Thread: Trailer Build... mission possible

Originally Posted by opelblues

18 years ago we built a trailer for a d3 dozer that was towed behind a bedford truck. the trailer was built in a way that the 3 axles were on a slide seperate from the main frame, this slide could be moved to the front or to the back of the trailer. the distance from back to front was 3 mt. when moved to the front of the trailer the rear droped to the ground. then all that was done then was the trucked was driven forward at the same time the chain drive pulled the axels back to place the load point directly over them. this could bedone with a two stage rams now days or screw drive, we also carried 50 bales of hay on the same trailer, not with the dozer on it at the same time.

Ive actually seen such trailer a couple of years back but never thought of taking pics of it, I just googled it now, and found what youre talking about.
http://www.traileze.com/slidingaxletrailers.html
that idea is pretty cool and i like it, not quite what i was thinking to build but still sweet.

many thanks to every ones thoughts... positive or negative, keep them coming

In the '60's Rover built a trailer that used the front suspension from a Rover 2000 that allowed the trailer to "kneel" which basically dropped the loading height to ground level.

The 2000's suspension was pivoted at the rear/top and rotated when it hit a bump. Pretty trick stuff and it seemed to work oK.

Have a search uner Rover. I think it had something to do with their Turbine Car from that era.

Vehicle components have a suspension on their site that drops the tray to ground level....all the details are there bit it is stamped wit "not currently available"

I have seen a couple of ideas that involve locking the wheels with the trailer brakes and then pushing / pulling the trailer to operate the action.

I have seen a couple of these.

one slides the tray and drawbar ( pivoting ) on the suspension sort of like the doser trailer detailed earlier.

Another is a single axle design that simply has a pivoting drawbar and pushes the trailer so it pivots on the suspension. This one is very cheap and easy but relies on an evenly balanced load.

yes the drive on pivoting tray, the drawbar needs to be attached at the pivoting centre.....you just drive the car off...... lock in position and drive the car back on to pivot the trailer.

the above 2 are easier with a single axle set up, the first one is better with a high suspension the second is better with a low suspension

A completely different approach that was marketed a few years ago had a tray suspended between and independently sprung outer frame that was lowered by winches or hydraulics ( expensive ans structrualy difficult.)

I don't think any of the above are new ideas by a long chalk.

cheers

Originally Posted by soundman

cheers

thanks for the info, i have seen that site, and rung them once to get advice on their suspension so i can design this trailer and to be sure to get the right results, but were'nt helpful unless you buy from them.
Im thinking of using airbags, best i found so far has a 200mm lift and is rated to 1 ton each... so, i'll be working from there, nevertheless, i'll keep everyone posted... once the design part is done, building shouldnt take too long.

cheers

The aur bag suspension has been used in the back of quite a number of vehicles that are required to squat.
Quite some time ago I worked on ambulances ( F series fords) that had airbags on the back end they worked well but only caused about 200mm of squat.

I recon one of the tilting and or sliding systems is the best idea

cheers

I think if you have an axle from one side to the other you will find the trailer will hit that before it touches the ground, even if it is a drop centre axle.

Watching with interest still.

Cheers

Originally Posted by Calm

Watching with interest still.

Cheers

Great... that just adds fuel to my motivation