Morris Minor Owners Club

hi ther i wondered if anyone has tried to build themselves a trailer to tow

Built a few over the years!
Half a Minor trailer, couple of box trailers and the biggest is a car transporter trailer!
Are you considering making one then?

I recently made my own 1/2 ton payload 6' x 4' trailer (Which extends to 8' x 4') and it's been very useful so far.
(has moved garage doors, cement mixer, large building sheets, fridge freezers, furniture...)

However I started off with a camping trailer and the hitch section still has the correct plating including the weight category etc.. Theoretically you can't hand-make a trailer anymore as it needs to be certified and plated up. This rule (IIRC) applies to all trailers made after 2001. Older trailers which pre-date the rules are of course a very good starting point as you can modify various things to be how you need them.

Many different rules apply depending on trailer size. Trailers over 4 foot wide need reflectors (and lights) however it's pretty sily not to have rear reflectors even on a small trailer. As you get bigger again, you'll need a rear fog light (even if the towing vehicle doesn't have a fog light circuit!) and side reflectors etc..

Ray.

rayofleamington wrote: Older trailers which pre-date the rules are of course a very good starting point as you can modify various things to be how you need them.

I used the drawbar (plated ) and axles off an ex-council plant trailer when i made my transporter trailer for the reasons you state
The rest is new though!
And yes, the lighting regs etc are pretty tight so i have a foglight etc fitted to it as well!

yes i want to make a small camping trailer for the moggy

As above - it's difficult = buy one !

I made one from scratch years ago but when I totted up all the costs it wasn't far short of buying a ready-made one.

I made one from scratch years ago but when I totted up all the costs it wasn't far short of buying a ready-made one.

There are new basic chassis/axle/hitch trailers on ebay for less than it costs to buy all the bits and home make one.
On these you'd need to add your own base boarding and lights, but that can be very cheap as new trailer boards are very cheap and you get to choose what boarding you want.

I wanted a flatbed 6 x 4 trailer with the wheels underneath that extends to take 8 x 4 builders board. By the time I'd finished it would have been cheaper to buy a 2nd hand 8 x 4 but it wouldn't have been exactly what I wanted...
9 months on and I've still not made up the sides (it's going to have dropsides)
Where does all the time go?

And if you 'build your own' - can it ever be legal ??

And if you 'build your own' - can it ever be legal ??

Not unless it is correctly plated up and certified to meet the current regulations & requirements or was done before the ~2001 date. Hence the advice to buy a new one or rebuild an old one.

I've never seen any regulations covering how much modification you can do to an old trailer before it becomes a 'new' one, therefore even this is open to interpretation (your own interpretation may seem OK but doesn't always count for a lot in law).

In the real world however, people will do what they want - including make a new unplated trailer. So unless they make a hash of it, or happen to be in Warwickshire on one of the days they do trailer inspection on EVERY trailer they see... (recently that happens a couple of times a year in Warwickshire ) then they may stay happily oblivious to the rules.

On the flip side - when Plod does their zero tolerance days they find some really horrendous stuff, that really deserves being 'pulled' over (pun intended) as well as a lot of harmless infringements.

" Not unless it is correctly plated up and certified to meet the current regulations & requirements or was done before the ~2001 date. Hence the advice to buy a new one or rebuild an old one." Exactly! And I imagine to get it all plated etc etc will involve going though all manner of hoops - and great expense. Just buy one!

I'm surprised theres never been proposals for a trailer MOT test. Could be done bi annually, and be a simple 15min test say £15 at an MOT station checking brakes, bearings, tyres, hitch and lights. I've seen (and owned) some terrible examples over the years....
EG: Morris Minor wheels fitted back to front so the inset is more offset to clear the body. Wobbled like a wobbly thing as theres no way of seating the wheels so they run true. Amazing.

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Some photos of my home made (not by me) and modified by me, camping trailer.
The chassis is detachable so that it can be stacked against the wall.
The lid is removeable on sliding hinges so that the trailer can be loaded up with garden rubbish.
The number plates can be dropped into the holder, depending on which car I am using
The front box will hold a couple of gas cylinders and all sorts of pots and pans etc
Two suitcases can be loaded on the lid under the canopy which has a flap for the extra length of a windbreak
The chassis can be jacked up on the standard Series MM jack
Still to do:- Extend the towbar so that I can open the Traveller doors without detaching the trailer and fit a stand to the towbar

The front box will hold a couple of gas cylinders and all sorts of pots and pans etc

Just admit it Mike thats where the dog goes

I have been tempted! Actually he is a good traveller, he sleeps all the way then makes up for it when we arrive - No doggy smilies?

I have not yet tried to build my own trailer but many people have built their own travel trailers. Some owner builds their trailer by referring though internet to see some examples of trailers and also sources to get components for them. And I think building trailer is easy if you really know what the things you need to complete it were.