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  1. #16
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
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    Canberra
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    1,322

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    Quote Originally Posted by BaronJ View Post
    I would make sure that all the cross members were clean and rust free before painting and then undercoating them.
    Yep, I'm currently going through grinding down the welds that I plasma cut and wire wheeling rusty bits, then spraying with cold gal. Once I'm done, I'll probably add a coat of something, not sure what yet.

    I put timber cross members under my van 12mm plywood floor, using the space to run water, gas and electric cables around. Since you don't have a sub floor, I would use plastic pipe to get any utilities from one side to the other. Secured with Ty wraps which won't be thick enough to lift the floor.
    A sub-floor would be handy, but there's only 1850mm of height inside the trailer at the moment, which is a pain as I'm a bit taller than that. That said, I don't think I'll need to run much under the floor.

    Just wondering whether I need to glue and screw the ply to the steel cross-members, or will just screws be sufficient.

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Canberra
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    With the floor removed, along with the front and back panels of the trailer, I decided to weigh it again, as it's going to be the lightest it'll ever be. It came out at 580kg, which is close to half the weight I measured initially. Still a little sceptical of the accuracy of these figures, but it certainly feels much lighter to move around.

    Once I finish cleaning off the cross members, I'll add the extra steel framing to the front and install the 12mm ply floor, which will start to add weight back to the trailer.

    I'm cognisant of final balance and towball weight as stuff is added to the trailer. Some things simply have to go where they go, other things can be moved to balance out those weights. One heavy item is the batteries - they're lithium, but will weigh somewhere between 60 and 100kg (4 x ~100AH). I had initially intended to place them in the extra 300mm I'm adding to the front, but now suspect that will be too much weight too far forward. I also have the option to put stuff below floor level, which was just going to be the water tanks, but I'm now wondering of the batteries could go under the floor and closer to the axle so as to reduce their effect on the trailer's balance.

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Location
    Bendigo
    Age
    60
    Posts
    419

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    If using just screws then water wicks into the joint and promotes rust. An panel bonding adhesive will seal the joint and often include corrosion inhibitors.

    Of course replacing the floor later on is harder than just removing screws.

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Canberra
    Posts
    1,322

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    Another question for the brains trust. I'm installing 2 small water tanks under the floor, ideally either side of the axle so the balance doesn't change much as one tank empties (although it'll be going into the second tank, which is for grey water).

    However there's only a 50mm gap between the front of the tank and the back of the axle (tank is sitting higher than its final height in this pic):
    IMG_0264.jpg

    Whereas the rear spring link looks like it could allow maybe 60mm of rear movement if it were to completely bottom out. but I don't know if that means the axle will also move 60mm backwards and hit the tank, or less than that distance as the spring flattens out.
    IMG_0265.jpg

    Just trying to work out if I'm taking a dumb risk putting the tank that close?

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    York, North Yorkshire UK
    Posts
    6,439

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    Hi Russell,

    You don't want to have any tank protrude below the axle !

    When I made mine There was a number of very convenient holes in the chassis where I made hooked rods with a thread on the end. Using some 20 mm square bar with holes drilled through at the ends along with nuts and washers, supported both tanks in the space between the floor and chassis runners.

    Both tanks were made from 12 mm thick black polythene sheet, heat welded along the inside edges with the outside edges sealed with a half round copper bit, a bit like a soldering iron. I used a 50 Mtr roll of black 4 mm filler to weld the inside. Both the water tanks are vented on the top, so when your feet get wet you know that its full.

    I also made and fitted a water level sensor in both tanks, so that I know how much fresh water that I have left, and the other is just for warning me when the Gray water needs to be emptied. I'm sure that you know but don't drink the fresh water without boiling it first. I put bleach tablets in my fresh water tank each year ! You don't know what might be growing in there.
    Best Regards:
    Baron J.

  6. #21
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Canberra
    Posts
    1,322

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    Quote Originally Posted by BaronJ View Post
    You don't want to have any tank protrude below the axle !
    I didn't describe my issue properly - the tank will be sitting 50mm behind the axle - I'm just wondering if there's a risk the axle will move backwards as the springs flatten, and possibly hit the side of the tank.

  7. #22
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    York, North Yorkshire UK
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    6,439

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    Quote Originally Posted by RustyArc View Post
    I didn't describe my issue properly - the tank will be sitting 50mm behind the axle - I'm just wondering if there's a risk the axle will move backwards as the springs flatten, and possibly hit the side of the tank.
    Hi Russell,

    I did misunderstand ! Its unlikely that the axle would move that far even under a large twisting load, 50 mm should be more than enough clearance.
    Best Regards:
    Baron J.

  8. #23
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Geelong, Australia
    Age
    57
    Posts
    2,651

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    To confirm for yourself, Measure the curved length of the top spring leaf from the forward side of the front eye bush (ie the forward ID of the spring eye) to the rear of the axle.

    Take that measurement and lay it out flat along the chassis rail, starting from the fwd side of the pivot bolt.
    That’s as far as the axle can ever possibly go rearward, even if the eye bush was completely flogged and the spring was bearing on the bolt.

    Steve

  9. #24
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Canberra
    Posts
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    I'm still totally confused about the weight rating of this trailer. I looked up the rego, and it is indeed rated at 2t ATM, and a tare of 440kg, which must have been before it was modified.

    However the axle is 40mm square braked, which looking at the Huntsman trailer parts site, corresponds to a 1t axle setup. I cannot understand how it could have been approved as 2t - there's no sign of old hangers that might have been for a tandem setup.

  10. #25
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Canberra
    Posts
    1,322

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    I'd been wondering where I could take this trailer to get a weighbridge reading on its weight, as I wasn't 100% confident that my approach of weighing one wheel and the jockey wheel while levelling the other side was actually kosher.

    Then I remembered that there is a landscaping business over the road from me. And it turns out they have a weighbridge - according to Google Earth, it's 170m from where I've been working on this trailer.

    My last weight using my sketchy setup was 580kg. I've since added a new 12mm ply floor, and new steel framing to the font, and the weighbridge came in at 640kg. It's plausible that added 60kg so my approach probably wasn't terrible, but hooking up the trailer to my ute and driving over the road is certainly much quicker.

    From that 640kg figure, I've compiled a list of items that will be added, and have come out to a end weight of 1,100kg. Will be interesting to see how accurate that estimate ends up being.

  11. #26
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    York, North Yorkshire UK
    Posts
    6,439

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    Hi Russell,

    You might surprise yourself.
    Best Regards:
    Baron J.

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