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Overland Trailer - should I go crazy and buy one?
I have fallen in love with the idea of an overland trailer. This follows a normal pattern of me wanting something, trying to clear my fuzzy head so I can think clearly, and at the same time holding off buyng one. My wife is usually trying to talk sense at to me at the same time, and usually we can fight off the urge.
Often I come here to try and hear some proper advice. So, tell me, why shouldn't I buy one? The one I'm looking at is like this, but with a Myway trailer tent on top (Sam you may see some sort of comprimise here!!!!) Buzzard Industries Thanks for those who can talk sense into me :) |
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Another 10 years
Another 10 years and we could end up in the caravan club :)
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They are a great way to travel, easy setup, no packup required for that 50km trip to buy a carton of milk.
Downsides - you need to have a proper off road hitch if you dont want to shake the trailer and vehicle to bits. Getting stuck is about 50% easier, and 100% harder to get out. You might want to invest in a good hand winch. The temptation to fill the vehicle and the trailer has to be overcome - pack the vehicle with everything you want to take, then put 50% of it in the trailer and DONT pack anything else. Have the trailer built with Landrover wheels (or Toyota or whatever make) so that wheels are interchangeable. Do some homework on entry and departure angles, the rear overhang on the trailer can be a problem - I've seen a 4x4 trailer almost backed over after it dug in and the driver reversed "over" it to get himself out of trouble. Lash out and buy a Sankey PTO driven trailer. |
Before you spend your hard earned, get hold of a sankey trailer(non powered) and go to an off road pay-n-play course - that should cure you:thumbup1:
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And take a spare tow hitch.
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Trailer or Not!
I saw some amazing trailers at Billing this year. They were from SA and a Dutch company are importing then modifying them for use in the EU, sorry but can't remember their name.
We thought that they would be great (we were interested in the Supra model) as you could just hitch and go. The Supra was about GBP12,000 but that included almost everything from a tent and all the awnings, split charge system, lighting, water tanks, storage compartments and much more. I know there are downsides to trailers, especially for people like us who are planning a long overland trip around the world because of carnet hassles, shipping costs as they won't fit into a regular container and not to mention getting stuck but the main attraction to us was we wouldn't have to modify our vehicle half as much, we could unhitch and go off and explore while our camp stayed behind, we could leave the rear seats in for passengers/guides and if we ever wanted to sell the vehicle it could easily be turned back into a regular car quickly. We would love one but I think if we were in Australia (no border crossings) we would seriously consider a trailer but for this expedition we're going trailer-less. |
Billing
It was those crazy trailers at billing that set me off on this route. Too much mone yfor me, although had Iseen them at the beginning, things may have been different.
Now, Carnet and shipping, two things I hadn't considered. With the carnet is it just more value for you to stump up for? Or are there further compications. Shipping I woudl guess, the worse case scenario is doubling your shipping? Hmm we will be shipping at least 3 times as part of our trip. this could be costly. Anyone know anything about these two things for sure? Thanks everyone who has helped so far. |
Why not get an ex militrary sankey 3/4 ton trailer, or just the chassis, and build a body onto it?
much cheaper than one of the "custom" jobbies, and definately built for off road use. Have a look at what Chris has done over on LRx4 for his 110 |
I've not really looked at the messages and the links but I am very familiar with overland trailers and they look really good, a great idea in fact.
However, in real life I do quite a lot of towing and I can honestly say that I think that it would be a real pain to take a trailer on a long trip. There is the extra worry of tyres, wheel bearings, lights, parking, things falling off it etc. Less is more! Cheers, Matt although, if less is more, just think how much more is! |
Errring
I'm erring towards less is more, however I am going to sleep on it, and will update next week with my rumminations.
Thanks all :) |
Yer Matt, I know you are probably right - there are hassles with towing and parking, things falling off blah, blah, blah but they are pretty good and a tempting item to purchase.
Imagine, almost anyone with a good 4x4 could hitch one of those things to their Toyota or similar and head off into the sunset. It would make the whole planning process a lot easier and probably cheaper as well, especially the ones at Billing as they were fully kitted out for long overland trips. I thought that a better set of shocks wouldn't go a miss but other than that I couldn't see too many other changes I'd make. As I mentioned before the hassles would be shipping costs and border crossing problems with officials and general hassles and having to pay 'extra' for all sorts of crazy, made-up rules. OK, if you are someone who is keen on some serious off-roading and crazy driving on your trip then maybe a trailer would cramp your style but for me they get the two-thumbs-up for convenience and I reckon if you did a costing on kitting out your truck and hitching a trailer the later just might come up trumps. Barbara |
Having four children the only we can go overlanding again is with a trailer.
I had a good chat to the Ithende guys at Billing and am very tempted by what they are offering, however they aren't cheap so I am still toying with going down the route of getting something like a Sankey and using it as a base for building my own. Graham Smith from here had a great trip down to Cape Town with his trailer and I'm sure will provide some great feedback. My attitude is that they are expensive, however once you have one it's very easy to just hitch it up and take off when ever you want, whether it is a trip round Africa, a trip round Europe or even a few days on the beach with the kids. Also worth noting that I know of a UK company looking to produce Sankey based kits for trailers so you can either buy a complete trailer or just the bits to bolt onto your own sourced Sankey. I believe that there should be some writeups about them coming in one of the LR mags in the coming months. Costs wise these should come out about half the price of the SA offerings. |
I've seen Graham's Desert Wolf, a fantastic trailer, but I would be worried with everything being stainless.
OK, yes it doesn't rust, however stainless is more brittle than conventional steel and also obviously harder to repair in the bush. I have to say that the Ithende trailers I saw were just as good as the Desert Wolf trailers, and coming from a military background should be every bit as rugged. |
Who makes them?
Ollie/Julian
who makes the Ithende trailers? I was under the impression they are imported from SA!?! If you look around the web there are lots of trailers out there but how many of those are trully built to withstand the harsh of road battering that they would suffer on an overland trip. Chris |
I can't remember if they make them themselves or if they just import, however I understand that they are from one of the main miliraty trailer companies in SA.
I can find out more if interested. |
Dutch
The guys I spoke to said they were working out of Holland and trying to start a UK market.
I can't tell the difference between an Africaans accent and Dutch, so I don't know whether they were from SA or not. |
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I was talking to them about possibly becoming a distributor, in addition to doing the trailers they are also bringing out roof racks and drawer systems. |
Kids
Man, I'm tempted to have kids just as an excuse to buy one of those trailers.
From the reaction of all the people I spoke to at billing, they have a market. Costly, but had the wow factor... |
off road trailer
Ollie,
Be careful with taking a trailer to Oz. I know a couple who did the same trip Netherlands to Oz with ex army trailer. First of all the thing broke down twice (big time) before they reached Oz. When they got there, the trailer was not admitted because it didn't comply with Ozzy road rules. They could scrap it and had to buy a new one. They actually had one completely rebuilt to their original design but now Ozzy road worthy. Everything together it set them back quite a bit of money. With respect to general experience of pulling a trailer, they were very happy with it and would take it again on their next trip and they are actually doing that right now on their RTW. 2nomads.nl: De auto This is their site with the Ozzy trailer, also in english I guess you could drop em a line what the specific requirement were for the Ozzy trailer. Cheers, Noel exploreafrica.web-log.nl |
Hi
I had never really got trailers in the radar till i saw them at billing, and there has just been an article in Overland Journal comparing some, whether they are available here i am not sure.. I think they would be great for the bennefits outlined so far, but there are other things maybe worth considering when towing. I tow a sawmill and trailers daily; In this country you are restricted to 60mph and not allowed in the outside lane on the motorway, not sure what you might find in other countries, and maybe not an issue. Heavy or badly loaded ones put extra stress on your vehicle- had to fit oil cooler on the LC. The more space you have the more you will carry- the temptation of carrying masses of cheap fuel when you find it... Trailers will reduce mpg considerably, So its a pros and cons list... I would give one ago i think just from the versatility aspect.. its such a pain with a roof tent set up if you just want to go out for a day from camp. Cheers Stan |
I towed trailers round Africa for many years and I swore I'd never have one of my own. However, after having three kids I'm tempted to stick one on the back of my car and do see the benefit side as well.
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Look at theis site for...
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Ollie - think in part it depends on your route. We tow our Sankey regularly and it would be fine on routes where its mainly tarmac / gravel tracks. This would probably give you most the route out to Aus, Iceland, Europe. Gets a bit harder if you going into more serious terrain such as deserts, mud, tight mountain tracks. Met a dutch couple in a LR 90 towing a trailer in Africa but they ended up having to travel in convoy with two other Landrovers through places like Sudan where they were crossing lots of soft sand. They could have done it without going in convoy but would have spent a lot of time on solo recovery - they got bogged more often / easily because of the drag of the trailer. On their own, they would either have to get both free or decouple the trailer, get the 90 out and then drap the trailer out. Certainly do-able but depending on your route and likely terrain, could be a big hassle. Down to how much you rate the convenience of having a separate trailer - of course with a trailer, have you thought about taking other toys like a motorcycle / kayaks / jet ski / inflatable boat + outboard / etc. Lots of options.
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Well if..........
Well it all depends what is pulling the trailer, LR's will struggle but LC's with that big 4.2 D will just power on throught - (all said tongue in cheek!!!)
DUCK, the flying spanners and expletives!!!!! |
Hi Toby!
Hi Toby - hope you and the family are well ...
Currently we are probably not going to go for it, although saying that if the wife was a little keener to release the funds I may have bought one by now. She is, of course, the sensible one. I think maybe for part two of the trip, Oz onwards, we can start looking at more options, for now its probably best to keep things simple. We are, though, taking our bikes and an inflatable canoe with us :) Say hi to all from me and throw a stick for Havoc :) |
Hi
As Julian has said, I have an off road trailer - Desert Wolf. Without any doubt, the best single item I have ever bought. My wife and children agree. A couple of things which are relevant and should be considered. 1) The trailer gives you room to pack rubbish, so pack carefully.. 2) We carried nearly all our stuff in the trailer, so the car was relatively empty - the roof rack made a fantsastic game viewing platform. 3) You only need the second carnet in some countries - in our case egypt and sudan. All the other countries I just used the car carnet. The trailer has the same reg as the car. 4) Ferries - you have to pay extra for an 8m long vehicle vs a 5m long vehicle. On our trip this equated to USD60 extra per ferry. 5) Shipping - This was a surprise to me. I used a 40ft container to ship from Durban back to Tilbury, and it cost me the same as most people shipping 20ft containers.... I think a 20ft high top container is the same cost as a 40ft standard container... (my guess anyway), so if you have a loaded roofrack and no trailer you will pay roughly the same a someone who has a trailer and empty roofrack. The advantages of a trailer for us 1) Extra space to walk, sleep and play 2) Total privacy when you are camping, eating etc in areas where you are being watched 3) Better load distribution 4) Being able to drive off, leaving an established camp - go game viewing, etc with the children and returning to a cooked dinner... 5) Protected kitchen - You dont have to cook in the wind and rain at the back of your car... 6) Roofrack is empty so better stability and off road capability, especially when you want to play (and leave the trailer in camp). This is a HUGE additional safety feature. 7) We have a ready means to go camping spontaneously now we are home. Everything is in one place, and simply stopping for groceries is all we need to do to go camping 5) The trailer can carry heaps of diesel. Mine has a 70l tank plus I now have 7 x 20l jerry cans. Total 210L!!! If you are travelling South through Africa where diesel generally gets more expensive, filling up all of these things saves ££££ $$$$. This saving can easily be far greater than the extra cost of ferries and shipping etc. I dont recommend carrying the tanks full all the time, only where it is strategically advantageous. Now for choice of trailer, because not all trailers are the same... I will declare that I have a Desert Wolf and although it is expensive to buy - it is without a doubt the best off road trailer made. While we are in Southern Africa I looked at lots of trailers and the quality can vary considerably. A few things to look out for:- 1) I recommed getting a trailer which has a braked tow hitch. Unbraked trailers are a hassle and probably very dangerous when fully loaded. 2) Get one with decent springs - ours now has 8mm thick leaf springs. These are now standard on all new desert wolfs. Some of the trailers I saw had really weak springs. 3) Tent design - some trailer tents can take an age to put up. Ours -which has the main tent and kitchen tent takes us 6 minutes!!! So I would recommend an A-frame tent wich does not need side panels etc added to it. If you are only going to be going to static sites and staying there this is largely irrelevant. 3) Get 15inch wheels minimum, and if possible get the same wheels as the tow vehicle. Finally tow vehicle. I you want to tow a trailer I recommend the 4.2 turbo Land Cruisers. Our car did 15 to 20mpg, with the trailer. She really doesnt even know the trailer is there... There are about 15 companies in Southern Africa making trailers, so if you are interested in a trailer have a really good look at their differences. If you are unsure.. just buy a DW - you wont regret it!!! PM or e-mail me via the website: Smith Family Odyssey if you have any questions or would like a list of manufacturers HTH Graham. |
Mr. Smith :),
I wondered about the trailer thing knowing you've the same experience as me of them, though somewhat larger and heavier. It's good to read your views on them. Did you have the same track on it as Miranda? Did you ever need to lower the tyre pressures? Were the tyres the same size as on Miranda? Could you see enough of the rear corners when reversing? Any maintenance to it? You had a broken spring I think, how did you overcome that? I notice you now say "ours now has 8mm thick leaf springs". Did you get yours from the dealer in the UK? What made you decide on that model and not the Cub or Lynx or whatever? And finally - can you reveal roughly the cost of a basic one of these things as there are no prices on the web site? Thanks a lot, Mark. P.S. Only 35 degrees and sunny here today, but nevertheless I'll brave the weather and go to the pool yet again. |
My car is so much nicer/cheaper to drive when it's not loaded down. I heard some advice at Ripley that I hope to apply before I leave. Lay out everything I think I need, put half of it aside and then halve it again! I'm not sure I've got the balls for the second bit, but if I think of the fuel savings and handling, it might help take the fear out of it.
Anyway - just my thoughts. Best of luck. |
Ollie
Toys sound good - so are you still cycling back or are you now paddling back in the inflatable canoe, dodging the crocs and sharks of north Australia?
Family is good. Havoc on the positive side has chilled a bit (its all relative) but is now substantially larger, stronger, heavier which has its challenges. Cheers Tobias |
Sankey
So, those advocating a Sankey, what do people think of this one?
camping trailer with roof tent on eBay, also, Land Rover, Car Parts, Cars, Parts Vehicles (end time 15-Aug-08 17:41:54 BST) Comments appreciated .... |
What about this........
Ollie
was this what you were looking at? Reasonable price at oment. off road camping trailer and roof tent on eBay, also Trailer Tents, Tents, Camping, Sporting Goods (end time 14-Aug-08 20:56:24 BST) Although not sure of the build quality from the photos |
Yes
Yes, that was the original one I was looking at. I have been annoying my wife about a trailer since billing and she has been annoying me about a myway roof tent.
This seemed the perfect comprimise :) Think it's about to go out of my financial league soon anyhow, which will save all this 'considering' ... |
Hi Mark
Sound like this swimming nonsense is a hassle. Here I just had to step out the door today to achieve the same effect.... Homesick yet? Did you have the same track on it as Miranda? No - Years of towing different wheelbases taught me this is a fallacy.:) Seriously, it would be useful, but it is not essential. Our trailer has a LandRover discovery wheel base and rims, so is not too far off that of Miranda. Just embarasing though... Did you ever need to lower the tyre pressures? Yes, in sand and when I had only one spring. I'd drop it down to 15 psi with no bad events... Were the tyres the same size as on Miranda? No - They are all 15inch, but the trailer had 235s while the car had 285s... Could you see enough of the rear corners when reversing? Yes - Our rear window of the car was mostly clear as all the stuff was in the trailer, and the Desert Wolf has 2 handy poles at its rear corners which make it a doddle to reverse. But as you know, once you can reverse an invisible trailer, all other trailers are easy...:rofl: Any maintenance to it? Yes, tightened the brakes up once , and I washed it a few times, and replaced the springs. You had a broken spring I think, how did you overcome that? I cut a piece of wood off my handy jack block, and lowered the trailer body onto that jammed between the axle and chassis, and held it in place with duct tape. Drove through some real rough country like this for 1000km before finding a suitable set of replacement springs. A great company making great Trailers -Zebra Trailers in Windhoek. I notice you now say "ours now has 8mm thick leaf springs". Zebra trailers sold me a set of 8mm springs. All the new Desert Wolf trailers have the same springs. In fact I met Hennie, the guy who makes Desert Wolf trailers and I gave him 4 recommendations. He took me to their new range of trailers and all 4, plus some others I hadnt even noticed, were already incorporated. Constantly evolving... Great kit!!! Did you get yours from the dealer in the UK? I bought it second hand in the UK What made you decide on that model and not the Cub or Lynx or whatever? It was the only second hand trailer available in the UK at that time... I'd like to say I did research and all that, I was just lucky. The Lynx is a good size for a family. And finally - can you reveal roughly the cost of a basic one of these things as there are no prices on the web site? In UK terms - you could buy a pretty decent non-stainless trailer for 2 to 3 thousand pounds, and if you wanted the whole hog (lots of nice extras and toys to play with) you could spend £20 000!!!! Sorry, that is not very helpful. I cant remember the price of this one Photo Galary 2 but it was damn cheap... Well made, with good components... Have fun shopping... Cheers for now Graham |
Ollie, the ebay link you posted to the sankey based trailer looks quite neat and tidy but its quite a lot of money. Probably depends on whether you need all the elements, particularly fridge and roof tent or whether you already have. On a break down on costs, you can pick up a good condition sankey for between about £200 - £350, nato tow hook £30, couple of wheels and tyres matching your LR wheels and tyres, may be another £250 (means you can have common spares rather than carrying extra for trailer or risking running different tyres in the event of a puncture), second hand roof tent in good condition £500 - £650, fridge - can't tell from the advert whether its a proper offroad fridge such as an Engel or whether its a cheaper less robust caravaning fridge. If it is an Engel or similar, then probably worth another £300 - £400. So looking at somewhere between £1280 - £1680 before you get to costs of servicing trailer, brakes, springs etc and building body. Also has factor that whilst you can get the bits, may take some time and driving around. So you probably aren't saving much if any money unless you compromise on some of the above, already have some of it or get lucky on some of the prices then you will probably spend similar money putting it all together.
Other concern I would have would be height of trailer as referenced in the question asked below the advert. Having roof tent weight up top on that extra height may start giving stability problems even at speed on the road, given its quite a short trailer. Even without the weight up higher, my one can start moving around quite a lot depending on load and road conditions. Don't get the same problem with a larger car trailer etc. |
Hi Graham,
Thanks for answering all those questions, it's given me plenty of info to think about. If you remember with our old trailers it was said you should turn the wheels round when going into sand/mud to match the tracks. I never used to bother anyway, just seemed like extra work to do. The old broken spring and block of wood trick - used that a time or two as well. Thanks again, must go and water the lawn. |
trailer tents
Hi
My brother hired a trailer tent to use at the lrc of south africa 60th aniversary bash. The first night the heavens opened and all the bedding got wet .The said trailer was a Conqueror type that the lid forms part of the tent. The weak point that let the rain in was the hinge area that joins the roof to the box. A word of caution African gear is made for their climate not ours also beware of the quality often the first to make a product sets the standard good or bad. I would try towing a heavy trailor to see how you get on with it before you buy one. Charlie |
Trailer?
Hi,
Against all advice we took a Sankey trailer to Morocco last year. It worked just fine. They are built like the proverbial brick out house and although it spent a good part of the journey air borne it suffered no breakages. The same could not be said for it's contents though:( Those leaf springs don't exactly provide a nice smooth ride. I did anticipate that though so no big deal. Down sides were the usual hassle encountered in tight areas with a trailer, on occasion requiring us to unhitch it. In soft sand it never actually caused us to get stuck but it certainly required committed driving:clap:. Low 2nd and around 4000rpm. It was behind a LWB diesel G Wagen with only 113bhp though. If we had attempted large dunes there is no way it would have coped. On balance it was the correct decision for us, taking away the requirement for a roof rack and all the associated problems of weight up on the roof. (a particular personal dislike of mine). It also meant that the interior of the car was free of clutter. Catering was nice and easy as you have a ready made table by using the tailgate and I partitioned ours so that all the bedding/clothes etc were up front whilst the cooking and spares etc were at the back. All in including the purchase, bits and pieces and spare wheel bearings it cost about £400 Hopefully here are some picture links: http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/c...e/DSCF0089.jpg http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/c...e/DSCF0046.jpg http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/c...e/DSCF0043.jpg http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/c...e/DSCF0048.jpg Ideally I would not take a trailer or use a roof rack. Travel light I guess but that depends on how many passengers and what gender I guess |
It has to be said sankeys are fantastic value for money ,
try to get a mark three, that has better lights and disk brakes . maybe the way to go is use the mark three chassis and running gear with a tailor made lightweight body ? I considered using a sankey with hood sticks fitted and a good tilt , then fit a carannex , thats trailer , tent and admin area in one go . Twodogs |
These are quite cheap from Anchor Supplies -
Trailers With drum brakes - 295 UKP With disc brakes - 375 UKP Or 175 UKP for a 1 ton Or in Scotland from 175 UKP - Trailers - - The Gun Bus Co, Also there is a handbook but I don't know if it is complete - http://www.landrover.ee/est/files/manuals/cars/trailer/TRAILER_3-4%20TON_2%20WH-SANKEY%20Technical%20Handbood%20(Dec%201971).pdf |
lol , that sales picture on the gun bus site is amazing , I bet the plod pulled him up :clap:.
The manual is for the older narrow track sankey not the wide track , Twodogs |
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That would be an ideal way... get a sankey chassis (i don't know if the disc braked versions are better than the drum...my drums are adjusted up OK and it pulls up fine), but remove the tub and get an aluminium one made up. The steel bodies are pretty heavy, and rust out a lot in the corners, so you could save some money in getting a not-quite-perfect one, then shell out lots more money on a custom ali body! :-) |
or still, pull the old tub metal off, and fit one of them 1000 Liter polypropolene containers.
So light and so very strong. |
Graham has done his homework, we decided on the Conqueror Compact for it's size and layout, we drove through Sudan without convoy and it was a breeze. It's done perfectly on numerous trips to Namibia, Botswana and Mozambique. We are now in Italy and since leaving Cape Town we only had to adjust the brakes and grease the coupler.
With 2 kids in the car it just makes traveling so much easier, another advantage is that when camped you can do your day excursions without having to take the roof top tent down. Here is a few pics: In the Sudan http://ons4.reproroom.com/gallery/1/CruiserNubian2.jpg When camped: http://ons4.reproroom.com/gallery/1/NogoroSimbaCamp.jpg BTW, we have one carnet for vehicle and trailer, no problem, even for Egypt |
Hi jean,
Nice image of the Toyota pulling the trailer. Did you find it harder to pull in the sand? Could you feel it was behind you when you were on the tarmac, or was it not noticible until you hit the soft stuff.? The other Graham ! |
Pulling an off road trailer
Graham,
it wasn't a problem in most sand. It runs 265 BFG AT's that we deflate in sand. In Egypt we drove from Bahariya Oasis to Siwa, going up the dunes wasn't a problem but going down the slipface of the dunes were a bit scary. You feel the trailer in the mountain passes, it takes 150 litres of water in belly tanks and when they are filled you feel the difference but living on the road with kids it makes all the difference, I don't regret for one second bringing it along |
Hi Jean, thanks for the reply.
We are planning a trip in our 2005 land Cruiser 120 series. It would just be me and the wife. I stuck whether to take a good size roof rack, or take a trailer. They both have good points and bad points. I will just look to what we could cram into the Land Cruiser, and what we could stash up on the roof, all making for a very heavy vehicle. or pull a trailer, removing all the weight and clutter from in the Land cruiser, but have an inconvienience of pulling a trailer that could give you any number of problems. Still undecided ! |
If there is only two of you, surely you should have enough room in the 120 series - if you don't I would have thought that you are probably taking too much :-)
The standard configuration for two people in an LC is to have a roof tent and probably spare wheel and gas cylinder on the roof rack and then strip out the 3rd row of seats and have some sort of racking arrangement in the boot for most kit. You can then strip out one part of the 2nd row of seats for (keeping at least one seat for guides/friends) and have the fridge and a few other goodies in it's place. |
Hello all,
I've been lurking for a while but wanted to post about this. It seems that trailers may be more popular in the UK, Europe and AUS than here in the states as most RV's here are more strictly for "road use" but there are a few designs used quite often here when goining off road. I have a Jeep Wrangler used for exploring and camping and with two kids and the wife there is only about half a cubic meter left for storage in the entire vehicle, so a trailer is mandatory. Many Jeepers use surplus WWII cargo trailers like the Bantam or M416. I built a modern copy of the M416 using a Torflex axle for extra ground clearance with the stock Jeep wheels (same bolt pattern as the vehicle): http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...J/IMG_0010.jpg Another type of trailer gaining popularity again here (due probably to rising fuel costs) are the "teardrop" style trailers. Here's a link to a good build up article. Outback Teardrop Trailer -C |
Hi, in South Africa, the Venter seems to be the number 1 trailer year after year.
Venter Trailers I am not sure how good they are on a serious "off road" trip. Their "off-road " trailer looks reasonable |
Update
Well, thanks to all who have given us some ideas to consider. We have reached a conclusion, although as those who might know me will tell you it might not be a permenant one :)
we are going to drive to Oz with our current set up of 110 land rover and rooftent. plenty of room for everything and not too much in the set up to upset us overlanding novices. In Australia we will then consider going onwards with any of the following 4: 1. Current set up 2. Current set up + trailer 3. Some sort of live inside (big!!!!) truck 4. In a boat Recently going onwards by pushbike has been ruled out. When we get to Oz we will have a lot more experience, and if we do decide to continue onwards it will take us a year or two to replenish our funds and we can spend this time familiarising ourselves with the next form of ransport. Thanks again for all the advice. Cheers Ollie |
Update
We're nearly in Oz now, well India! And the current plan is to take some time in Oz and pop out our first pup, conceived somewhere in central Asia, but under no circumstances going to be called Stan!
So, we will probably look again at a trailer at some point. One new one to the market is from MyWay - the people who kindly helped us with our roof tent. I haven't seen the trailer, but it looks like a nice half way house between building your own, or splashing out the cash. When Paul, the MyWay UK man came down to help fit our tent, we discussed at great length this, and it seems it has come to fruition. More can be seen here: MyWay Roof Tents (UK) |
Why don't you see if there's any decent Australian-made ones when you get there?
Would cost a fortune to ship a MyWay out to Oz, no? |
Hello Mark!
Was only really posting as a way to update the thread .... will have a look in Oz, but not sure whether we will buy there or UK - depending how long we stay etc. All up in the air at the moment, as I am sure you can imagine :) |
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Hey, well done folks:thumbup1: |
tHANKS
Thanks for that - our greatest achievement - done without trying :)
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:D:clap::D:clap::D:clap:
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Hi Ollie,
I travelled around Morocco with a Nissan pick up pulling a trailer. They had endless problems with it - the towbar on the truck sheared bolts, and various bits of the trailer body were regularly cracking under the stress requiring regular and prolonged repairs. The owner was in tears at one point and vowed never again ! Andrew. |
Trailers
Andrew, with all due respect then it must have been a crap trailer :eek3:
Ollie, have a look at Conqueror off-road Campers - the original off-road camper for a list of their Australian agents. Don't know what prices will look like in Aus but for GBP 4300 you can get a fully kitted one here, including fridge/freezer! We are now back in South Africa via the west side, the trailer still working fine. We broke the shock mountings on the road to Timbouctou and the chassis crossing from Nigeria to Cameroon both times a local welding job sorted the problem. The trip was in excess of 70 000 km and the trailer kept up remarkably well. Although the trailer was a bit of extra work here and there on the balance it just made living on the road so much easier. A few pics: http://ons4.reproroom.com/gallery/1/ChezCassamCamp.jpg Near Atar, Mauritania http://ons4.reproroom.com/gallery/1/...NigerDelta.jpg Bushcamp on the Niger river, Mali http://ons4.reproroom.com/gallery/1/Djenne.jpg Grand Mosque du Djenne, Mali http://ons4.reproroom.com/gallery/1/...rnCameroun.jpg Camoroon mud http://ons4.reproroom.com/gallery/1/equatorGabon.jpg Crossing the equator again http://ons4.reproroom.com/gallery/1/CongoBushcamp.jpg Congo bushcamp http://ons4.reproroom.com/gallery/1/...irCrossing.jpg Namibia rivers |
We met up with Jean in Morocco and he doesn't drive slow, not even on piste! if the trailer can put up with that kind of abuse, it says something about its quality and construction. I agree with the above also, that if your not taking 4 people/kids then a standard vehicle should suffice.
Jean - When is Pete likely to reach you in South Africa? He is Egypt at the moment. Hope all is well. Gareth |
The disentegrating trailer I mentioned earlier was a fairly large affair (sorry no pics) that would sleep two internally. the problems were the fibreglass roof cracking where it was connected to the main aluminium body. The tow vwhicle towbar sheared bolts and the internal cargo, despite being well secured, became airborne. Obviously Morocco is stony and rough which didn't help ! It also bogged down in small and otherwise easily crossable sandy areas near Remlia, needing a tow out.
Probably a smaller trailer would help - personally I would not use one, but either take less or use a bigger vehicle. And if doing sandy desert avoid at all costs. Andrew. |
Off road trailers
Hi Andrew,
I was a bit harsh in my previous comment on this trailer. We need to make a clear distinction between 'normal' and off-road trailers. Off road trailers are purpose built to take punishment, obviously there are good ones and not-so-good ones. I can only share my personal opinion here but there are people that are much more knowledgeable on this. We have about 15 different manufacturers here that build them and the designs differ considerably. For me the most important was the suspension, of all the ones I have seen a long (1100 mm) leaf sprung solid axle with shocks made the most sense. The short leaf springs as seen on most trailers have ability to break blades when they get slightly rusted and they have a really harsh rebound. The shocks are really important because they catch the rebound on the springs, if you don't have it the trailer will spend more time in the air on pistes adding to the strain on everything else, on a washboard piste it also helps a lot in reducing the vibration on the cargo and trailer body. Big wheels are a must because in sand you won't be going anywhere with normal trailer wheels, I have Cruiser rims with 265 BFG's on so in an emergency I can use the trailer wheels on the Cruiser too. Next was material, some of them are made from fibreglass, stainless steel, aluminium, etc. I prefer the steel construction, it's not that bad on the weight, you can weld on it so anything that might break can be fixed with a cutting torch ar welding machine. I also don't like trailers with a welded steel body, mostly the manufacturers don't get the welding seams properly cleaned and a few years down the line the rust starts coming throught the paint. Also with a welded body is that you have no movement in the sturture and it's not uncommom the find cracks in the components after a few uses. Lastly is living comfort, the trailer has to add a value to your trip, for us it was easy to take it with because we already had it so we didn't have to go spend money on it and a quick way to spoil a healthy marriage is to share a bed with your kids every night for more than a year. On desert driving, we helped a guy out the sand in Sudan. He had a Cruiser with a turbo diesel on it but he was really struggling in the soft sandy bits, we have the same engine but no turbo, that night comparing notes we disovered that both our vehicle weighed in at about 4000 kg (fully loaded), the only difference was that I had it distributed over 6 wheels and he had most of it on his rear axle. The only scary thing with trailer is dune driving, due to our lack of planning we had to do a bit of that here and there, going over the edge and down the slipface with the trailer is downright scary to me. A trailer has a lot of advantages but it has to be a good one because when things go wrong like you described it can ruin any trip. P.S. Gareth, hope you are well, remember Marocco very well, Peter will be here end February, want to come down for the welcome party??? |
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