Unusual dual purpose UK trailer build

[neilstubbs]

Hi all,

You guys are so lucky - from what I have learnt on this forum base ex-military trailers are so cheap over there!

Anyway I have one of these trailers:



Just bought it new, Its an Ifor Williams which are well regarded over here. MGW is 750kgs - about 1650 pounds - which is the max i'm allowed to tow on my UK licence and also the max allowed without brakes in UK.
Internally it measures 7'3" long x 4' wide.
The mesh sides come off and this is what you are left with:



The trailer then weighs about 230kg (500 pounds) empty. I need to be able to use the trailer for garden waste, timber etc. as it is so my plan is to build a totally removable "pod" which I can lower onto the trailer which will fit on to the same mounts as the mesh sides, so the whole thing can be taken on and off relatively easily.

I don't need my trailer to be off road capable at all, we don't really have dirt roads in the UK.

We have a campervan and I want a trailer to carry bikes, table and chairs and other camping stuff to save it cluttering up the inside of the van, and I want it all kept dry and secure.
The idea is that the "pod" will house up to 3 bicycles, which will be mounted in roof top style racks on a board which slides out over the rear ramp on runners. I would like an awning that pulls out from the side and a galley area below that. I'm also thinking of making it strong enough to take a roof top tent for the future, if ever I sell the camper the trailer will then be self sufficient pulled by any vehicle.

At the moment I plan on building an aluminium frame and cladding this with recycled HDPE / polypropylene boards, these have the equivalent rigidity and strength of a similar thickness good quality ply but are weatherproof and don't require any finishing.

So the build (or at least the detailed planning begins), if anybody's got any advice, tips or can point me towards anything similar (on or off road as the base trailer doesn't really matter) I'd love to hear from you.

 

[Muddybaldboy]

Great trailer, I've had the same one for about 15 years, still going strong.

Mine gets used and abused including carrying and being towed by, my quad so off road is no problem.

The only drawback i've ever found is it can get a little wobbly over 50mph :roost: on tarmac.

I'd often toyed with a pod idea for mine but then discovered (and keep on rediscovering) Sankey and Rapier trailers:26_13_1:

 

[Samson360]

I used to have one of them, any pictures of how the "pod" is coming along?

 

[neilstubbs]

Ok I started playing around on sketchup, after a few evenings swearing at the laptop I feel like it would have been quicker to have just gone out to the garage to start building it.

Anyway here's where I got to, frame drawn mm perfect from 50x50 3mm box section:


Sent it off to a local aluminium fabricator for a quote, £570 :Wow1::Wow1::Wow1::Wow1: (about 1000USD?) I was expecting it to cost less than half that!
Apparently the alloy comes to nearly £400 alone.

So needless to say the frame now won't be built of aluminium. Steel is too heavy so I think I'll go cheap, cheerful and Eco with timber instead. Then either clad in ply and paint/ varnish or possibly fibreglass (not so Eco?) or maybe clad in recycled plastic sheet if I can source some in 9mm.

 

[Muddybaldboy]

http://www.themetalstore.co.uk/products/aluminium

Great guys to deal with, lot less than £400

 

[NathanD]

Oddly enough I am considering building along a similar line.

I have yet to get a trailer but was thinking of getting a GD84 which is 8' x 4' on its base.

My initial thoughts were to build a box that sat on the base but extended out by 1' at the sides and front once the short sides were cleared.

That would give me 9' x 5' to work on, and at 4' high with a top section of 3' sat on top it would be 7' when the top is raised.

This would be configured inside to sleep 4 with a small kitchen at the back and an awning for the side...

Was thinking of steel for the struts but will have to look at weight. A GD84 can carry a bigger load..

Hmmm, back to the sketches

 

[neilstubbs]

http://www.themetalstore.co.uk/products/aluminium

Great guys to deal with, lot less than £400

Thanks, but no, 25m of 50x50 box is still around £400 :Wow1:

I have found a local supplier a bit cheaper but it's still around £300, so will still be nearly £500 built...

I also got a quote for a lockable tambour (roller shutter) door for the side like on a fire engine, that would be £270 ish.

Much as I'd love to go all out I'm still thinking timber frame may be the only way to keep the budget sensible.

I also think if ever I decide to sell it however good the build quality it may not be a very desirable product as will be very bespoke to me.

 

[neilstubbs]

Oddly enough I am considering building along a similar line.

I have yet to get a trailer but was thinking of getting a GD84 which is 8' x 4' on its base.

My initial thoughts were to build a box that sat on the base but extended out by 1' at the sides and front once the short sides were cleared.

That would give me 9' x 5' to work on, and at 4' high with a top section of 3' sat on top it would be 7' when the top is raised.

This would be configured inside to sleep 4 with a small kitchen at the back and an awning for the side...

Was thinking of steel for the struts but will have to look at weight. A GD84 can carry a bigger load..

Hmmm, back to the sketches

Sounds good, you are correct gd84 can carry a lot more weight, what's MGW? 1500kg? But my logic is the heavier you make it the more fuel you will use dragging it around? Plus harder work on your tow vehicle, clutch etc?

 

[Muddybaldboy]

Thanks, but no, 25m of 50x50 box is still around £400 :Wow1:

I have found a local supplier a bit cheaper but it's still around £300, so will still be nearly £500 built...

I also got a quote for a lockable tambour (roller shutter) door for the side like on a fire engine, that would be £270 ish.

Much as I'd love to go all out I'm still thinking timber frame may be the only way to keep the budget sensible.

I also think if ever I decide to sell it however good the build quality it may not be a very desirable product as will be very bespoke to me.

Ouch! lots of pics of progress please :Wow1:

 

[Muddybaldboy]

Coincidentlly I used to have a GD84 running on 16" Land Rover wheels. Awesome piece of kit. I found it too big for some jobs and too small for others so traded it in for one like yours and a 12 foot tipper.

NathanD, depending on where you're towing (ie lots of road vs. off road) I found the GD84 nicer to tow at fast road speeds but was a bit bouncy off road if only lightly loaded.

 

[Samson360]

Uk towing laws are a joke. I tow a braked trailer and I found out that it's ILLEGAL for me to tow with my Hilux but perfectly legal to tow with a mondeo size car! And as for the towing test apart from the simple reversing exercise it has nothing to do with towing.
Ifor Williams P6 are great little trailers by the way and well over engineered should you need to put a bit more weight on than your allowed.

 

[bonomonster]

Why illegal to tow with the Hilux?

 

[Samson360]

Anyone who passed there test after Jan 97 can only tow a combination of vehicle and trailer where the combined gross weights don't exceed 3500kg. As the GVW of my hilux is 3020kg that only leaves me 480kg. If I was to tow with a lighter car with say a GVW of 2000kg that would leave me a trailer weight of 1500kg. Crazy laws, I've been towing all size trailers over the past 16 years blissfully unaware of these laws until now.

 

[neilstubbs]

Anyone who passed there test after Jan 97 can only tow a combination of vehicle and trailer where the combined gross weights don't exceed 3500kg. As the GVW of my hilux is 3020kg that only leaves me 480kg. If I was to tow with a lighter car with say a GVW of 2000kg that would leave me a trailer weight of 1500kg. Crazy laws, I've been towing all size trailers over the past 16 years blissfully unaware of these laws until now.

I agree, it is particularly ridiculous because generally I think it is safer to tow with a heavier vehicle! I too have towed various trailers over last few years, mostly a 3 tonne gh106 ifor williams plant trailer behind my pickup, way way over what's legal! But I do think the police are cracking down a bit these days hence I bought the p7e. I'd forgotten about the MAM combined of 3.5t though... Technically that means I'm not allowed to tow the p7e behind my vw t5 (Mam of 2.8t) but I think you'd be less likely to get done for that than towing a trailer over 750kg. I have a policeman mate and he knows less about trailer laws than I do!

 

[neilstubbs]

Anyone who passed there test after Jan 97 can only tow a combination of vehicle and trailer where the combined gross weights don't exceed 3500kg. As the GVW of my hilux is 3020kg that only leaves me 480kg. If I was to tow with a lighter car with say a GVW of 2000kg that would leave me a trailer weight of 1500kg. Crazy laws, I've been towing all size trailers over the past 16 years blissfully unaware of these laws until now.

Slight correction on what you say above, unless you have passed your trailer test the max trailer weight you can tow is 750kg, regardless of how light the towing vehicle is.