turning a freelander into a trailer

barnzy · Oct 11, 2012

hi there ,my old mans freelander died and i decided im going to turn it into a trailer,i cnt decide roof on or roof choped off,im going to split it where the front and rear doors meet and plate up the front and make an a frame ideas on a postcard pls

Nodge68 · Oct 11, 2012

Surely you would be better off selling the Freelander and buying a proper trailer ??

teddywood1 · Oct 11, 2012

its been done before saw one at a landy show

Singvogel · Oct 11, 2012

Hey - you guys - answers on a postcard he said.

Having a great time, wish you were here.

Of course it can be done - as a talking point or a piece of fun.

But if you want a realy useful trailer then ........

See you soon,

S.

Nodge68 · Oct 11, 2012

teddywood1 said:
its been done before saw one at a landy show

I just don't know why?? The payload would be dreadful for it's size!! But I suppose if it's your bag, go for it!!

barnzy · Oct 11, 2012

well its been broken for bits and what id get for it on the scales i may aswell its just a case off why not

silkwood · Oct 11, 2012

Euhm, something like this?

Freelander%2520met%2520trailer%25202.jpg

Freelaner · Oct 11, 2012

thought i'd seen a pic of one somewhere, well done

Kizzeh · Oct 11, 2012

if you made the front more aero-dynamic by making the load space follow the shape of the a frame then it would be around 6 foot long, just long enough to make as a bed on wheels when going away. I have seen it done with a peugeot 306. Its an expensive and time consuming way to go but its different

Diesel Do · Oct 11, 2012

Don't trailers technically need plating for weight? Must confess I'd thought about it but it'd be open with the top cut off! Cos that'd be Flippin heavy!

Singvogel · Oct 11, 2012

Diesel Do said:
Don't trailers technically need plating for weight? Must confess I'd thought about it but it'd be open with the top cut off! Cos that'd be Flippin heavy!

Yes they do. But you can make your own plate with the max gross weight.

The max gross would be the max axle weight so for the one in the pic it would be 1150KG

UK trailer rules and regs re construction are pretty vague and not heavily enforced.

No MOT for trailers here - only needs to be 'roadworthy'.

(From my observations they don't bother much in Ireland either)

A self-built trailer in most other EU countries would be subject to rigorous examination and test before receiving an official plate.

Best not to cross the channel with anything dodgy.

Singvogel.

Optimus Prime · Oct 11, 2012

no mean feat to get the rear window to drop so you can open the tailgate !

dave21478 · Oct 12, 2012

Legally, a trailer over 750kgs gross weight needs auto-reversing overrun brakes. It is not feasable to make car drum brakes auto-reverse and even in normal use car drums do not meet trailer brake efficiency levels anyway. Plenty of people just do it anyway, its simple enough to hook up the handbrake cables to an overrun hitch and the chances are you will get away with it. Until the day a bored VOSA inspector pulls you into a checkpoint......

Plate it at under 750kgs and forget the brakes. Legally the most simple way, but the empty weight of the shell will probably not leave much room for a payload.

Aesthetically, these things usually look good from the rear and gash from the front. How you close off the hole in the front is what makes or breaks the styling. A flat sheet of steel usually looks gash - try and find or make something more aerodynamic and that looks a bit better. One of the better ones I have seen (non landrover) used a couple of scrap bonnets to make a slightly triangular front to it, but he had lined up the swage lines of the bonnets to match those on the rest of the shell so it looked pretty good.

Singvogel · Oct 12, 2012

I agree totally with Dave in post 13.

It highlights the futility of going to the trouble of making a Freelander trailer.

I estimate that the back half of a Freelanderr will weigh pretty near 750Kg empty - so plating it at 750 will leave a payload capacity of a toothbrush and a packet of crisps.

Be interesting to know the exact weight of the back half - kerb weight of the whole car is around 1600Kg.

As for fitting the necessary braking system for over 750Kg - I imagine the cost would make it unviable.

Singvogel.

Freelaner · Oct 12, 2012

Maybe it was built as more as an oddity and not for any practical purpose.

it that sense it works quite well.

Singvogel · Oct 12, 2012

Freelaner said:
Maybe it was built as more as an oddity and not for any practical purpose.

it that sense it works quite well.

Definitely - full marks on that score - I'd love to have one - just to see folks reaction.

S.

Freelaner · Oct 12, 2012

Singvogel said:
Definitely - full marks on that score - I'd love to have one - just to see folks reaction.

S.

Absolutely

dave21478 · Oct 12, 2012

Yes, some can look smart and its certainly different, however, with the limitations of a car shell, looking smart and being useful are not compatible.

It looks the business, and if he has laid it out well, can probably sleep two comfortably, but must be a complete nightmare to tow. Never heard of the work "noseweight", I would say.

Freelaner · Oct 12, 2012

There will be plenty of noseweight on that as the rear wheels are right at the back!

Diesel Do · Oct 12, 2012

I wondered about hacking it around and plonking it on a sankey chassis? That would be heavy but at least you could put stuff in It and be legal!

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