Trailer question

[John Hughes]

My first post here but I have been reading the Firewood and Woodland forums for some time. We own 2 plots of woodland in South Wales. I live in the South East and always bring a load of timber or logs back with me when I return from the woods.

I have a 9ft by 5 ft tipping trailer that I pull behind my L200 pick up. When I bought the trailer I was told it needed a new damper in the Bradley Autolock hitch, this I duly fitted however the trailer is still a pain to tow causing continual jolting when even half loaded. :mad1:The trailer is made by a firm called Highline, it is twin axle. I have a Brenderup car transporter that tows with no problems. Any suggestions what could be the problem with the Highline? :confused1:

Thanks in advance.

John

[3dogs]

get the breaks adjusted up. that is i presume it jolts when you gear down or apply the breaks:confused1:

[Dean Lofthouse]

get the breaks adjusted up. that is i presume it jolts when you gear down or apply the breaks:confused1:

 

Ditto..... it's badly adjusted brakes that damage the damper in the first place, renewing the damper without servicing the brakes will knack your new damper

 

Just to add to that, also check that your hitch height is correct.

[PeteB]

As previously stated, check that the brakes are properly adjusted and that the linkage is too. A good indication of how your brakes are is how high does the handbrake come when applied (presuming you have an energy store or spring to assist). A hand brake that comes right up means that the energy store is pulling in a yard of cable before the shoes hit the drums. Adjust at the drums before you mess with the linkage.

 

Check also your tow ball ride height and watch how you load it so that the tow hitch "weighs" between 80 and 120kgs when full.

 

Some trailers are worse to tow than others though, our Brian James trailers tow far better than the plant trailer we have from another supplier when carrying the same load.

[John Hughes]

I am pretty sure it is not the brakes, I have had them checked by a mechanic and the jolting occurs all the time not just when the brakes come into action. I think the hitch height may be the problem although a friend towed it with his Discovery with a higher hitch and he had the same problem.

john

[Dean Lofthouse]

If it's twin axle it depends on how far apart the axles are spaced as to how much jolting you get. The closer they are the less there is.

 

Don't buy a tri axle as they are horrendous for jigging you up and down

 

One problem is the L200's are very light on the back end which doesn't help, try putting a load of weight on the back of the pickup and the hitch is better a little too high than too low

[3dogs]

the trailer should be either in tow or if slowing or descending it should be pushing which in turn should activate the brakes so as not to push the towing vehicle, the jolt is normaly caused by slack in the breaking system, if as you say the breakes are good check wieght distribution, ie load over axles if poss. the only other thing to check is tyre pressure.

[Mesterh]

If the brakes work when you apply the hand brake (going forward obviously:001_smile:) then I suspect that you haven't fitted the damper properly or it has failed again for some reason.

 

When trailers knock about it is usually the damper in my experience.

[Justme]

Have you checked the coupling for wear in the actual ball socket? Could be either the ball or socket is badly worn (also used to be a problem with 50mm & 2" kit but I doubt its that). I get a knock but its only when using the ring & pin as there is play between the two & also on my drop hitch if I am using it.

 

Justme

[jim 454]

how does it pull when it's empty? I wonder if you have enough weight up on the hitch or possibly not enough?