(homemade) Trailer - axle

Seanieke

Just wondering whats the handiest waggon out there to pull a rear axle off & bolt to a car trailer? Hitting the scrapyard monday & I know they've a load of Berlingos in there. Prob a few starlets too..

What ye reckon from experience?

Also what's the cost of a rear axel & 3 tires these days?

Dupont

any straight back axle would do.berlingo could be good as there is no springs i think peugeot and citreon use torsion bar running through the axle. van axles are better because the tyres they use are rated for heavier loads so dont bulge as much as car tyres when you have a heavy load on

Seanieke

Dupont wrote: »

any straight back axle would do.berlingo could be good as there is no springs i think peugeot and citreon use torsion bar running through the axle. van axles are better because the tyres they use are rated for heavier loads so dont bulge as much as car tyres when you have a heavy load on

I know they've a moxy load of post vans in their so I'll raid one of them!

101sean

Do it while you can, EU rules will ban home made trailers eventually :rolleyes:

Milton09

The older ford escort van axels (1992 era) are excellent for the job, heres a photo of one that i used for a 6x4 trailer. i used proper trailer springs, and made extra heavy u bolts - its a brute of a trailer now, often carried 1.5 T on it.

Dupont

Milton09 wrote: »

The older ford escort van axels (1992 era) are excellent for the job, heres a photo of one that i used for a 6x4 trailer. i used proper trailer springs, and made extra heavy u bolts - its a brute of a trailer now, often carried 1.5 T on it.

i see you put the springs on top of the axle,i done the same on mine but if you look at them on vans there usually underneath but if you keep them on top when you put a lot of weight on it it cant drop down so all the u bolt has to do is keep it in place

Milton09

Dupont wrote: »

i see you put the springs on top of the axle,i done the same on mine but if you look at them on vans there usually underneath but if you keep them on top when you put a lot of weight on it it cant drop down so all the u bolt has to do is keep it in place

Correct - with springs on top the ubolt sees very little stress and in fact when loaded they are usually loose, I'm not at all a fan of springs underneath.

colm_mcm

Are there any brakes on that, or is that the handbrake cable hanging?

Milton09

colm_mcm wrote: »

Are there any brakes on that, or is that the handbrake cable hanging?

Thats the handbrake cable dangling - it would be very easy to set up the brakes - its on my long list of mini projects unfortunately !!!

Seanieke

Went to the scrapper today, yer boy was looking for €200 for an old rear axle!! I'll be dragging the thing by the hith along the road before paying that much!

Milton09

Seanieke wrote: »

Went to the scrapper today, yer boy was looking for €200 for an old rear axle!! I'll be dragging the thing by the hith along the road before paying that much!

Sounds a bit rough all right, I paid 40 Euro for mine about 6 years ago, but it had no springs or wheels - just the bare axle.

Slidey

Because those rear axles give bother you will pay a premium for them.

Something like a combo or caddy axle would be better for ya

JohnBoy

caddy axle looks like a good job alright, simple box axle, berlingo axle would be arkward to mount and probably way too soft in the springs, which you cant change.

Seanieke

Anyone got a scrapped Caddy out the back?!

nophd08

Seanieke wrote: »

Anyone got a scrapped Caddy out the back?!

Any hub with a flat backplate will do, cos you can easily weld them to a piece of box section or heavy wall pipe, that way you can make your axle width to suit yourself. Old opel or vw hubs will do and should be bought a whole lot cheaper.;)

shogunpower

101sean wrote: »

Do it while you can, EU rules will ban home made trailers eventually :rolleyes:

when is this pointless and stupid rule coming into effect?

101sean

It think it already is in the UK so we will no doubt also bow to the demands of our rulers in Brussels

The gist of it is that new trailers will have to be plated and have a chassis number. It's likely in the long term that trailers over 750kg will have to be tested and have their own registration the same as most other EU countries :rolleyes:

Homebuilt trailers over 750kg without working brakes are already breaking the law and I've seen plenty that don't meet any form of motoring regulation!

Found the ruling on the NTTA website, looks like it affects trailer manufacturers but it means you couldn't sell your homebuilt trailer.
http://www.ntta.co.uk/

Type Testing of Trailers
From October 2012 all type O1 (under 750 kg) and type O2 (under 3500 kg) trailers sold in Europe will require a Certificate of Compliance to show that they have been Type Tested to all European safety directives. Trailer manufacturers are currently working with the standards authorities to ensure that their products and processes are assessed in time for this key date

O.A.P

Will this mean that all existening home made trailers will have to be tested? or else stay off the road.

101sean

I reckon it will happen eventually but is still a long way off.

I have a proper ex military 1 tonne trailer that would struggle to pass, the same type of trailer can't be registered in many countries as NATO hitches aren't legal despite being the safest coupling around.

Seanieke

Sean,

I'm presuming it's a Sankey?

Is there anywhere to get them in Ireland?

101sean

They come up occasionally privately esp in the north but they tend to be over priced here. The supply is drying up as the entire fleet has been sold out, Withams has Mk3 widetracks left, the going rate for them is around £350. The older narrow tracks can be had for £150 or so, even less with a rusty tub.

Mine isn't a the usual 3/4t Sankey, it's a 1 tonne missile relaod trailer and they are much more expensive, £750 - £1100 for a good one (I didn't pay that though )