Aha! Many thanks to Simon (Gaffa) for giving us a trailer section!

Time to chronicle my build then!

Where to start?...

Why! Is a good reason! Most of you probably know that as well as running Bits4Vits, I also run a Londis convenience store and a Post Office, both of which trade 6 days a week, 7am to 9pm... yes, even the Post Office...

Hence why I offroad, and have done for nigh on twelve years (off and on! ), and hence also, why my "holidays" take the form of long weekends... I tend to be able to get away sometime on a Saturday (often late afternoon) and get Saturday nights away, Sundays offroading / greenlaning, and when there's a bank holiday (we close the shop & PO) I get a Sunday night and Monday away too...

So, (I'm getting there... slowly!) I like to camp, but a tent isn't my idea of comfort, plus packing it away if it's rained is a chore, getting it back out and drying it, and then putting it away again... so I originally had an offroad caravan -



That was ok, but too big to store at home, and the cost of storing it became prohibitive when I only used it for a few weekends a year...

So the idea of a "ViTrailer" / HalfaVit was born many years ago... and is now finally, slowly, coming to fruition...

So, I heard that my mate Eeeee (Purple on here) was breaking a Vit and had already got a buyer for the engine and box... so I asked about having the back of it, including the rear axle, etc... So a deal was done and I hired a trailer and set off for Eeee's...

The pictures will fill in the gaps!



The donor vehicle... Eeee had already removed the doors and the petrol tank to make our job easier




Decided to make the cut just at the edge of the sunroof...



And at floor level in the easiest place to cut, left the floor longer than needed, so I could decided how long to make it when I got it home and had a good measure, but this seemed the easiest place to cut at the time...



The chassis was then cut, and you can begin to see the Vit split in two!



Eeee drives the front away!



Vitrailer! You kind of get the idea now?



Loaded up on the trailer, and time to head home... after another cuppa of course! Thanks to EEeeee!



At stock height, with wheels and tyres stolen off the white Vit that was on the drive at the time - just to get it off the trailer I'd hired... testing the nose weight, seems ok...



A huge wheel barrow! Yes, nose weight feels good!



"New" wheels to match the tow Vitara have arrived and some Bronco tyres in a 31"x10.5" flavour also to match... well, similar!



A pair of ProComp rear lift springs and some Bits4Vits spring spacers (of course) have it sitting a bit higher!



A bit of an unorthodox way to do the bodylift... Hi-Lift under the spare wheel carrier!



And the GeeVee's scissor jack to do the front!



Part of a 3" Bits4Vits bodylift used to lift it...



Bodylifted! Getting there!



A bit of rust is exposed...



... ok, quite a bit of rust... no worries, this will soon be sorted... good welding practice!



Out of the drive to sweep up all the rust, and all the shattered glass...



... because the offside windows have been removed, these will be plated over, smoothed in, and a big Bits4Vits sticker will adorn the offside... with the inside shelved for some storage...



Back in the drive



Internal shot...



... doesn't look long enough to sleep in though?

Hmmm... I have a cunning plan! The front will have a false gas bottle cupboard built into it, with a hinged flap on the inside that will fold down to meet the bench seat, which will also fold flat, so that a full length bed will be inside, with my feet in the "gas cupboard"...

Then, during the day, there's a nice bench seat to sit on, the sleeping bag and pillow is stored in the closed "gas cupboard"...

More soon, thanks once again to Simon, now we've got a trailer section to fill!

Carnt see the pictures Dave

Only the one with Superzuki and caravan...

Give us a chance Henry

Ah now your talking Dave! You must get some funny looks

Looks good tho! Are you going to fill in the footwells level with the transmission tunnel?

Henry

Cool,

I see you are suffering from wheel arch lurgy too , still working on getting my arches repaired before fixing the fatboy versions on.

R

Thanks Henry... sorry, was busy writing the words to go with the pictures that have now appeared now I've got the links right!

No, the transmission tunnel will be removed and made into a flat floor... so I get it through the nearside door, and sit on the new bench seat (that will be the bed as well), and have plenty of footroom for my long legs...

very interesting dave, i look forward to seeing it progress.

is it staying red, or will it be painted black to match stealth???

Oooh, yes, black with limo blacked windows to match Stealth the tow car

And a big Bits4Vits sticker on the offside!

I'm figuring that the finished weight of the ViTrailer will be under the 750Kg weight of needing to be braked... but with safety in mind, and the impending Trailer MOTs coming in 2010, I figured it made sense to get a braked tow hitch... so a 900Kg braked unit has arrived (off eBay of course! ) and has a 75Kg nose weight rating, so I think it's going to match the finished trailer balance... by the time some steel work has been welded on the front, i.e. the towing A-frame and the "wall" to blank it off... and the addition of the big spare wheel on the back, and a heavy duty off road bumper with supporting legs for when the trailer is parked up... oh, yes, and a jockey wheel the other end...

SOooo, talking to Richie (fellow trailer builder ) yesterday, he said from experience, my tow ball was going to be too high... as it's up in the air on my rear recovery bar -



So went out for a measure -



And the top of the tow ball sits at 25" off the ground...

So back onto the drive ...



... and clamp the tow hitch onto a chassis rail for a measure...



Hmmm, , 22" off the ground to the top of the socket where the ball's going to sit...

SOooo... after a bit of thinking... I need to make the A-frame towing hitch for the front of the trailer, so I'm going to make it out of 3"x2" box section and have it sat on top of the existing chassis rails (rather than butted up to it...) and slope the two connecting bits and cap the ends, and then weld a strengthening bar of steel over the connection, like this - (excuse my drawings!)



That will give it the appearence of more ground clearence too... and the joint will be under the body of the trailer and won't be visible...

The brakes will be cable operated, using the existing handbrake cables... the tow hitch pushes back and pulls a lever under braking, which will be quite easily connected to the existing handbrake cables

Better get the brakes serviced on the trailer though!

More soon...

Before getting to excited about tow ball height I would check what the law says Dave.

I've checked my little note book of all things handy that I write down and I've written in it that the EU standard height for a tow ball is 430mm from the ground to the center of the ball + or - 35mm

I can't remember if this is the law or not but it's why I run my towing set up on Snowy with a drop plate so as to attain the correct ball height

I only mention it as it may not be an issue now but when the trailer needs an MOT

Now I think about it I seem to remember that a 50mm ball towing hitch has an optimum operating range of + or - 50mm of the ball hitch center line height Probally best to check this as well

http://www.caravanningnow.co.uk/caravan ... qtowba.htm

Says "From the Caravan clubs handbook page 640 (1999 / 2000 edition ) it says the coupling ball is 50 mm diameter and when measured from ground to ball centre should be between 350 and 420 mm"

Mines 25" to the top of the ball, so 24" to the middle, which is approx 600mm... whoops!

Useful - http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosacorp/reposit ... =4a0270996

http://www.witter-towbars.co.uk/FAQ/FAQ ... ll+Heights

Hmmm, kettle and fish...?

What's the height of your tow ball then Richie ?

If your Vit has a 3" lift and 1" oversize tyres, total of 4" lift has been applied to the ball height on the original tow bar bracket... so is it still within the recommended range? or have you had to fit a drop plate?

Wonder if I could use an agricultural type ring then?

I can see this heading for an SVA / IVA on a bluddy trailer next...