Paul's esoteric meanderings

I needed a trailer to replace my XF falcon ute. To be flexible enough to replace the ute, I wanted a flatbed with removable sides. That would let me carry longer loads, larger loads, and store it where I wanted. I did not want a box trailer – too many limitations for my needs.

I own a large heavy car trailer, so this was to be light and simple instead. Up to the legal un-braked limit of 750kg. As I am legally limited to this weight, it made sense for the trailer to be as light as possible. This would leave more room for payload. Making it extra heavy duty wouldn’t let me carry any more load. I wasn’t planning on using it off-road.

The flat bed with sides would let me use it in more ways. I also wanted to store it winched up to the roof of my carport, over my cars. This would get it out of the way when not needed and keep it out of the weather.

Shopping around at various trailer manufacturers offered almost nothing in the way of flat trailers with removable sides. Several quotes where well over $2000. I considered making my own using an alloy ute drop-side tray, but the cost was still up there. Several manufacturers actively laughed at me when I said I didn’t want a  “heavy duty” trailer. I laughed at them when they said their trailers weighed 200+kg, leaving less for payload.

Then I came across Easy Trailer. A company that gave me lots of options, made a lightweight trailers, and encouraged their customers to customise their trailers. They order over the web and deliver to you.

They specialise in folding trailers, but for me that wasn’t a critical feature. Mine would be stored on the roof, not folded against a wall.

What I wanted would cost me about $1000 from them, and about $400 in extra bits. With rego that’s under $1500, not bad.

Options

I selected a 8ft x 4ft trailer that could tip as well. I added a spare tyre and tie down loops. I recommend 8 tie down loops.

The floors have an option of steel or ply. Aluminium is not an option. Plywood is very good as it gives a “softer” surface that won’t damage what you are carrying. I had 5mm alloy checkerplate at home, so didn’t need a floor supplied.

The sides are the optional heavy duty sides. The front and rear gates double as loading ramps for anything you want to roll onto the trailer. They can come open or with a steel skin. No aluminium option.
Again, for weight and corrosion reasons, I went with 2mm aluminium from a local supplier.

The jockey wheel they have as an option didn’t do what I wanted, so I grabbed a lightweight folding one locally from Repco.

Electrical

The lights supplied are conventional bulb types – that means unreliable. I threw them in the bin and bought better sealed LED lights from eBay. Lights on trailers are a constant source of problems and I hate chasing dodgy light peroblems on my trailers.

To mount them properly, the LED lights I used do need a small backing plate made up to cover the rear. 1.6mm alloy is fine for this. You’ll also probably have to move the number plate and get a light for it. Whilst most conventional lights have a number plate light built in, this is uncommon for LED lights.

As far as I could find, on this size trailer, clearance lights are not required. Despite this, I fitted a set of low profile LED clearance lights to replace the clearance lights supplied with the trailer.

The wiring supplied uses the trailer as an earth – a likely problem spot. As such I used some of my own wire to run a full earth, ensuring all connections where sealed. I don’t solder vehicle connections anymore, finding a soldered connection less reliable than a well sealed crimped connection. The heat causes more fatigue on the wire and corrosion seems to get into the wire further.

Assembly

The trailer comes in lots of bits, with a lot of bolts. Plan on 4-6 hours to assemble it for a first time user. It’s easy enough, just a little tedious.

My assembly tips would be

a) Watch the direction of the C channels, it matters

b) Don’t fit the brackets for the timber stakes, you’ll just have to remove them later.

c) The tie downs replace bolts, figure out which ones as you assemble to save re-doing it.

d) Consider fitting nutserts / captive nuts to hold the sides on. Much less tedious than nuts and bolts.

Sides, Ramps, Tie Downs

Flatbed stored under carport roof (with safety tethers)

Nicely loaded

Sits nicely

Replaced loose nuts with captive Nutserts
They can be installed with no special tools
if you are careful.

LED lights are a great improvement

Brackets and backing plate for LED lights

LED Clearance lights

Swing up Jockey Wheel from Repco

Lightweight frame

Spacer for sides

Review

The trailers are imported from Taiwan, and in some ways it shows in the quality. They are obviously sold worldwide, as I saw one used on the tyre throwing rig on episode 80 of  mythbusters.

The powdercoat finish is ok, but the corners are sharp and will rust there where the coat is thin. I personally wouldn’t leave it out in the weather for too many years, but I say that about any trailer that isn’t hot gal dipped.

The frame is folded U channel steel, bolted together. This gives some flex that should relieve some point strain issues. Unlike a welded trailer, it is unlikely to crack from fatigue. The nuts are all nylocks, so it shouldn’t rattle apart too easily, although it would pay to check the bolts every so often.

The axle is folded steel, not solid bar. It would not stand overloading well. The drawbar is also C channel, so I wouldn’t overload it.

The compliance plate on mine was for 500KG. I spoke to Easy Trailer and they sent me another one for 707kg, the advertised max weight. The design is clearly for a distributed load, so if you are planning on carting large rocks or engines, be careful where you load them.

The wheels are 12” cross ply tubeless tyres on cheap steel rims. This is good for me as they keep the trailer low to the ground and keep the overall weight down. Cross ply tyres have a much heavier load rating, – these are a small narrow tyre.  The studs on the hubs weren’t drilled particularly square, my only complaint. Some people worry about small tyres at highway speeds. Mini’s work just fin on 10″ wheels at much higher speeds than this trailer will ever see. A wheel bearing’s RPM has nothing on a tailshaft.

I added an extra brace for the spare wheel to stop it twisting when stood on. I also added a swing up jockey wheel and extra tie down points. I tend to modify my stuff though.

The assembled trailer with sides on weighs in at just over 100kg, leaving 600kg of payload.

I have used it to transport my 200kg motorcycle, mates bikes, mulch, cane mulch bales, timber and other random items so far. I would not overload it badly. I would not take it over 1000km of corrugations and expect it to survive.

I like it, I love the lightweight design, I like the suppliers attitude to customising it, and I like the price. It tows well and is very flexible.  It’s unfortunately invisible behind the Landcruiser, I’ll need a reversing camera to see the thing.

I love my Maglites. I know technically there may be better out there, but they have such a nice solid feel to them as you thump them over someone’s ….. err, well, anyway.

Whilst they are good quality, they very old tech, so a swap to LED’s was in order. LED’s offer greater output, 5 – 10x battery life, and are much more shock proof.

The debate as to “which bulb is best” goes on endlessly, so I settled for those that I could source from eBay and post to Australia.

The direct bulb shaped replacements are very rare in high output versions. Most inserts offer an unusual shaped fitting and often a different reflector.Standard shaped bulbs often can’t dissipate enough heat to keep an LED cool. LED’s hate heat for effective output. Some LED’s will start out quite bright when turned on, then dim somewhat as they heat up.

The Maglite brand LED replacement bulbs are nothing special according to most reviews, and I wanted something with some more power.

Manufacturers appear to have come and gone, so don’t be surprised if the bulb you want is no longer around.

One downside with many inserts is you lose the focussing ability. In some cases they are do much brighter it doesn’t matter.

Terralux has a good range of inserts, with a balance of cost, features, output and availability. They are readily available on eBay US.

Candlepower Forums has in depth discussion and reviews, detailed comparisons etc. As the space changes so quickly, many of these are out of date.

Regardless of which bulb you choose, it should by preference be regulated. This keeps a constant brightness and gets best possible use out of the batteries. You don’t need to throw them away until they are fully used up, and lose very little brightness as they discharge.

Alkaline batteries have limits on how much power you can pull out of them. Essentially, if the bulb you choose will flatten the batteries in under 10 hours, the battery won’t give it’s full rated output.

When I started this I was going to do lumen comparisons and shots of beam patters, but honestly, it changes so fast, and others have done this already. I figured I would just put down my experience and you can pick bulbs on your own.

5 lights, all Terralux’d

Bulbs disassembled

Bulbs disassembled

Maglite 4D Cell – TLE-300M-EX
The brightest insert I could buy, with 3 x 2w elements. It’s not focusable, but so bright, it doesn’t matter. 3 brightness levels. The three elements produce a consistent beam pattern. 700 Lumens. About $70

All the other bulbs have been discontinued already.

An eBay search shows most bulbs are around 100 – 300 lumens and about US$20ish.

They are all an upgrade. Every brand and model seems to differ in it’s focussing.

Factors I would consider are

1. Price
2. Lumens Output
3. Focus – ability
4. Regulator

Not pictured is my Maglite solitaire, it was upgraded with one of these.

Yes, that is an active device, there is a regulator in the round disk.

For about $150 all up, it was well worth doing the six lights.

When I renovated the house I installed a heap (18) CFL downlights in the ceiling which I reviewed. These 15W reflector CFL’s warm up fast(ish) and provide good light.

I was never happy with the kitchen bench though – it wasn’t bright enough. I recently bought a light meter from eBay and confirmed my suspicions. 60 Lumens at the bench top whereas kitchens are recommended to be around 150 lumens.

Surprisingly under my range-hood with it’s pair of (yuck) 20w G4 halogens scored 140 lumens.

I tried replacement bulbs in the downlights to get additional brightness with no success. The 18W Philips reflector is larger and does just fit. It’s only available in Warm White which made it seem no brighter and not match the rest of the house. I tried a larger 23W Par 38 spotlight, but it doesn’t fit into the housing, and is too large and heavy.

I thought I might need more spotlights on the wall until I made a new discovery.

     +   

http://www.pierlite.com.au/au/3091/dot-110 is a silvered reflective downlight housing that takes a normal ES bulb. By putting the silvered reflector in the housing, rather than the bulb, means you can use a normal bulb without losing all the light.

It comes with a Philips 20W ES Warm White bulb. I tried both a Philips 23W Daylight and 23W Warm White, much preferring the Warm White.

I’m impressed – this thing is BRIGHT. You do not want to look at it running. The benchtop now measures 160 lumens, up from 60. Great for a kitchen

23W is 3W above the rating of the fitting, but being CFL – I’m confident it won’t bother it. The 20W is also available in Dimmable, for those that want to replace 50W halogen downlights, although an electrician will be required, and the fitting is somewhat larger.

Another excuse not to go CFL’s down.