Trailer Laws and Driving Licence

[Shayne]

Had a real good look at my trailer today and was shocked at how its been put together , it's a wonder they last a year and mines lasted 20 odd years ! . So i decided to phone the I.V.A (individual vehicle inspection) people to see if i could get some hard facts about building my own trailer . The individual i needed to speak to was was not in his office so i was asked to leave my name and number so he could call me back . THE INDIVIDUAL - ONE SINGLE BLOKE . Anyway he called back 5 hours later just before he went home know doubt but a nice fella all the same , to inform me he hasn't got a clue and suggest i speak to V.O.S.A .

So i will try that tomorrow .

 

[stumog]

Shayne go and look at a brand new trailer that is for sale in halfrunds you will soon see how lax the test must be.
Stu

 

[Shayne]

I've looked at hundreds of trailers in the past few weeks Stu and they are all crap . Al-ko seem to be the biggest supplier of trailer chassis by far and they are obviously manufactured in kit form using the absolute minimum of material to meet regulation spec . The test doesn't bother me i just want to know what the ongoing bureaucratic B.S will be once i've passed the test .

 

[stumog]

One Reason why i brought a sankey as a starting point.
Good luck

 

[Shayne]

Military stuff doesn't need type approval but it might still need to be registered though i don't know . That's the kind of thing i wanna discuss with authorities . I wouldn't normally care much about anally retentative laws but its just my luck to get sorted with a really good trailer only to have some greedy bureaucrat decide he wants it for himself when i'm halfway across Europe and without the correct paperwork i'd be up the creek without a paddle .

 

[stumog]

From what I have seen aslong as its not new has a build plate you will be fine. I use mine a resonable amount and have not been stopped with it.
Stu

 

[moggy1968]

not too sure how useful this is, rather complex

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vca/vehicletype/trailers.asp

a slightly simpler version

http://www.dft.gov.uk/vca/additiona...vice-for-companies-manufacturing-trailers.pdf

this is a bit more easy to read but not as detailed on the actual standards

http://www.armitagetrailers.com/trailerlaw.htm

 

[Shayne]

Thanks Moggy i found and skimmed through them and a few more , thats why i'd prefer to speak to them on the phone , more often than not when you speak plain to whoever answers you will find they have as much contempt for stupid rules as we do , you will never get them to admit that in writing .

If you get the right fella he will say something like - scrap that , ignore that , apply for that but only fill in questions 2 , 8 and 36 leaving the rest blank for us to do . Wait for us to send it back to you then post it with your application to such and such and you will automatically be granted whatever .

 

[moggy1968]

very true!

 

[Paddler Ed]

I've looked at hundreds of trailers in the past few weeks Stu and they are all crap . Al-ko seem to be the biggest supplier of trailer chassis by far and they are obviously manufactured in kit form using the absolute minimum of material to meet regulation spec . The test doesn't bother me i just want to know what the ongoing bureaucratic B.S will be once i've passed the test .

Have a look at (I think) B&W; they're one of the other big manufacturers for trailer components, based in Germany (If I remember correctly).

A lot of what Al-Ko make for are the caravan chassis market, where the actual body also provides some of the rigidity needed for the trailer, rather than just the chassis providing the rigidity; the other bit is that the weight of caravans is definitely on the way downwards over the years, although mainly on the UK market stuff rather than the European market bits and pieces.