mav Posted March 9, 2005 Share Posted March 9, 2005 No Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old captain slow Posted March 9, 2005 Share Posted March 9, 2005 Weight of LR plus trailer would be around 2 tonnes well in excess of a Vectra capability. C7 CDW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old captain slow Posted March 9, 2005 Share Posted March 9, 2005 I agree with owelly's comment re weight on the front. The Minno does not have much scope for weight balencing with a 7 on board. I use an eazy-up strapped to the role cage to ease the CofG back a tad. With the easy-up further forward it tends to snake. That's with a scenic mind you. The Defender 😬 never notices these minor differences. Thus adding weight to the message above that you need a reasonably large car to tow without stress. C7 CDW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petrolhead Posted March 9, 2005 Share Posted March 9, 2005 Is there a web address for RPG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manxseven Posted March 9, 2005 Share Posted March 9, 2005 Yes here it is L7 BDA Supersprint Joy here 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddie White Posted March 9, 2005 Share Posted March 9, 2005 If you are still after a superb towcar, see the Audi A6 estate I have in for sale section. Huge boot too, regards, Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenson Button Posted March 9, 2005 Author Share Posted March 9, 2005 Thanks to everyone for the comments. I'm still very . It would seem there are two schools of thought... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickslack Posted March 9, 2005 Share Posted March 9, 2005 talk to chris at fountain trailers. bought one a year ago and its superb. Looked around for ages and bought one instead of a brian james. Mines a tilt bed which is perfect for a seven. http://www.fountain-trailers.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nifty Posted March 9, 2005 Share Posted March 9, 2005 Single axle trailers are fine for light loads (quarter of a ton) and are easier for a car to pull (less weight, less tyre scrub). However, once you get to the weight of a 7 on a trailer you then have a combination that weighs in at quite a large percentage of the towing cars weight, which will mean that it has a far greater likelihood of influencing the towing cars behaviour. Pure physics will tell you that a twin axle is better, since you will have less weight transfer to and from the car's towball under changing speeds (a single axle will pivot around the axle freely) and the tyre scrub generated in turns reduces the inclination for the trailer to wander. This doesn't mean to say that a twin won't behave badly if set up incorrectly or driven incorrectly but the margin for error is far greater. Also, a twin will be easier to maintain control of when backing because the tyre scrub will greatly reduce the tendency to jack-knife. The only reasons for buying a single axle would be on cost or if you have very restricted room where there is a requirement to turn the trailer round within it's only length or there abouts. Keep off the straight and narrow 😬 Edited by - Nifty on 9 Mar 2005 22:37:01 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbutnotslow Posted March 9, 2005 Share Posted March 9, 2005 Hi Richard, Just a thought, The PRG mini sport fits into a standard garage as does one of the BJ range. However PRG also do a version of the mini sport with a detachable draw bar. With this removed you gain another 3 feet of room. I have this option on mine and it works well. Don’t confuse this with a tilt up draw bar. With this option the draw bar is completely removable. If you wanted to borrow mine for a try at any time you would be very welcome. Regards Grant Black and stone chip and currently not going but getting better ☹️ here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenson Button Posted March 9, 2005 Author Share Posted March 9, 2005 Thanks Grant....I'll measure up and I might just take you up on that offer... If it fits in my garage with the Se7en on top then perfect!!! 😬 However, is it realistic to push the trailer in to a garage up a slight hill (you've see my garage and there's normally cars parked in front). Could I do it on my own? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nifty Posted March 9, 2005 Share Posted March 9, 2005 Unladen quite possibly. With a car on......are Geoff Capes cousin 🤔 Keep off the straight and narrow 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owelly Posted March 9, 2005 Share Posted March 9, 2005 Reverse it up into the garage behind the tow car. If you ar'nt too confident reversing with a trailer, find a carpark and practice. You'll thank me when theres an audience. Four wheeled trailers are pigs to reverse if the ground is uneven or you are reversing over a bump/dip because the trailer will try to pivot around the wheels that have to most weight. One minute its turning around the rear set the next minute around the fronts. Its the position of the towcar in relation to the trailer that creates a jack knife. Not how many wheels you have!! its only a game......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thinfourth Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 get a winch with a wire on it not a strap as then you can get a good amount of length on it. Drill a hole in garage floor and stick in a nice peg. Attach winch cable and winch trailer and car into garage.. Sod the heater wheres my shades Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenson Button Posted March 10, 2005 Author Share Posted March 10, 2005 Thinfourth's idea of a winch sounds the best! Owelly, if I reversed it into the garage (not that there's a lot of room...) then I'd need to take it out every time I want to use the Se7en. I need to 'drive' it in which means pushing it or using a winch. If it'll fit the garage that is... 😬 If I need to turn it round on the spot every time, it sounds like I WILL be better off with a single-axle trailer 🤔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thinfourth Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 now i have a drive but no garage. A short drive so only room for 2 things. So trailer is winched into drive as far as i can get it. Then it is sat up so that the ramps are down and alot of the weight is on the stands. This means i can use the trailer as a parking space for either the caterham or the front half of the BMW. Sod the heater wheres my shades Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nifty Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 Owelly, Four wheeled trailers are pigs to reverse if the ground is uneven or you are reversing over a bump/dip because the trailer will try to pivot around the wheels that have to most weight. One minute its turning around the rear set the next minute around the fronts. Its the position of the towcar in relation to the trailer that creates a jack knife. Not how many wheels you have!! I'm sorry but that simply isn't true. The propensity to jack-knife when reversing is governed by the resistance to turning through friction (number of axles in touch with the ground and the distance between the axles - assumping similar tyre pressures etc) and the distance of the pivot point from the tow hitch. Your example of a 4 wheel trailer could be applied to a 2 wheel one. A 2 wheel trailer where one wheel digs in will pivot round as quick as a flash. (They will behave a little more favourably where they have much larger diameter wheels than the twin axle, eg a Sankey trailer, due to the fact that the obstacle is far less of a resistance to roll). Place a brick behind one wheel of a two wheel trailer and then try to back over it. Unless you are dead straight, or slightly turning round the other wheel, the trailer will try to jackknife and it will be virtually impossible to reverse out of that. Now do the same with a twin axle trailer and you could turn into the brick and still be able to drive over it (PROVIDING YOU DON'T HAVE TOO MUCH LOCK TO START WITH). A twin axle trailer will accept a much greater towbar drive angle than a single axle - pure physics. Keep off the straight and narrow 😬 Edited by - Nifty on 10 Mar 2005 08:31:29 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thinfourth Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 I think to sum up buy what you can afford. Learn to load it properly to stop the shakes and look after your tyres. Any thoughts on three axle trailers 😬 Sod the heater wheres my shades Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Durrant Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 I agree with Nifty twin axle trailers are far easier to reverse. In addition, if you intend to store your trailer in a garage with the 7 on top a twin axle trailer is far more stable and does require the use of stays to stop it tipping up. Having owned both type of trailers in my experience the twin axle is far better. Mark D Su77on Se7ens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldbutnotslow Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 Hi Richard, With a little practice you will be able to reverse the trailer straight into the garage, I put mine in this way all the time. You just need to practice reversing off your mirrors with some cones in a car park. You will soon get the hang of it. You should be able to get it in your garage with little problem. Thinking about the tow car. The bigger the lump the more stable it will be. I’ve tried all sorts over the years and have wound up towing with a 4x4 a(n Isuzu Trooper and 2 discos.) The only down side to the 4x4 is that the turning circle matches that or the QE2. This means that you may have to straighten up a couple of time because of the lack of lock. Something with a good turning circle would be a good idea for your situation. If you put the trailer in nose first you can leave it in place and drive up the ramps to park the 7on the trailer. Make sure that you get rear steadies down otherwise it will have a tendency to pop up Winching in is a real possibility. Just rag bolt a shackle to the floor. It will work nose or arse in. The strap is long enough to do either. By far and away the most difficult to reverse is a small box trailer because it reacts very quickly to steering inputs. Conversely a 38 tone artic is much easier. Its all about the length between the tow ball and the wheels. Anyway if you want a go with mine let me know. Regards Grant Black and stone chip and currently not going but getting better ☹️ here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
owelly Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 The reversing thing is explained better by oldbutnotslow. With a four wheeled trailer, if the weight is over the front wheels (ie going over a crest/bump then the steering will react a lot quicker to little input from the tow vehicle. Like having a very short trailer. I have spent many sunny afternoon watching bods try to reverse twin/triple axle bnoat trailers over the crest of a slipway, only to find when the towcar gets onto the slopey bit, the boat trailer has fekd off the side of the concrete slip. Purely due to the trailer reacting around the front axle. Nifty, I wasn't relating to hitting a bobble in the ground, Iwas referring to crests and hillocks(!), like as described above. its only a game......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
New Barbie Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 I may as well add my thoughts to aid further confusion possibly 😬 Firstly, choice of manufacturer: as I recall, Woodford was started by an ex Brian James employee and uses the same principles of everything being bolted together, not welded so the whole trailer is modular and can be easily changed, repaired and upgraded. I've seen Woodfrod trailers up close and if the budget is tight then that is a good choice I would think. I have a Minno and would recommend secondhand Minnos as a good choice as well. Four wheel is much better than two wheel. The reason for this are obvious really: four wheels have a natural tendency to run straight so you get far less snaking, the Minno is so easy to tow it's untrue. A blowout/puncture is not catostrophic with four wheels, it could be with two. I can reverse mine and move it as easily as a two wheel. When moving by hand I simply wind up the jockey wheel until it only has weight on the rear two wheels. The winch into the garage idea is a good one. Being able to store the car on the trailer in the garage is a neat use of space. Make sure you are able to support the trailer on legs if you do this long term as it avoids the trailer suspensio being loaded wit the weight of the car 24x7. Legs at the back of the trailer and a good jockey wheel will enable this no problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheds Moderator Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 The trailer in the garage routine is also useful for certain maintenance operations, like box and axle oiling, prop greasing etc where it's easier to crawl under the trailer than a groundscraping 7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nifty Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 owelly, I got yer In effect, as you say, in this circumstance the trailer is behaving as a single axle and if that axle is further forward than a normal single axle would be then it will indeed be worse. Dinghy trailers, where the single axle is quite well back will be inherently easier too. I was comparing trailers where the axles are in the same place, i.e the middle. A trailer with the axle at the back is far better, but not a feasibility with a car due to the weight then carried by the car. Purposefully designed haulage combinations eg. tractor and trailer have the trailer wheels well back but this is only possible due to the load bearing ability of the tractor unit. Keep off the straight and narrow 😬 Edited by - Nifty on 10 Mar 2005 12:30:06 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheds Moderator Posted March 10, 2005 Share Posted March 10, 2005 Which is one reason why reversing a tractor and trailer is a piece of cake while reversing a little camping trailer and hatch is a nightmare. "Oh it's going left, correct it, bit more...bugger, jack knifed." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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