Member Since: 03 Sep 2006
Location: Manchester
Posts: 14368
My Sankey off road trailer build
Im currently building an off road trailer out of a ex army sankeytrailer . The trailer is a wide track one with disk brakes . Very well made and very strong . I was lucky enough to find a cracking one at mod-sales in Grantham for £315.
Choosing the trailer ..they had a good selection and i wasent too bothered about the tub condition as i wont be using that ( although it turned out to be a very good tub also )
Paid the man ..got a reciept and a de-commissioned certificate for the trailer and hitched it up .
Got it home and gave it a good going over. Very solid chassis ...nothing needed doing to it . Tub a little rusty , but otherwise very solid and no major dents in it.
With the aid of Ent ...we took the body off ..very simple just a few bolts ..but very heavy .
Gave it a power wash and another inspection
I sold the tub on eblag for a nice £97. Guy from Essex purchased it and sent 2 lads up to pick it up . He even phoned me once it had arrived in Essex to say how impressed he was with the condition.
Electrics .
First off , get rid of the nato connector .
Replaced that with the normal 7 pin type . It was a bit of a struggle to get the new connector on the cable as its quite a large one .
Plugged it in my car only to find half of the bulbs gone . Got a complete set of bulbs and replaced them ..at the same time giving all the bulb holders a little clean with some emery cloth .
Checked again ..everything working fine. There is a few other electrical bits on there including convoy lights and front markers . These have been removed , but have left the wiring in place for the moment.
Conversion for the wiring plug
Laminated the card and stuck it in the electric junction box ..ready for fault finding when ever its needed
Wheel adapters
I didnt want to use the old skinny wheels and tyres that came with the trailer. Wanted some D3 wheels to match the car and less spares to carry. Also , the track width of the trailer needed to be extended to match the D3.
I got a set of 4 wheel adapters , internal wheel nuts and external wheel nuts. Even tho the adapters are the correct stud pattern , the inside needs milling out by 2mm . We have some industrial lathes at our Manchester works , so dropped them off there . Greased someones palm with £20 and left them to do there magic .
Adapters picked up and ready to fit.
They wernt sitting back enough . After speaking to Ray he remembered that his were the same and some washers were all that was needed to bring it back in line .
Washers fitted
I got 3 spares when i got the G4 ..so the 2 extra have gone on the trailer .The wheel track is now almost identical to the D3 one
Front extended and spraying the chassis
Uncle Ray has extended the front of the trailer . It makes for better towing aparantly ..although i had no trouble towing it back from Grantham . It has also given me a bit more space at the front were the fridge is hopefully going to end up.
Not got any were big enough to spray , so got my self a pop up gazebo (6m x 3m ) . Fantastic tent and so easy to put up.
Lined with some pastic sheeting and everything masked off. Sprayed with hammerite ( 3 or 4 coats ..can remember now )
Some bits round the brakes and wheels need finishing by hand
Its taken a long time to start this project due to bad weather and been busy at work . But i have now made some progress and thought i would share what im doing with it .
On with making the body now ..more pics and update tommorowG4 Gone ...but not forgotten
28th Feb 2010 3:42 am
TazDaz
Member Since: 07 May 2007
Location: South East Essex
Posts: 2858
looking good Adrian
28th Feb 2010 10:50 am
gilmore
Member Since: 16 Jan 2005
Location: On the sofa
Posts: 2185
Nice one Wiggs!
Did you have to flip it all the way over to paint underneath? Must weigh a ton!
cheers
robAll opinions expressed in this posting are my own and are not necessarily those of someone who knows what they are talking about.
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28th Feb 2010 11:04 am
wiggs
Member Since: 03 Sep 2006
Location: Manchester
Posts: 14368
Tazdaz .. cheers
Rob ..No ended up crawling under it . I did use my tree out side to winch it on its side when i first got it
But yes very heavy solid chassisG4 Gone ...but not forgotten
Last edited by wiggs on 28th Feb 2010 11:21 am. Edited 1 time in total
28th Feb 2010 11:17 am
wiggs
Member Since: 03 Sep 2006
Location: Manchester
Posts: 14368
Ok ..next part.
Body build .
Having done about 50 drawings of what i would like it to have / end up like ..i made a start on the body. Certain things have to be right . The height ..i want to be able to stand under a awning / canopy , but i also dont want it much heigher than the D3.
The rest is just being done as i go along . Things will obviously change or be wrong , but trailer building is something new for me.
Im using a small mig welder that i have had for many years .Invested in a new chop saw for cutting metal which has an "evolution blade "...makes cutting a doddle.
Steel is 25 mm square tubing (2mm thick ) for the main construction.
Took my time with the first bit as i wanted it all level and straight . Made some temp brackets that keeps it all in place .Also helps to keep the metal from warping while welding .
Next added some wheel arch supports
Primered in gray paint
Not much room in my garage , but got the roof and 4 corner uprights cut , prepared and primed .
Next job is to fit the 4 corner uprights , then the roof . This should be interesting ..getting it all square . Update later today .G4 Gone ...but not forgotten
28th Feb 2010 11:20 am
DG Site Moderator
Member Since: 12 Dec 2005
Location: The Gaff
Posts: 50934
Nice Wiggs Are you sticking with a NATO hitch or doing a conversion jobby ?21 year LR veteran > D2 GS 2003 > D3 S 2006 > D3 HSE 2009 > D4 HSE 2013 > D4 HSE 2015 > D5 HSE 2018 > DS HSE R-Dynamic P300e 2021
28th Feb 2010 12:18 pm
Stu
Member Since: 08 Feb 2009
Location: Hampshire
Posts: 2423
Wiggs, loving the write up on this. Really enjoying watching your progress. Definately something I want to do eventually.D3 HSE MY05 Auto
Expo Rack, Club MTR, LR Spots, A Bar, Light Guards, GNVP Sump Guard, GNVP Ladder, Cup Holders, RLD A Bar brackets. Disco3Club stickers, Aux power on Mod
28th Feb 2010 12:25 pm
BORDER ROVER
Member Since: 03 Dec 2007
Location: Cumbria
Posts: 1105
Looking good there Wiggs, you are well on with yours. Good to see what you are upto as at some point will have to crack on with mine. POT NOODLE NAVIGATION CHALLENGE 2010 WINNER
Club Sankey
Club pie and peas
28th Feb 2010 12:27 pm
wiggs
Member Since: 03 Sep 2006
Location: Manchester
Posts: 14368
DG wrote:
Nice Wiggs Are you sticking with a NATO hitch or doing a conversion jobby ?
Sticking with the nato
Have most of the bits to get the towbar sorted ..fixed towbar ( without the bars on the side ) nice drop plate and nato hitch for the car . Uncle ray is going to knock up an extended plate to raise it all as its just a bit short for the correct height .G4 Gone ...but not forgotten
28th Feb 2010 12:34 pm
J@mes
Member Since: 10 Nov 2008
Location: Bomber County
Posts: 4547
Are there any issues with converting the towing equipment to accept a nato hitch and altering its height/ dimensions?
"construction and use" regs or something like that?2014 D4 XS
2005 D3 SE - Gone
28th Feb 2010 12:45 pm
Hassle
Member Since: 19 Nov 2008
Location: Sleaford
Posts: 723
Not in the UK, you can have an old go-cart with pram wheels and as long as it's 'safe*', you are ok
Safe* only judged by sight or when you have an accident
28th Feb 2010 12:49 pm
BORDER ROVER
Member Since: 03 Dec 2007
Location: Cumbria
Posts: 1105
Wiggs where did you source the wheel adapters and how much was the damage if you don't mind me asking. Will be needing 2 of them, have got the wheels already.POT NOODLE NAVIGATION CHALLENGE 2010 WINNER
Club Sankey
Club pie and peas
28th Feb 2010 1:43 pm
wiggs
Member Since: 03 Sep 2006
Location: Manchester
Posts: 14368
Unfortunatly you can only get them in sets of 4 ...but im sure someone will go halfs with ya
4 x wheel adapters - £282.90 inc p/p
20 x inner wheel nuts - £35 inc p/p ( £1.50 each + £5.00 postage)
20 x outer wheel nuts - £45 inc p/p ( £2.00 each - £5.00 postage)
4 x skimming 2 mm off inside of them - £20
20 x 2mm washers ...free from Uncle Ray
Total ...£382.90 for enough for 4 wheels . The other pair were sold to Discodunc for half the cost ( £191.45)
This is by far the cheapest price ..i did a lot of searching . Most places wanted nearly £400 just for the adapters on there own
Search on ebay for member lr90gmc ...he did the adapters and the inner nuts . ( item number eBay Item No. 280365127849 at the moment )
Outer nuts were from eblag also .G4 Gone ...but not forgotten
28th Feb 2010 3:10 pm
wiggs
Member Since: 03 Sep 2006
Location: Manchester
Posts: 14368
Starting to take shape now
Uprights in ..time for the roof
Looking good even if i say so myself ...very happy so far . I want to get stuck in with a few supports etc ..but im giving my neighbours a day off from the chop saw and grinder noise G4 Gone ...but not forgotten
28th Feb 2010 3:26 pm
cold_n_wet
Member Since: 05 May 2009
Location: Bergen
Posts: 1509
That is the dogs danglies, will be starting on mine soon, when you said the tub was heavy, how much do you think you will save in weight in the end ?
<Thread>
Border Rover, I'd be interested in a set of spacers as well if you want to split the costs.
</Thread>
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looking good Adrian
