Unladen twin axle trailer, can you remove a pair of wheels?

[Thomas-the-Terrano2]

dont knnow about lowering coupling on trailer, but certainly seen a
caravan where the coupling had been raised so didnt tow excessively
nose up on back of a truck.

have you ever seen a tar trailer, where the coupling flexs, can only describe
as s sprung diamond shape arrangement so the trailer is level regardless
of hitch height on the tug and therefore the tar doesnt spill out....

seen plenty of artic trailers where leading axles are skimming ground as
trailer is unladen, maybe with metal suspension which cant be raised like
air bag type can.

sometimes the trailer is designed for a low riding tractor unit but on a
regular unit so trailer inclined considerably.

my caravan rides slightly nose up on the troll, but atleast know has good
nose weight than sitting nose down which ok is the best theory but on
a twin axle will lead to rear axle not doing ts share of the load.

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

my caravan rides slightly nose up on the troll, but atleast know has good
nose weight than sitting nose down which ok is the best theory but on
a twin axle will lead to rear axle not doing ts share of the load.

surely this means if nose is up then the front axel is not doing its fair share
(as in my small trailer)?

I have never noticed them tar trailers i will have a look tomorrow as i have to visit a big flat roofing company who run lots of propane heated tar trailers, i am going there to buy propane.

 

[Thomas-the-Terrano2]

ok maybe no more nose up than most are nose down,
hitch seems to need lot of winding up on jockey wheel
to clear ball, but good nose weight brings car and van
down to roughly level.

buying? propane.

what as in exchanging bottles or refilling your own lpg
style?

gather you can get a 'special' regulater/adapter to fill
regular calor bottles, at petrol stations that do lpg
providing you are allowed or discreet??

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

no just exchanging bottles i have half a dozen 19k propanes for refil and they do me a very good price.

 

[briggie]

no just exchanging bottles i have half a dozen 19k propanes for refil and they do me a very good price.

cost us £30 each at the caravan site

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

£12

 

[briggie]

it is haven site tho :augie:lol

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

well yes they wouldn't like it if you took your own :lol

 

[Thomas-the-Terrano2]

just gone up to a 19kg calor,paid £26 at a calor agent, this was an upgrade
from a 13 in turn from a 6kg though still have a 6 in front of caravan for
on-route use. not bad when a 6 exchange is £18.

 

[(RIP) PLANK]

just gone up to a 19kg calor,paid £26 at a calor agent, this was an upgrade
from a 13 in turn from a 6kg though still have a 6 in front of caravan for
on-route use. not bad when a 6 exchange is £18.

I allways keek 6k calor bottles as well as they are the only ones you can be sure to get refilled if your run out anywhere in the country and they are light to carry. I get avery good deal on 19k but it's a very small network for refills and someitmes they even refuse to have their own bottles back!

I htink 19k is the larges pracitcal option the price peg KG is almost the same as that for gas in 47k bottles, it is often even cheaper as 19k is the most popular size and you don't kill yourself shifting them.

There is a company not far fom me who sells calor 6k bottles fullof gas including the deposit on the cylinder for £15, i dont know how they can do it, but they do!

 

[rustic]

Regarding the issue of removing a pair of wheels, I have had a response from the NTTA, these are the main authority on trailer regulations in the UK

Sorry for the delay but I thought it would be helpful to get some advice from an actual trailer builder, so I am quoting his response to me:

I think there are two questions here:

1) Technical performance and safety.
2) Compliance with legislation.

Starting with the first, you as the user would need to ensure that you have a noseload within the parameters of both the tow vehicle and the trailer. You may find with the existing set up that you actually have negative nose weight and when hitching up need to actually force the hitch down onto the vehicle lifting the rear wheels and conversely when unhitching the coupling head jumps upwards. This is of course potentially very unstable and is bad news.

But boat trailers are long and maybe when empty and with jockey dropped the hitch goes to the floor and you have a nice healthy nose weight, so it is only the heights of hitch that are an issue then this is better.

You would then simply remove the front wheels and check nose load, replace them fit the rear wheels and check the nose weight and select the best. The nose down angle of the chassis will not be a problem

Wheels tyres and bearings will be well up to the job since the gross weight capability of the trailer will be well over double the unladen weight.

The rig will most likely tow nicely and will be safe.

2) You cannot remove wheels from a trailer. The brake set up is based on full load and graduates the braking as the load reduces, removing two wheels halves the braking effect so takes the set up out of specification.

A trailer being run with missing wheels will attract attention from the law.........................have you ever seen one?

The law in the UK pretty well works on the principle "Is there a law? Have you broken it?" Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 would be the relevant law.

"Is a trailer being used with missing wheels being used in accordance to the trailer manufacturer's instructions (which will include braking of course)?"

Wheels missing = "No" £60 and three points thank you very much all helps the Chancellor.

The proper solution is to adjust the tow vehicle ball height to suit.



So, the information helps to clarify the situation, but the last comment about adjusting the ball height to suit is a concern, as you cannot raise the height of the ball on the tow vehicle.
So the comments collectively given by you guys covered all the issues that were picked up by this response.


Any how, we towed the boat to Norfolk, liked it so much we left it there so towed the empty trailer home again with the Maverick, with all 4 wheels attached.
The front tow bar worked a treat especially when removing the boat from the slipway before the journey.
The Maverick towed the 2 tonne (26 foot long) load easily at 60mph.
on suitable roads.
I fitted a temperature gauge onto the gear box and after a 250 mile journey it got to 80 C but no excessive heat on the gear lever.

Only problem was when I dropped the trailer off, the ignition switch appeared to become faulty and failed to do anything on the start position, looks like the switch needs replacing,:doh I will do a search later, but if anyone knows where to get one, If I recall, main dealers were suggested.

Thanks again for the advice and comments.
Best regards,
Richard (Rustic)

 

[macabethiel]

plod

i used to get stoped every week when lived in london with my kitcar...

plod loved that...

When I was on footbeat in Derby circa 1979 always pulled up a silver gullwing motor that used to fly up Ashourne Road -it was a Delorian prototype and the guy had it on long tern test.

No one was interested in giving him a ticket for speeding we just wanted to see the engine - it had a V8 in it and the car had no paint or sealant just bare stainless steel. He reconed he used Vim to polish it or a Brillo soap pad !

Its the only Delorian I have ever seen and sat in its a shame it all ended in tears.

retired plod