers SUCK for moving houses with.

If you work it out right, you buy trailers where they are cheap and tow them to the destination where they are hopefully worth more. eg: a heavy duty trailer will be worth more and easier to sell in remote areas (I'd imagine).

seeya,
Shane L.

If you're going to go for leaf springs, another option is landcruiser 70 series rear leaves. (Hey, toymota have to be good for something, right?) Take a few leaves out to suit the reduced weight of camper trailer... available anywhere for cheap. Theyre relatively long for a leaf spring and so will be good for a compliant ride and help support the weight of your trailer/load more evenly.... just a thought about bushability/dollar saving. Any 4WD accessory shop should have a couple out the back they'd let go for a carton and/or a bbq lunch for the boys.

All good points Shane. Cheers.

The problem is that I need the trailer more for renos and tip runs at this end before the removal. The only things actually being 'moved' in this will be the tools and materials I need to retain for work on the house. Anything else I can shove in there to maybe keep the removal costs down will be a bonus.

Yeah, there are other ways I could probably do this, but this seems to be the best of the many options to suit my particular purpose. And I'm VERY time poor so I'll happily pay a premium to avoid any stuffing around at either end. And that stands whether I'm moving or not.

Cheers Cammo. Good tip.

Only additional point I can make - my box trailer is fitted with a front gate as well as a tailgate - which allows carriage of long loads, and in my view is well worth the extra cost for general use.

John

Have you considered a heavy duty builders trailer opposed to a offroad one? I went through this myself around 5 years ago. As soon as you mention offroad the price heads north quickly.

I ended up with a 7x4 high wall builders trailer with longer draw bar, eye to eye springs, removable builder racks on top, led lights all round, mounts for a tool box on drawbar (supplied my own box) tie down rings into the trailer floor x4 along with tie down rails all round and supplied my own offroad hitch on 14 inch rims with th ingest wall height tyres that could be fitted in a 14 inch.

I was pleasantly surprised by the ride height of the trailer when I went to pick it up as I thought I would need to convert it to spring over to tow behind my lifted D2 and Sportage. In this case I didn't need to as it rides level which is great. I haven't grounded it yet driving around in this setup. I hope that the added strength built in been a builders trailer will assist if I was to go offroad regularly with it.

I found all this was cheaper than a standard 6x4 'offroad' trailer with no options.
Could be something worth considering to save a few dollars and it is a general purchase trailer with taking offroad to that camping spot every now and then .

Cheers, Chris