Hi All,
My boat was imported around 5 years ago from Florida to the UK and, came with the original American trailer. The American trailers are rather cool, it's a fully galvanised trailer, very sturdy and has suspension, which isn't common on British trailers.
I'm looking to do the trailer conversion to EU standard, as I intend on using the trailer more often now. Does anyone have any experience or guide for a conversion?
Looking at the Regulations and the trailer, it looks like i need to install the following (boat and trailer weigh c. 1300kg):
- change 1 1/2" towball hitch to 50mm towball
- change hubs to 4 stud electric drum brake hubs and run associated cables through trailer
- Fit ratchet handbrake to trailer arm with break away cable
- Fit ratchet handbrake cable to T section, running cables to the brake shoes
As far as i can see, there's 2 ways i can go about this:
1. Buy all the parts and fit as necessary
2. Buy a salvaged caravan chassis and, use the donor parts (potentially also needing to change the axle over)
In terms of cost, both options seem to be roughly similar at £300-400, the benefit being that under option 1, the parts will be new - the downside being that there may be a few bits i've forgotten / i may need a new trailer arm, at an additional cost of £100.
I have explored just replacing the trailer but, a good 2nd hand fully galvanised trailer seems to be in the region of £1,500 so, the best option seems to be to do a conversion. I have attached a photo of my trailer so, you know the type i'm talking about.
My boat was imported around 5 years ago from Florida to the UK and, came with the original American trailer. The American trailers are rather cool, it's a fully galvanised trailer, very sturdy and has suspension, which isn't common on British trailers.
I'm looking to do the trailer conversion to EU standard, as I intend on using the trailer more often now. Does anyone have any experience or guide for a conversion?
Looking at the Regulations and the trailer, it looks like i need to install the following (boat and trailer weigh c. 1300kg):
- change 1 1/2" towball hitch to 50mm towball
- change hubs to 4 stud electric drum brake hubs and run associated cables through trailer
- Fit ratchet handbrake to trailer arm with break away cable
- Fit ratchet handbrake cable to T section, running cables to the brake shoes
As far as i can see, there's 2 ways i can go about this:
1. Buy all the parts and fit as necessary
2. Buy a salvaged caravan chassis and, use the donor parts (potentially also needing to change the axle over)
In terms of cost, both options seem to be roughly similar at £300-400, the benefit being that under option 1, the parts will be new - the downside being that there may be a few bits i've forgotten / i may need a new trailer arm, at an additional cost of £100.
I have explored just replacing the trailer but, a good 2nd hand fully galvanised trailer seems to be in the region of £1,500 so, the best option seems to be to do a conversion. I have attached a photo of my trailer so, you know the type i'm talking about.