landyawd Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Morning all.... After some advice on a a suitable trailer for towing a 100" challenge truck.... I know the laws and I am just about to book myself in a trailer course + test, at great expense I might add ? Anyway as per above I have a 100" discovery based truck winches and cage etc... Not sure in weight although j sure some of you have weighed yours?? Thanks people! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejparrott Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 You'll need a vehicle trailer, or one with small wheels and the deck over the top. Need to keep the CoG low. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miketomcat Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 I would guess at pushing 2.5 ton plenty of trailers out there car trailers are great for cog but wide. Beaver tail are narrower but higher so take your choice. There is two things I would recommend above all else though strap all four wheels with 2 ton straps and strap the chassis down front and rear as well to stop the truck bouncing around on the trailer. Mike 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Idris Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 The beast was 1800kg before I added a third winch, with no gear on it. It is a V8 automatic RRC chassis. The body panels are a token gesture on it, so it is easily over two tonne with mud. The trailer adds another 750kg to the train weight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddy Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 I would buy a 3.5T MAM trailer. One or two things to consider... How wide is your motor, do you wish to carry spares, do you want to use it for any other tasks, what storage do you have? Will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSD Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Remember where you are planning on taking the trailer. I've grounded out my beavertail trailer a few times towing cars onto comp safari sites and the like. No real damage, but smashed lights. The lower CoG of a transporter might come at the cost of grounding out more often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landyawd Posted October 15, 2014 Author Share Posted October 15, 2014 Good point about the width, sounds silly but I didn't really think of that too much. Measuring at the tyres it's about 6.1 feet. I am going to guess it will be around 2.2 ton when loaded with gear etc.... It would be nice to carry a a few spares, (wheel or two, tool boxes, jack etc....) I think your right about 3.5ton, the more I look that seems the better option, albeit a lot more expensive So I just need to decide beaver tail flat bed, or a car transporter type, anyone got any advice on makes, used or new?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddy Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 If you want to carry spares then a flatbed helps, I chuck shafts, hubs, steering arms ect under my motor, although don't forget this means any mud that drops off is collected by the trailer floor. As it's an off-roader you don't need a beaver tail and a lot of my mates use short steep ramps to load as these are lighter and easier to handle. Some other club members also use a plant trailer such as an ifor GX. You basicly have Brian James, ifor Williams, indespension and graham Edwards. I am biased but I don't like the small wheels on graham edwards, I'm not keen on indespension units when the trailer is empty behind my 90 or screwing round with a lot of weight on and we sell ifors at work. So I bought an ifor, but they do rattle, get stolen as much as defenders and although all he parts are readily available the price of re braking and re lighting a trailer soon gets expensive although this applies to all trailers. Will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynic-al Posted October 15, 2014 Share Posted October 15, 2014 Mines 2 tonne but you easily go over that once it's muddy wet or you add more steel. If you can tow a 3.5 tonne get s 3.5 tonne. I tow with a pickup and all spares and tool go in that which ups the weight on the tow vehicle rather than trailer so better for handling. The car transporters are very wide to tow and you really have to think. They are also often restrictive on width and trucks with big tyres can be very tight. That said they are low and tow well. I have a flat bed. I didn't want a beaver tail as I want a flat bed to carry stuff other than cars, the beaver bit takes away from the flat area. It does make it harder to load normal cars. It also means that your 4x4 is high up. I strap the wheel to the trailer but also put a tether on the body as the soft suspension and really allow the tail to wag the dog if your not careful. It comes down to your individual situation and what best compromises fit you. If cash was no object I bould get a baetson pt56 I don't know how it compares but a bloke around here does a b+e course and test for around £400 with a good pass rate. I did mine in a mini Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Team Idris Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 Here's mine before the back was shortened and given a slight beaver tail. The ramps are now on hinges. It's partly home built with ladder rungs and 16" rims on 10 bolt indespension type units. I changed from a worn 2.5 tonne hitch to a 3.5 tonne a few years back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moose Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 I do a lot of towing of my comp truck across europe etc... and having a good trailer is a must, driving non-stop for 30 hours with 3 tonne on the back you just don't need to the stress of checking the mirrors for tyres failing every 30sec. I use 2 trailers depending on what i am doing both are Brian James the one i own is a 3T with the wheels on the out side of the deck, this great trailer the low cog mean it tows a dream (zero wagging) behind my disco even when in the massive lorry ruts of the M4, but as has been mentioned by some one else because its low it really suffers from ground clearance. I have towed my truck to Romanian on this trailer and on some of roads the ground clearance was a problem. Also due to the lower weight limit of this trailer i don't load it up with lots of spares (like wheels) either. The other trailer I use/borrow is a 3.5T Brian James beaver tail with deck over the wheels because to of the extra space we will load it right up usually with gen set on the front and 5 spare wheel under the truck. It tows fine behind the disco (but not as good as the low deck one) and tows better behind the van with the longer wheelbase. . The other thing to remember is the tyres and wheels, proper trailer tyres are at really high pressures (I run both trailers at 75psi) if they are not run at the correct pressures they get to hot and blow... so if buying second hand make sure some one has not put car tyres and wheels on the trailer your looking at. hope this helps... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landyawd Posted October 16, 2014 Author Share Posted October 16, 2014 Brilliant, Thanks for that guys, that is some great information there. Obviously I have to take my test first so will do some research as to where I should go for that. CYNIC-AL not sure where you are based although if you PM me the details on your trailer training place that would be fantastic!! Looking at some of these I think I will go down the car transporter route. Or maybe a plant trailer (Ifor GX type) as mentioned earlier providing I can get the Landy on there... Eitherway Once again thanks for the help so far! If anyone else has any experience on trailers etc it would be great to hear from you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cynic-al Posted October 16, 2014 Share Posted October 16, 2014 The guy in the village is http://www.drivingandtowingtraining.co.uk/ which is nowhere near you but does give you a price for comparison I guess. I did mine before he started doing trailers (he's a normal instructor too) and used someone else but 2 friends have used him and both passed. Back when I did mine I had 3 x 2 hour lessons & had to hire the instructors car for 2 hours for the test so for someone who already has the hang of it a 1 day course should be fine. For me the hardest bit was driving like your supposed to on a test, 10 to 2 and making a real effort to ensure they see you checking mirrors etc. I'm told your allowed to cross your hands now on a driving test so that's one thing done away with It seems you can also shunt as many time as you want on the reverse now as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escape Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 I used to have an Ifor Williams CT177, used both for 4x4s and normal or sports cars and occasionally to carry ‘other big things’. I really liked it, cog was low but the tires not too small with protruding wheel wells designed to be driven over so you can use the full width of the trailer. Big advantage for me was the easy of (un)loading (tippind bed with sliding ramps for low cars) and the perforated deck with plenty of tiedown points. Ground clearance was never really a problem, we even took it to Russia twice. If I ever need a car transporter again, I’ll probably buy the same, but would like some modifications to make it even more flexible. Like a different system for the rear lights and a flat floor with the reinforcements below rather than above the deck. And perhaps the possibility to add sides, like on the Bateson. It did rattle when empty though. Filip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discomikey Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 We use a GE 12ft Tri axle flatbed demount cattle trailer being a big investment we needed something that could be as versatile as possible. Dad just wanted a cattle trailer to replace our knackered ifor one, i convinced him that the ability to move cars about was a massive advantage and boy was i right! dont know what i would do without it. previously we had 3 trailers to do the job this one does, plus they couldnt transport cars. its a little taller than most dedicated car transporters but that is the comprimise of such a versatile trailer. while a "low loader" type trailer dedicated for vehicle transport is ideal for long road haulage, this thing is not bad at all, its very stable and the brakes are great on it. to be honest, my truck is the limitation on what i feel is safe to tow. i will tow 3.5T but only if it is balanced absolutely right. i will also ballast my truck out as i see fit due to its weight and short wheelbase. We chose Graham edwards over Ifor because its what our local slaughterhouse have used for years, they reckon they are much better and more sturdy built than the ifors and having looked at them side by side i completely agree, plus from what i have seen the newer(ish) ifor trailers galvanizing goes off quite quickly and rust stains start to appear. whereas ours still looks new today 5 years on. The slaughterhouse dont go easy on their equiment at all so we deemed that if they were suitable for that, it would be fine for someone who looks after it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.