Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

Ok guys I'm looking into building a car trailer with a mate of mine who has alot of experience with metal fab work,

I have a few questions before we get started;

1; I'm assuming u need some sort of engineering cert for it, if so does it need to be built in stages?

2; What are some if the specifications ie; type of steel, minimum requirements etc

3; any feedback or tips from people who have done this would be much appreciated.

Cheers in advance - Trent

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/363382-car-trailer-specs/
Share on other sites

ive built a few car trailers now and will be building another one soon . i use 75mm x 50 x 3mm rhs for the main chassis and runner supports . cross supports i use 50 x50 x3 mm rhs drawbar i use 75 x50 x 6 mm .

i use 45 mm square axles with brakes on front axle not many people know this but if your hubs centre too centre are less than a metre you can register it as a single axle i can scan the the page from the road transport site to back that up . here in sa you dont have to get it engineering cert as you build when finished the rego dept will give you a list of people who will inspect it for you and issue a compliance plate and some paper work cost about 70 bucks last one i did .

take the paper work to rego dept and they will register it , tilt trailers are a easy to make just make the draw bar pivot near the axle and have a way of locking it in place from the trailer chassis if making a tilt trailer use a rocker spring set up as opposed to slider type springs .

hope this helps

cheers dean

Can anyone give Me some dimensions of their trailers, I have a rough design drawn. It consists of 2 axels 950mm apart, overall length 6400mm, overall width 1900 -2000mm, tyre rack to go over the bonnet of car 700mm high from base of trailer.

Some photos would be handy aswell.

Thanks guys - Trent

Anyone looked into those car trailers that are common in the USA?

basically you put the front wheels up on it and the rear wheels roll like a tow truck..

be alot better for storage as its less than half the length of a car trailer and would only need a single axle..

just a thought

Yeah I know the ones your talking about, I dunno how my skyline would go on that tho, I can barely get up my driveway without my exhaust scraping, I would imagine that it would scrape alot on that trailer with all the bumps on the road

Anyone looked into those car trailers that are common in the USA?

basically you put the front wheels up on it and the rear wheels roll like a tow truck..

be alot better for storage as its less than half the length of a car trailer and would only need a single axle..

just a thought

yeah, i posted a similar question in the race car trailer thread in motorsport.

General feeling was you'd be ok if the car you were towing was registered. Potential for rape by cops if it is unregistered as no means of proving the car is roadworthy considering it's wheels are in use....

Bit hard to find solid info on something oddball like that.

i know a tow driver will be coming into my shop shortly, i'll try to remember to ask him about that.

biggest thing with those trailers would be the need for a trailer rego and lights to be remote and hang from the back of the car somehow.

  • 2 weeks later...

If you don't want to make a tilt, look into making a beaver tail, they're not that much harder to build than a standard flat trailer, but make it a lot easier to load lowered cars, the beaver tail reduces the sharp angle between the ramp and the trailer, where most low cars would hit their chassis rail or exhaust.

Can anyone give Me some dimensions of their trailers, I have a rough design drawn. It consists of 2 axels 950mm apart, overall length 6400mm, overall width 1900 -2000mm, tyre rack to go over the bonnet of car 700mm high from base of trailer.

Some photos would be handy aswell.

Thanks guys - Trent

my next one im building is a couple of months away but i might to a step by step photo build as i go

it will be 6 ft 6'' by 16 ft tray area total width 2450mm from outside edge of mudgaurd to mudgaurd 2500mm is the max you can go .

from the vehicle standeds bulletin 1 max length cant be any longer than 12.5 metres

max width 2500 but excluding signalling devices ands side mounted lamps

rear overhang must not exceed the lesser of 3.7 metres or the front load space

ground clearance when unloaded be not less than 100 mm for any point in the width of the vehicle which is within one metre fore and aft of any axle

hope some of this helps ya

Just jump on your states dept of transport website and download the standards..

I have just built one of those airbag tilting trailers like they make in qld (tiltatrailer) It cost me about $2k all up

You dont need any engineering qualifications to build them, you just need to be able to show that you can fabricate to that level

A tip for getting dimensions.. Hire a trailer or 2 or borrow from friends to see what tows best and fits you car best, then measure them up

I have a heep of PDF files with drawings from every single lug/ pin/ rail/ bracket and step by step how to assemble, all the legal requirements, lenghs for everything, max and min sizes, how to mount hitch, lighting circuits, a complete list of all the metal you need to buy. I will email it to you if you want. PM me your email address.

  • 4 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

ive built a few car trailers now and will be building another one soon . i use 75mm x 50 x 3mm rhs for the main chassis and runner supports . cross supports i use 50 x50 x3 mm rhs drawbar i use 75 x50 x 6 mm .

i use 45 mm square axles with brakes on front axle

Hey Dean.

What's the usual tare of a trailer you've built with those specs? Tandem axle, hydro braked. Large enough to fit a skyline but nothing heavier.

Cheers

Pete

  • 1 month later...

If your building it from scratch is there any reason to put sides on it? If I was building a purpose built car trailer I would leave the sides off and use guards that mount directly to the axles like hot rods so you have max clearance for opening doors.

  • 10 months later...
  • 7 years later...

If you are referring to the trailers in the us a 2 wheel trailer where only the front or rear wheels are on the ground in aust they are commonly called easy tow or dolly trailers I've used an easy tow for both commercial and private use anything from complete cars to rolling shell's drag cars to dirt circuit (speedway)cars their use has been  grey area for unregistered or unregistrable cars  I was told by highway patrol as long as the trailer rego plate and lights are at the rear of the vehicle being towed technically the car is covered by the trailer's rego 

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • Surely the merged entity will be called "Honda" given the relative company values. I've got to be honest, I don't understand how merging 2 companies that missed EVs (despite Nissan making the first mass produced one) will solve their problems
    • If you haven't bought the ECU yet, I would strongly consider buying a modern ECU. Yes it is very easy to setup and tune, however it is lacking many of the features of a modern ECU. The pro plug in is something like 10 or 12 years old now? Can't remember exactly but it is very dated now. In that time the Elite was released and now we have the Nexus platform.  I would strongly consider not buying the ECU that is 3 generations old now (especially as it isn't a cheap ECU!). 
    • Im happy for it as long as it means reanult gets the boot 
    • Sorry I should have been more clear with the previous post.  The block is a sanding block - picture something like this https://motorguard.com/product/motor-guard-bgr161-bgr16-1-rigid-psa-sanding-block-2-5-8-x-16/ The guide coat is the paint It's two separate things I was talking about, there is no "block guide coat". 
    • Maybe more accurately, you aren't just dulling the existing paint, you are giving the new paint something to 'grab on to'. By sanding the existing paint, you're creating a bunch of pores for the new paint to hook on to.  You can lay new paint over existing paint without sanding it, might last a year or two then sad times. The paint will peal/flake off in huge chunks. By sanding it, the new paint is able to hang onto it and won't flake off.  Depends on the primer you are using. When you buy your paint, as the paint supplier what grit of sand paper to use before you lay down the primer.  Use whatever you like as a guide coat. Pick a colour that really stands out in contrast to the paint. So say your sanding/painting a currently white car, using a black guide coat would work well. You very lightly lay the black guide coat down, then as you sand the car with the large block, all the high spots and low spots will stand out as the black paint is sanded off (or isn't sanded off).  When you buy your paint, hit up your supplier for recommendations for what paint to use for a guide coat if you're unsure what would work well with your setup. 
×
×
  • Create New...