Thread: Help me finish my traytop

Originally Posted by Bryan

Kryn, what's your favourite drop? I owe you a beer for sure. The rims are definitely 5 stud. I counted 'em 3 times!

Sorry to disappoint you Bryan, but I don't drink alkyhol, I leave that up to my brothers sorry brother, one of them passed away from the stuff, Liver Cancer, and is now spread all over Corny Point, took em a few days to put out the crematorium fire though.
Bit like the old bloke that was 110, someone asked him the secret to his healthy age, he said a teaspoon of gunpowder with a glass of Jim Beam, when he eventually passed away, 5 years later, he left a 30 metre crater where the crematorium used to be.
The only thing I drink is Pepsi Max. I thought I read in an earlier post, that it was a 4 X 2 Hilux, good thing is, now I don't need glasses.
Regards
Kryn

Originally Posted by KBs PensNmore

Sorry to disappoint you Bryan, but I don't drink alkyhol,

Me neither, so no disappointment. Pepsi it is.

I feel like I have enough information now, and confidence, to get stuck into it, thanks mainly to you Kryn. I'm going shopping for bits today and feeling a bit excited.

Don't worry about the Pepsi, glad to be able to help you, Bryan.
Kryn

There are some defects in my chassis rails and I'm worried they may be stress raisers and future failure points. The section is 120 x 60 x 3.2, so there is quite a bit of meat, but I'm not sure that's the point.

In the first picture you can see the drawbar at the bottom, going to the right. The shiny area is where I've removed a tray mount. There's a fresh grinder scar on the left (guilty, Your Worship). This is about 0.1 - 0.2 mm deep. At the top and right are darker, older marks of unknown origin. One of these at it's deepest point is around 0.8 mm deep. That's at the top of the coma shape. The rest are between these extremes, around 0.3 - 0.5 mm. Also Mr Brown has been to town and left his signature. The worst of this is on the inside, right above the drawbar attachment. See pic.

Either this is a disaster waiting to happen, or I'm worrying about nothing. How say ye?

Hi Bryan, I wouldn't worry to much about them, seen a lot worse on vehicles that are still registered, as the chassis is double thickness top and bottom there is still plenty of strength there.
Regards
Kryn

Bryan

If Yonnee was around I think he would refer you to this VSB. It has most of the information you are chasing.

https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/ro...1_June2009.pdf

I have made a few trailers and always used this bulletin as my guide.

Regards
Paul

Paul, I'm reasonably familiar with that document, but don't see how it helps with the question at hand. Did you have a particular section in mind?

Bryan

I guess you are referring to the spring issue. It makes no real mention of these so I think it is not part of the assessment. However, you don't want the trailer to fail with a huge load on it.

If you are using the back end of a Hilux, you are probably looking at a "normal" safe working load of one tonne. That is including the weight of the trailer.

I made up a trailer using Landcruiser springs thinking that they would be good for an aggregate weight of 2 tonnes. Wrong. It got passed easily, but the first time I put serious weight on it became apparent they were hopelessly inadequate. I solved the problem by placing additional springs above the axle so I had a two stage suspension system. Of course I had to buy new hanger bolts.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

I guess you are referring to the spring issue.

The current question is a structural one, see post #20 above. All the same, your spring experience is interesting and relevant. I was thinking of using helpers if needed. http://www.ironman4x4.com/category-p...sion/load-plus. I fitted these to a Triton once with good results. Don't suppose you have any pics of your two stage setup?

Originally Posted by Bryan

The current question is a structural one, see post #20 above. All the same, your spring experience is interesting and relevant. I was thinking of using helpers if needed. http://www.ironman4x4.com/category-p...sion/load-plus. I fitted these to a Triton once with good results. Don't suppose you have any pics of your two stage setup?

Bryan

Apologies. I was not paying enough attention to the posts.

I agree with Kryn that the steel is plenty thick enough to stand a little degrade. I would treat the steel with a rust preventer. I like Penetrol but that doesn't work under automotive paints so you will have to take other advice there.

The Ironman product is fundamentally what I did. Some before and after pix of the trailer:

P1010146 (Small).JPGP1010158.jpgTrailer springs 003.jpg

I made a reference to revised hangers in the previous post, but I meant U-bolts. I had had the first bolts specially made and then needed a longer set to accommodate the extra spring.

Regards
Paul

Thanks for the photos Paul. A neat trick, the double spring. The advantage being it doesn't stiffen up until it's needed, whereas the Load Plus increases the rate from the start.

For chassis paint I'm using Wattyl Rust Eeter and Killrust flat black. Should hide a few sins. I keep hearing/reading good things about Penetrol but it's pretty pricey. And I already had some Rust Eeter. The tray of course will be paint free and rust free.

Bushmillers spring setup reminds me a bit of a truck setup

Originally Posted by jatt

Bushmillers spring setup reminds me a bit of a truck setup

jatt

That would be because it is primarily a truck setup!

In fact the top spring came from the back end of a Toyota Dyna (dual wheeler). It was the top, heavy duty spring on that vehicle.

It was a hassle as not only did I have to cut the length of the spring (easy), I had to cut the width too, which was not quite so easy, but possible because of thin cutting discs.It would be better if the right width spring is obtained first up. Also the keeper on the bottom spring is a little in the way and you can see where it has been deformed by the top spring.

I can see a time when all the agricultural land has been developed into high rise buildings,the hackneyed phase will be "best thing since thin cutting discs."

Regards
Paul

High rise buildings-- yeah I'll need the ground floor just for my toys and day job