Expedition trailers

[syncrosimon]

I think as long as you had 112 pcd hubs then you would be ok. Sourcing loads of good trailing arms might be difficult, but would be fantastic if the price could be kept down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IA5fR68rBBE

I would have Anderson plugs connecting a battery pack in the trailer to the vehicle electrics, some sort of fast erecting shelter, roof tent, and then just storage for whatever the person wants. the length of the bulloaks means it off roads predictably, especially in reverse.

this one is a cool alternative to a caravan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtJBv0-cL2Y
And the swing out kitchen unit is fab. And the simple to make trailing arms suspension set up.

Thats what I would have.

This is neat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blA6XFY2Hg0&NR=1

[poshbuggers]

PMSL

[sandwedge]

Great links Simon.
I like the second link but would guess this would be a very expensive purchase. The kitchen set up is excellent .
Lots of ideas running around my head now just need to get it on CAD then start building.

[slobbo]

I was looking for something like this a while ago but most of the stuff out there had more than I needed. I already have a fridge, cooker and bed so don't need one in a trailer. I ended up just building a box to fit on a standard galvanised 6x4 trailer. It has indespension unit and wheels that are too small. The hitch on my syncro is too high because of the lift kit (40mm I think). This make the trailer tip back. I had to space the hitch. to reduce the angle. Eventually I want to replace the hubs so I can put the same wheels as is on the van. Also need to get a sheet of aluminium to cover the top. The varnish just isn't doing the job.

[syncrosimon]

Rob, for the UK market I think that is the right size.

[syncropaddy]

I looked at quite a few before I settled on copying this one. Off road trailers must be tough. The price of this one is €8000 shipped out of the Euro agent in Belgium.

[sandwedge]

Great input everyone.

It would seem that you guys are all thinking along similar lines to myself, judging by the nature of the reply's.
I agree Simon for the UK and most European trips the fully fledged expedition trailers are way to big. The other issue I have with them is they are a dedicated piece of kit, and for most of us how often will we use a full EX trailer, so I still think the add on mix and match module idea is the way to go.

A question, trailers carrying leisure batteries do they charge via the electrical connection to the towing vehicle?

[syncrosimon]

Re the battery charging, if you had a Sterling charging system you could effectively charge a second bank of batts in the trailer using Anderson connectors.

The Anderson connectors can then be used to power de-mountable winches, etc.

Having the trailer multi purpose is the key. I would rather fill an empty trailer with decent boxes for travel, and have the empty space for trips to the dump. Adaptability.

[syncropaddy]

For charging batteries in the trailer use a proper recognised 13 pin Euro plug. We'll all be using then soon anyway as the old 7 pin things are being phased out so there is no point in re-inventing the wheel by using odd ball connectors

This is a good trailer coupling for off road work

>>>clicky here<<<

[v-lux]

odd ball connectors

There's nothing odd ball about an anderson connector. Theyre industry standard for high amp connections. I would certainly much rather have an anderson connection charging a leisure setup on a trailer than try and put a decent charge down a piddly little trailer connection. The largest cable you can connect into any kind of trailer connection i have seen would not be anywhere near sufficient to allow a decent charge amperage.

If you have ever seen the connectors that AA vans have mounted front and rear for jump leads for instance.....Anderson connectors.....

[sandwedge]

the charging question was just to find out the standard route, I have been considering if its possible to make the trailer stand alone as far as charging goes.

I guess the connector type depends on how much juice is going down the pipe, I will have to do some research.

I would want to avoid the need for specialist charging kit ie sterling chargers and the like. Not that its not a great bit of kit, I just want to keep things as simple as possible just to make field maintenance as easy as possible.

[v-lux]

The standard route would be to have a 'S' trailer plug added to your van so that you can plug in the neccesary trailer plug connection to give the ability to charge a battery (or run a fridge etc etc, aimed at the caravan towing market)

Considering most people would need the secondary "S" plug adding to their van to allow charging anyway, i would imagine that to have a high amp cable attached from whatever split charge setup people have terminated in an Anderson connector would be a far more adequate setup. (and possibly cheaper too)
You would obviously still need the standard "N" plug to run the trailer lights, side lights, fog light etc etc.

The only advantage of having an "S" plug over the Anderson connector is that you have the option of having a reverse light, but im sure that wouldnt be that hard to rig up some other way.

I guess the difference is whether you are interested in having a 'decent' reliable power supply in the trailer, or just want a battery to provide some lighting. In an expedition/wild camping trailer i would personally prefer to have a decent additional power supply that could be relied upon.

As it happens i'm shortly going to be installing Anderson connectors to the front and back of my van just so i have the option of connecting a high amperage power supply should i ever need it. Perfect for jump starting without having to open up your engine bay, or connecting a compressor, or a winch, or......

[sandwedge]

I was thinking about not relying on the vehicle for the charge source. It would be a lot of juice to draw from a 90A alternator especial if its already charging 2 bats in the bus. Split charging relays are a bit old hat IMO they work but are not the best and then there are the intelligent charge managers, but these are addition bits of electronic kit to go wrong.
I am formulating some ideas to charge bats in the trailer with out needing to take charge from the vehicle, I also think the on board jenny suggested is a good ideas as a backup power source.

[v-lux]

The charging requirements of the trailer would obviously depend very much on the intended use.

Caravans have a piddly little lead putting charge into the caravan battery and another running the fridge, usually supplied by some form of VSR (voltage sensing relay).
I guess the idea being that you are very unlikely to heavily discharge the Aux battery in a caravan (hook up being widely available on campsites).

I don't think it would make sense to not use the Alternator to do some charging whilst the vehicle is in motion. As long as the battery charging setup on the vehicle is in some way prioritising the starter battery (which i would hope it would be any way) then i cant see a problem. There is a power source there to use, so why not use it. Using an onboard genny to charge the trailer batterys just seems a bit like wasted fuel to me..?

The genny would be a nice thing to have anyway, but not everyone is going to want one. I would imagine most people would want a setup that charges from the vehicle...

Having a VSR attached to the electrics in the trailer so that it only takes juice from the alternator once the starter battery is charged would be the setup for me i think....

[sandwedge]

sorry I dont think my previous post was clear the genny would be in addition to self contained trailer charging system.