14 replies to this topic

[apbellamy]

I borrowed an old trailer to move minimadmotorman's shell yersterday. The trailer decided that it didn't want to stay attached to the car.

It hit a lamp post at about 40mph. The lamp post won.

 trailer.jpg   75.08K   34 downloads

Luckily, nobody else was around and it landed a distance from my car.

It was really twisted. The axle was bent and the wheels where at an angle.

So, I need to find a new trailer...

[Angelic_Fruitcake]

Ouch.. whoever you borrowed it from isn't going to love you....

[apbellamy]

Ouch.. whoever you borrowed it from isn't going to love you....

He's not that bothered. We might have found a replacement so it's not too bad.

[Joshmini]

Was the shell on the trailor when this happend?
And ouch poor trailor R.I.P lol.

[apbellamy]

Was the shell on the trailor when this happend?
And ouch poor trailor R.I.P lol.

Nope. I was just on my way to get the shell.

R.I.The Weigh bridge...

[GreaseMonkey]

Note to self - Do not let Apbellamy ever borrow trailer


























(Only if I had one )

[Bungle]

can the bad bits not be cut out and reweld good bits back in ?

[apbellamy]

can the bad bits not be cut out and reweld good bits back in ?

It would be a right pain in the preverbial to do. The entire right hand side of the trailer had been pushed back about 4 inches.

The two bars with the hitch on them where bent, the axle was twisted etc etc. A lot of the welds had split by the time we got it home.

We took it to the weigh bridge in the end. It would never have been quite right and probably not strong enough or safe enough to use.

It was a pretty *rubbish* trailer anyway.

[1987_ParkLane]

Good job the shell wants on it.

[dave21478]

[blunt]

Good.

Im happy no one else was injured and nobodys property was damaged, but I am very glad thats another shitty, dangerous, illegal trailer off the road.

1 - Is it a car transporter trailer? If yes, that would imply it can carry a car - yes? well, what weight is it rated to carry? you dont know? why not? what rating are the springs, axle, tyres and hubs designed to carry? oh you dont know do you?

2 - why did it come uncoupled? Only 3 options here, not properly coupled in the first place - user error/idiocy or the coupling mechanism failed and it came off or its so old that the coupling is worn way beyond being able to safely latch on a 50mm ball. Either of the three options doesnt reflect well on the owner/operator.

3 - what about the safety chain/breakaway cable? a trailer with a gross weight under 750kgs legally needs a safety chain that couples it to the car to keep the trailer attatched in the event of hitch failure. This chain has to be rated strong enough to support the gross trailer weight.
If the gross trailer weight is over 750kgs, it needs a breakaway cable which will pull on the handbrake automatically in the event of uncoupling. This is a thin wire cable that pulls on the brakes, then snaps, letting the trailer stop on its own.

4 - The bit above about a breakaway cable is a moot point as that trailer obviously doesnt have any brakes. Any trailer over 750kgs gross needs working brakes on all wheels.

5 - where are the front marker lights? Oh it doesnt have any does it? cant see from the photo, but what rear lights does it have. I see no wiring.



You say you borrowed this trailer, so its obviously not yours. This doesnt excuse you from making sure its safe and legal. This is YOUR responsibility as a driver. If you posted pics of your car after an accident and it was clearly illegal and unsafe pre-accident, you would get a verbal smack-down from most users here, and rightly so, yet people seem to think its ok to drag any crappy old lash-up of old caravan parts and van axles behind their car on public roads.
"Aye, its only a trailer" - Aye, its only a load of unpiloted, unbraked, unsteerable, liable to collaps at any moment, steel rolling along the road out of control.
If you were stopped at a vosa inspection point with that thing, they would have a field day, and thats not counting the possibility of bald/perished tyres that wouldnt show in the photos.

You are lucky you hit a lamp post. If you had hit a pedestrian or another car, you would be up ******* creek without a boat, never mind a paddle.

[/bunt]

[apbellamy]

dave21478

5 very fare points.

Ignorance is no excuse, but the obvious cause.

I will bare all your points in mind when I buy a replacement trailer for him. The one I am looking at is a twin axle model, ex RAC trailer so will certainly have the features and I will make 110% sure they all work properly before taking it on the road.

The picture was taken at the scrap yard after I had taken the trailer light board off. The tyres where all good.

Hopefully this will act be a warning for others.

[Big Man]

Apbellamy

You took the above comments on the chin much much respect indeed. Others would have no doubt told him to jog on and wind his neck in.

Main thing - lesson learnt and well done for sharing so others can learn.

BM

[Shifty]

I feel for you, its my worst fear to have a trailer break away.

It happened to me once, nearly put a boat/trailer through the local kwik-fit window, not fun at all.


Bet you're more careful next time( I know I was/am)

[Spenner]

Apbellamy

Your not on your own a couple of years ago i had the samething happen to me and i had a nearly new trailer from a hire centre and that parted company with the van which was towing it on the M4 at 5pm so very busy at the time and that crossed all 3 lanes and came to rest in the centre barrier and luckly it didnt hit anything. The police wasnt to bothered they just recovered it to the hard shoulder and then the highway agencie took it off us and further inspection by a vossa engineer found out that there was a defect with the hitch that we would not beable to notice unless we new what we were looking for. I do believe that the hire centre got a roasting though.

Just ask ELMO on here i still get ribbed by him over this

[apbellamy]

dave21478 is absolutely correct. There's absolutely no argument for me to make.

So yes, leasen learnt. Just glad the trailer, my pride and my bank balance are all that was damaged.

Thanks for your comments.