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Thread: Camper wheel carrier weld repair
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3rd Jan 2022, 01:38 PM #16
Yes correct the trailer was second hand when i bought it , its a 2018 model Ezytrailer Albany Z model. I actually bought it off a mate , we went to inspect it together when he bought it from but never used it so i bought if off him. We had a good look underneath it shown any signs of serious offroading , the heavy duty independent suspension and frame wasnt damaged from rocks or had any mud stains, water tanks dent free ect
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3rd Jan 2022, 01:47 PM #17
No warranty as private purchase and no insurance , probably should have insured it looking back but figured for the amount of times we use it , we don't need it.. Fail !
Really lucky because if there was oncoming traffic that arm would have hit the oncoming vehicle square on, it could have been a real nightmare. It haunts me thinking about it.
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3rd Jan 2022, 01:48 PM #18
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3rd Jan 2022, 02:01 PM #19
Yep its a 2018 model Ezytrailer Albany Z model, we expected a few issues but not like this , but for the price we were happy to take the risk. A company in QLD make 100% Australian made camper trailers that are similar that cost around 75k. The Albany Z are 16k brand new and we paid a lot less than that. There is an old saying ...'' a poor man pays twice.." how true is that, if i could have afforded it i would have bought a Patriot X3 but we simply cannot afford.
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3rd Jan 2022, 02:36 PM #20
Had a good look underneath and the drawbar , all the welds look good , they are nice and thick and with no hint of cracking. A couple more pics .
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3rd Jan 2022, 03:12 PM #21Most Valued Member
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Can’t quite make it out on my phone - but In that first photo, the front of the plate that the carrier bolts to doesn’t look like it’s attached to anything??
Steve
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3rd Jan 2022, 03:21 PM #22
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3rd Jan 2022, 03:58 PM #23
This is the model, the whole arm is a swing arm with the wheel mount around the back from where the arm bolts to the chassis.
https://youtu.be/NMC2LdbVbRU?t=90Cheers
DJ
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3rd Jan 2022, 05:27 PM #24Most Valued Member
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About 1:33 in that video where he swings the wheel carrier out is pretty telling.
It drops a good 50mm as it comes off its supporting stop. There’s a lot of flex in it and huge leverage on that pivot joint that has failed.
At least it seems like it has a decent support at the closed end so the pivot isn’t carrying the weight when closed.
Others have suggested ways to strengthen the pivot area, but a couple of things to keep in mind..
Avoid an abrupt change in section at that join. Originally it had relatively thin wall SHS welded to solid bar at the point carrying the highest load.
A thicker wall tube there or a strap as I think Kryn suggested means it’s not such an abrupt thick-thin change, but don’t forget about what happens at the other end of your newly added thick piece. As an extreme example don’t weld a short bit of 8mm flat onto it to strengthen it - as you’re just moving that stress point and next time it breaks it will be at at the tube where it joins the 8mm strap.
The other thing that is probably just as important if no more so, is making sure the carrier can’t swing out while in transit.
Simple solutions like some form of slam latch in addition to the over center one, or a pin or something.
Yes, it’s perhaps less convenient than just the single latch - but much safer.
Steve
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3rd Jan 2022, 06:18 PM #25Most Valued Member
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Camper wheel carrier weld repair
A couple of ideas if you wanted to redesign the carrier. There are plenty of designs out there - these ones are on Landrovers and I'm using them as examples since I know 100% they are proven reliable, and since there's no fluffy plastic bodywork in the way you can see how they are constructed.
Dodgy old carrier thats on my 110 wagon. Just some pipe (25NB??), some simple pivot brackets and pins. Looks like plain bushes for the pins to pivot in, but no fancy roller bearings etc. Since its supported in 2 places there's much less stress on the pivots areas than in a single pivot cantilever design
And some that a mate of mine does commercially that are just single arm - ie "Kaymar" style that someone referred to earlier. From memory the main arm is 75x50x4 RHS, and the pivots are basically trailer axle bearings.
https://rijidijoffroad.com.au/products/
Steve
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3rd Jan 2022, 09:37 PM #26Most Valued Member
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Not exactly sure which model, but there was a recall on many of them because of draw bar breakage. Also saw a report of a wheel carrier coming off and almost going through windscreen of another vehicle.
Nev.
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4th Jan 2022, 01:05 PM #27Most Valued Member
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Having had a look at the promo video posted previously, I would be looking at where I could relocate the spare to so it wasn’t necessary to move it to release the flip top.
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5th Jan 2022, 10:07 AM #28Most Valued Member
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if you do a search on the net and Facebook there are several complaints about wheel carriers on those campers
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6th Jan 2022, 09:03 PM #29
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27th Jan 2022, 08:49 PM #30
Removed it off the car tonight , cleaned it up and welded it back together and painted it . It looks much better now.
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