Pretty pleased with how this is coming along :)

"BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228) 12/02/2015 at 18:50 • Filed to: Upcycling

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I’ve been looking for a cheap car trailer for a while but even second hand they’re £1000+ which is far too expensive for my cheapskate ways. So, we formulated a plan involving a caravan chassis (£200 on eBay every now and again). Then, a couple of weeks back we found one dumped on the side of the road so we went and took it!

Took two days for the three of us to dismantle and take to the tip. Ordered up 9 2m 60x40 3mm box sections for £8 each, 8 metre-long angle iron sections and 2 2m x 1m 3mm checker plate. Just finished welding the frame onto the chassis itself (doesn’t look like much but it’s 70 lines of weld with all the prep that that entails). Next comes cutting the checker plate in half and welding that on, sourcing an electric winch, wiring up some lights and fabricating some ramps then it’s good to go :) all for roughly £400 :)

When we got it:

Mid-wrecking:

Bare chassis:

Dogapult > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 12/02/2015 at 18:58

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Will it be strong enough to hold a car?

Matt Nichelson > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 12/02/2015 at 18:59

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Looks like you went full on Top Gear with the destruction portion. I approve of this.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Dogapult 12/02/2015 at 19:05

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Yep :) axle’s rated to 1350kg so should be able to take most cars I’d be interested in, and likely quite a bit heavier as they like to be cautious with axle ratings.

I’ve seen 50x50mm 3mm wall box section recommended for car trailer frames before, but the 60x40mm came up cheaply so I got that. As it’s 10mm deeper it should be stronger in the plane that counts (vertical).

It’s actually a bit more of a solid construction than most car trailers you can buy!

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Matt Nichelson 12/02/2015 at 19:06

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It was very fun :) it involved taking sledgehammers to everything inside, knocking the front and rear walls out then the three of us pushing on one of the sides to topple it over :)

Not a job to be taken lightly as it took three of us two days to do, but it’s got its perks :)

Urambo Tauro > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 12/02/2015 at 19:10

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Be careful. The axle rating isn’t the only thing to be concerned about. Where I’m from, trailers weighing over 3000 lbs are required to have brakes. There’s a good reason for that (aside from regulations)...

EDIT: It appears to be equipped with surge brakes already!

Matt Nichelson > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 12/02/2015 at 19:12

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Awesome! Sounds like work, but fun work. And it was just on the side of the road? Man where I live the only thing you see on the side of the road is old an old couch or recliner.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Matt Nichelson 12/02/2015 at 19:16

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Yeah it’s not often you see that around these parts. There are some rough areas where you get abandoned cars and caravans, but they’re pretty far from where I live.

Definitely struck gold :)

4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 12/02/2015 at 19:21

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FYI so you don’t get nicked by the fuzz, you must keep the GVWR plate on, carry a spare wheel for the trailer, have mudguards for each wheel, and have fully functional over-run brakes with a breakaway cable.

Also I know it’s single axle so will tilt, but to tilt it will have to be unhitched and trailers are a pain in the arse to move when they’ve got a bit of weight on them, so consider building in ramp storage between the tracks.

Now I’ll shut up and wish you well.

Edit: Tie down points. You’ll need lots of tie down points.

Matt Nichelson > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 12/02/2015 at 19:22

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Indeed you did. Over on this side of the pond if somebody would have found something like that, they probably would have got an unpleasant surprise from the crazy old man who had moved into it.

That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 12/02/2015 at 19:23

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Great, you probably just stole some hobo’s house.

In all seriousness though, that’s a pretty sweet find on the side of the road. Looking like a nice little trailer.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > That Bastard Kurtis - An Attempt to Standardize My Username Across Platforms 12/02/2015 at 19:41

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We did wonder that...

Shouted hello vefore we went in :)

It should be a great little trainer once it’s finished. The body of the caravan was rotten as anything, but the chassis, brakes and tyres are all in great nick :)

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 12/02/2015 at 19:45

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Yel got those covered :) going to buy a chassis plate and stamp it up as we need to knock 5kg off it so i can tow it with the jag on a 3500kg licence. Ramps are on the cards soon, and we’ll weld some angle iron to the underside for them to slot into. Tiedown points will be a load of holes in the checker plate runners hole-sawed in. Breakaway cable is intact but thanks for the tip with the spare and mudguards :)