Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Thanks Grant.

Here's a great illustration of independent suspension on a trailer/caravan.
Works well !


I don't want to know what that beast costs

That sure is a fancy trailer Dustin. Would hate to have to drag that with that poor Landy!

The next area where I probably went overboard a little is the water system. The space between the wheels, and up to the level of the top of the tires in normal running position would be very difficult to reach due to the construction of the trailer, and thus it became filled with tank. The original intention was to build a couple of these trailers, and some of the interested parties had a shortage of fuel tanks on their vehicles, so the original intention was to have some fuel tankage in the trailer as well, but since I have 200l on my car, I am using the entire trailer capacity for water. But I have left it split into two tanks, with roughly a 1/3 :2/3 split.

My total water capacity is about 185l, and because it is right in the middle of the trailer, tank levels will not play a major role in the trailer's weight distribution. Since it is split into two tanks, I also have the option of using one for "grey water", thus theoretically making very long stays away from clean water a possibility.

In terms of accessing that water, I have tripple redundancy. The primary method is by a huge and very fancy pump Tinus sourced for me. This unit pumps up to 17l/min (I think I will have to restrict that), and up to 2.8 Bar. It has a built-in pressure switch, is self-priming and is of positive-displacement diaphragm type thus cannot be damaged by running dry. Secondly each tank will have a gravity outlet, and lastly water can be extracted by coupling an air compressor to valves mounted on the tanks.

The tanks are of 304 S/S, and to combat the scourge of metal fatigue they lie in the chassis and are held down by a strap which is also a suspension brace.

The filler caps will be mounted inside one of the boxes, thus preventing tampering and are mounted on a re-enforced 100mm diameter opening, so it is possible to get in to clean them, and they are internally baffled.
Eventually there will be a permanently-installed geyser and hot and cold water outlets at a couple of points, all fitted with Gardena-type fittings.

The intention is to galvanize the chassis, but I do want to conduct some road testing first. However, as soon as the wheels are fitted, the trailer becomes too big for my garage (which is mostly a workshop anyway), so in the mean time I have added a layer of primer. Here are some of the bits hanging around:

Trailing arms: Jockey wheel: Legs, feet and bits and bobs: The chassis: The rolling chassis on it's wheels for the first time: Note that the wheel shown is the spare tire off my car. The intention is that I will eventually have full interchangeability in rims and tires, and even the wheel-nuts are interchangeable.

I now just need to get the experimental coupler (more on that later), add brake pipes, wire up some tail lights and make some sort of temporary mudguards, and then the road testing can start.

In the mean time, I have constructed a mock-up of the basic body out of Masonite to confirm the rough dimensions and user interface.
My existing queen-sized, double-room rooftop tent will eventually be fitted on top of this box. The total height will however still be less than 1.5m, so like Dustin I will be able to see over the top, but hopefully it will be just high and long enough to actually be able to see it through the back window, as reversing a trailer is a real pain if you can't see it.

Peter waar dink jy om dit te gaan toets en wanneer....

Errol, so na as moontlik aan die huis, en so gou as moontlik.

As enigiemand weet van enige regtige swak grondpaaie naby Kempton sal ek dit waardeer.

Ek glo daar sal 'n draai by Hennops ook gemaak word, en dalk moet ek ook sommer die Bapsfontein Derby gaan herleef.

As jy /julle Hennops toe gaan sal ek graag saam karring met my Patrol .Ek was nog nooit daar nie ek wil graag kyk hoe lyk dit daar
So as jy support crew soek vir n saturdag of sondag is ek reg (net nie die naweek nie,wag nog vir agter as sideshaft seels )

Your trailer is looking seriously smart Peter

You mention the experimental coupler.
I found one some time ago I'd like to incorporate into my trailer design.
A 3 axis coupler. Allows trailer to flex and twist independently from the tow vehicle.
I'm just not sure about any legal issues for roadworthy, I need to investigate if it is permissible.

That's a great coupling... however..... the ball on a tow hitch in theory (as far as I know) is designed to sheer off should the trailer flip to prevent the towing vehicle following the trajectory of the flip. I would think that having the trailer and vehicle separating during a rollover or similar, would be better than having the 2 permanently linked. I can see that the link is flexible on all 3 axis, but does one not need to have a "shear" point in case of such an event.....

Sorry, but just trying to look at it from another point of view.

Dankie Errol, ek glo nie dit sal die naweek al gebeur nie. Hopelik die een daarna...

Dustin, the one I am using does the same job as the one you showed above, but much simpler and more compact.

It is the brainchild of Clem Daniel, who approached me to turn his idea into a manufacturing drawing, and he has some ideas about marketing it commercially and possibly even patenting it, so I will not show pictures of it at this stage, but not counting interference between the car and trailer, it can give up to 80 degrees of motion across the vertical axis (IE when turning), 360 degrees of roll and more than 90 degrees of pitch in either direction.

As for road legality, that is a different issue. The EU agreement (to which SA is a signatory), effectively describes a number of basic set-ups, and both your version and my version fall completely outside the scope of that.

Clem's idea is such that it can easily be substituted for the standard ball-and-socket setup, and thus one could use the standard setup for the tar road sections, but with the standard of knowledge of our traffic officials, I doubt anyone will even notice if it looks sufficiently like a professional job...

Ricster, I think you are right from a safety point of view, but that very feature can be pretty dangerous off-road. I also believe that it's far more likely to roll the car than a trailer, so in my view this is not a significant disadvantage.
Also, the other types of couplers that are allowable in the abovementioned code (which include ring-and hook (pintle hook) setups and the fifth-wheel setups used in big lorries do not have that type of feature, so I doubt this is actually a legal requirement.

If you (or Dustin) want, I could mail you the specification.