Thread: Is a Trailer not Slept in Still a Trailer?

I don't get the subject ?, a trailer is trailer.

Nice looking trailer mate - and I'm fairly certain that it wouldn't bother most of us if you choose not to sleep in/on it

gsoh!

If you end up getting load levellers Lionel, be really careful of the stresses that they place on your vehicles and also on your tow setup - simpler in my book to watch your weight distribution and keep a sensible down load on the towball - plenty on the net how LLs can cause real problem - hopefully we'll see what others post.

Nice looking trailer.

Lionel it seems you have a fetish about Tie Down Straps as I am told I have for Torches. (family joke)

You can never have enough Tie Downs as I can't with the latest LED torches.

I don't have a Trailer anymore but I enjoyed your Post. Thanks.

Originally Posted by 87County

Nice looking trailer mate - and I'm fairly certain that it wouldn't bother most of us if you choose not to sleep in/on it

gsoh!

If you end up getting load levellers Lionel, be really careful of the stresses that they place on your vehicles and also on your tow setup - simpler in my book to watch your weight distribution and keep a sensible down load on the towball - plenty on the net how LLs can cause real problem - hopefully we'll see what others post.

Agreed. Load levellers are for poorly balanced trailers, better to remove the problem by balancing your trailer correctly and eliminate the need for something that attempts to correct the problem and often introduces another problem.

Originally Posted by loanrangie

I don't get the subject ?, a trailer is trailer.

Hello Loan Rangie,

I fully agree with you. However, when I was looking at what thread to post under I found that at the description of the Trailers, Vans and Campers


states that is a Chat specifically relating to sleeping and living quarters you tow behind your Land Rover.

From this definition of the thread, I could be seen as breaching its description twice...
(1) At the moment I am not going to sleep in the trailer and
(2) I am not towing it behind a Land Rover. However, it is still a trailer.

I do still have the ute tray camper that one of my Series 3 109s came with. I intend to re-clad the home-built unit and replace the tired marine ply with sandwich aluminum. I like the idea of sliding camper on to a trailer more than dedicating the back of a ute tray to it. The Series 3 was owned by a retired Electrical Engineer and the vehicle had done the "Big Lap" around Australia a couple of times. It had a standard 2.25 litre four cylinder diesel. It would have been a slow old trip!

Kind regards
Lionel

Hello Loan Rangie, 87 County, Tombie 4Bee and Xtreme,

Thank you for the replies. They are much appreciated.

I took the trailer fully loaded to a couple of places in town. Both Pedders and Fulcrum were closed on a Saturday here. I found that out as I drove up to both locations and their gates were closed. My first actual stop was a Jayco caravan place. The bloke was really helpful. He said something that was so obvious when we looked at it. He said all the modern load levellers are all mounted under the drawbar. Your trailer does not have enough clearance. If I do want some levellers I have to track down the old bow-bar types that are mounted on a bracket either side of the towball and the bars run parallel along the side of the drawbar.

The bloke at Jayco did suggest getting a set of heavy duty coil springs and perhaps an airbag centre. Part of the research I did mentioned that airbag centres can make the issue worse. I will try and find the link to it again. The issue about the heavy duty springs is that they are on the car all the time and can make the normal daily drive harder.

I also went to a couple of car modification places and some tyre dealers. Their thoughts were heavy duty rear springs and possibly air bag spring inserts.

I did do some research about load levellers and they did say that they can just compound a problem that need not come about if weight distribution is placed correctly.

So on Monday I will be off to Fulcrum to see what they say.

If anyone has a set of four of the old bow-bars for old style of load levellers please let me know? I have towed my brother's trailer with them when carting a load of gravel; and the did make a difference to the ride. Okay - maybe the loads of gravel might have been a little too heavy. You know the landscape yard assistants who load with a bucket mounted onto the front of an old tractor. "I just put in a bit extra for you as part of the friendly service here".

Kind regards
Lionel

Hello All,

Well after a close inspection of the trailer I have noticed a couple of things:
Because the industrial rack was just that wee bit too long, I took the tailgate off. I used two ratchet tie-down straps as belly ropes to stop the load creeping backward. Despite the belly rope also going around the end of the side boards I noticed that they had crept forward on their mounting pins. I will be drilling a hole near the end of each mounting point and putting a washer and cotter pin, or split spring pin in to secure the side boards and tailgate.

I will be getting some chain welded to each side of the tailgate so that it held open in a horizontal position.

Another welding job will be making some steps on the sides of the trailer up towards the draw-bar end. It will make it easier to climb onto the trailer.

I will also get a set of six of the flush mounted to the floor tie-down points fitted to the trailer.

Also to make a set of brackets so the tailgate can be secured on the trailer on the occasions a load is too long and the tailgate is taken off. Just a couple of nuts welded to the side of the trailer and a clamp with a thread pin. Plus some rubber to dampen the vibrations and resultant sound. It means I do not have to use tie-down straps to secure the tailgate in future. You know 4Bee that means I can have a couple of spare straps to use somewhere else.

The count of tie-down straps needed to hold down the load securely - especially with the broken pallet riding on top - was nine. Different bundles and different tiers - plus the extra straps to secure the broken pallet's load: plus, some to hold everything together on the broken pallet and other straps to secure pallet to the load.

Now I just have to unload the trailer - wee.

After that, I have to sort out how all the shelving bits and pieces go together.

Then I can start sorting out a decade of poorly stored detritus of Land Rover, Chevrolet, REO Speed Wagon and Holden parts. Plus tools. Not to forget three children's worth of crap left behind when they moved away from home. Funny how this stuff migrated out of the house into my shed. I am sure I had no part of this creep of the leavings of children and its arrival into my shed. Okay my youngest is now 26 years of age so the word association of "child" would not be very welcomed.

The words "Skip" and "bin" somehow start springing to mind. This is along with a cautionary piece of advise to said decamped children - "if you don't come and get what you want .... in the bin it goes. Too bad ... how sad".

I am reclaiming my shed. I will let my wife park her car in it though - very reluctantly. Wish me luck!

Gee - the photograph of my 1934-35 REO Speed Wagon and my 1940 Chevrolet Holden cab was taken when the shed was newly built and the trucks had just been towed in. Shame the shed does not look so spartan now! Heaps of detritus has to be sorted through to regain some semblance of order.

Kind regards

Lionel