Need Advice

[Dave G]

Hi,
I'm new to the forum and need a bit of help. I'm a Brit living in Jakarta and am hoping to build Indonesia's first teardrop trailer but the law here regarding caravans isn't clear.

I have only seen one caravan here in Indonesia in the 16 years I've been living here so there's never been a need for regulations! Last week I went to the headquarters of the traffic police to ask about the legal requirements relating to a teardrop caravan and they simply didn't know. There's no legislation that's clearly applicable. Nothing approving such a vehicle but nothing banning it either.
Today I visited the transport ministry and spoke to the head of the vehicle technology unit and he too was unsure what to tell me. He asked me to send him some photos and drawings of what it is I want to build and then describe what I would use it for. Once he receives my letter he will meet with his colleagues and decide whether the teardrop would need to go through some form of type approval.

I've thought about just building it and using it but, as a senior police officer said to me, if I get into an accident the police would probably go out of their way to interpret the law in a way that could lead to me being prosecuted regardless of whether I was at fault or not.

So, in my letter to the transport ministry I need to convince them that my design ( I plan to base it on the generic Benroy) is tried and trusted. I want to build something safe and roadworthy but I'm trying to avoid a bureaucratic nightmare. (They have hinted that I may have to get it built at an approved workshop. And a look at the flow charts of the certification process suggest that that it will take months to complete the red tape). So I'm wondering if any forum members have any data that may help. For example, how many teardrops on US roads? How many years has the design been in use? Does anybody have info relating to the strength of the construction or any other useful technical data? I know that every teardrop has a different spec but ballpark figures may help to convince them that I could build it myself and that it's not necessary to comply with the same rules as a mass-produced vehicle.

Thanks in advance.

[Vedette]

Wow!
I would move????
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi

[alaska teardrop]

Welcome aboard. Dave
I should think that the authorities would be most interested to know that the chassis is built to a recognized standard. Andrew's Design Library has the Australian laws here: http://www.angib.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/t ... tear84.htm
And the European laws here: http://www.angib.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/t ... tear61.htm
Also, that the coupler, lighting, axle/suspension, wheels & tires are made for trailer use by a recognized manufacturer. Having brakes would make a good impression also.
Fred

[grant whipp]

You might also mention that folks have been building their own here in the US since about 1930, and maybe show them a few of the vintage magazine plans from '36/'37, '39, '40, '47, '53, as well as others. Of course, there are a LOT of countries that don't give a rat's rear end how we do things, here, but we won't go into that ... ...!

I'm going to hazard a guess that there are something close to at least 15-20,000 teardrops on the roads here in the States, several thousand in Australia, and several hundred in the UK (perhaps the same in the EU) ... like I said, that's a guess ... ...!

Good Luck, and in the meantime ...

CHEERS!

[Mary C]

You could also show them some of the builds from the forum, pictures and also Sharon has done a comprehensive list of the weights of our builds. Of the people on here that over the past 2 years I only know of 2 accidents, neither were driver fault.
We tend to go slower, we are not in a hurry, we are going camping!!!

Mary C.

[Dave G]

Thanks for the advice.
Vedette. Moving is not an option. Indonesia is a great place to live most of the time but occasionally the rules, officialdom and bureaucracy make it a nightmare.

Fred. Unfortunately it's impossible to buy an off-the-shelf trailer here like you can in the States and shipping one here would cost a small fortune in freight costs and taxes. In order to appease the powers that be I may end up getting the chassis made in a transport ministry approved workshop rather than making it myself. I wasn't planning to have brakes because I'm planning to build a small 8' x 4' Benroy but if brakes would help to convince them then I'll add them.

Grant. Thanks for the 'guessed' stats. I have already saved some images of early teardrops to submit to the ministry. I want to prove to them that teardrop trailers have been around for decades and are traditionally DIY builds. If they wanted to make life easy here they could simply adopt the US or UK standards for teardrops but they have over five million civil servants to keep in jobs so they prefer to make life complicated.

Mary. Yes, I have already got images of a number of builds to indicate to them that (most) teardrops are extremely well built. The number of road accidents here is phenomenal and regardless of how slow or how careful you are you can be pretty certain that sooner or later you will be involved in one.

In all honesty I think it'll end in tears rather than a teardrop but I'm going to go ahead and submit my letter in a week or so and see what happens. Thanks again.

[wincrasher]

Don't they have utility trailers in Indonesia?

I'd argue that it's no different than a utility trailer used to haul firewood. Surely there is somebody in that country doing just that.

Start with a utility trailer licensed for that purpose and build your trailer from that. Many folks here in the States go that route, as home built trailers are difficult to register in some states. In fact, I'd purchase a commercially available utility trailer and get it licensed. Then do your build.

No caravan can be built to withstand crashes or be compared to a passenger carrying vehicle. I'm afraid you have opened up a can of worms and any "officials" will be looking at it as a passenger carrying vehicle.

[alaska teardrop]

Fred. Unfortunately it's impossible to buy an off-the-shelf trailer here like you can in the States and shipping one here would cost a small fortune in freight costs and taxes. In order to appease the powers that be I may end up getting the chassis made in a transport ministry approved workshop rather than making it myself. I wasn't planning to have brakes because I'm planning to build a small 8' x 4' Benroy but if brakes would help to convince them then I'll add them.

Dave,
Actually I was proposing that you bring a plan to the transport ministry. Including:

A detailed drawing & materials list of the chassis that you or a certified welder could work from.

Formula & calculations to prove that the frame and tongue meet the Australian standards.

Manufacturers literature for the axle, wheels ect. that proves suitability, whether purchased locally or imported.

Cabin drawings from Mike's Generic Benroy. http://www.mikenchell.com/images/GenericBenroyPlans.pdf

What will your tow vehicle be? Where will you travel & on what kind of roads?

Fred