Car Trailer Specs

[TJR32GTS-T]

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

[mid life crisis]

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

[TJR32GTS-T]

Thanks for the reply dean, this definatly helps and points me in the right direction, have u got any pics if some of the trailers you've built?

Cheers - trent

[TJR32GTS-T]

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

[Craved]

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

[TJR32GTS-T]

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

[badhairdave]

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.

[Craved]

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.

[midnight]

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.

[mid life crisis]

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

[CMS Drifter]

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

[Proximity Motorsport]

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.

[SNOQPY]

you can also put your rear car tyres on car ramps so it flattens out the trailer-ramps angle.

[W0rp3D]

HERE is all the info you need on the requirements of building a trailer.

[Erelyes]

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

[SNOQPY]

here is my 23 foot car trailer build in progress. going to be fully enclosed

Edited September 9, 2011 by SNOQPY

[W0rp3D]

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.

[SNOQPY]

sides give it mostlt strength, it started its life as an old caravan

[mid life crisis]

i know this is a old thread but here is the finished product . tows straight as a arrow and with the electric brakes pulls up like a normal car .

[Jimmy76]

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