Build coming along really well.(New Zealand)

[Sheddie]

Hi Frank
Thanks for the info.I got a guy in to do it for me, it coast a bit more but not sure i could have done the same job.

Got me a 150ah bat to day and one of them charge to the car things.
Did you do your one or some one did it for you?
What size wire did you put though to the car bat?

Hi Marcus,
I am not sure what you are referring to when you say you got a guy to do it for me, I assume you are referring to the wiring. Also what is the charge to the car thing?
Yes I did all mine. I used 8awg wire, 85amp 112/0.30 marine tinned. But if you can go bigger, do so. If the wire is too small you get too much current drop by the time it gets back to the camper battery. From the battery I used an auto reset 50amp circuit break, then 70amp relay, so that it is only connected when the ignition is on.

2015-03-26 08.27.59 (640x360).jpg (193.94 KiB) Viewed 1403 times

( Above ) I have just wired our Super Snipe for our next trip away.

This is the Anderson connection (the grey one) on the back of the Capri.

[new leaf]

Build mostly finished.Went away in it over the last long weekend Easter,went to Muriwai was awesome.
Have the lining under the back hatch to do and the cupboards in side to do too.Then all finished

[Sheddie]

Hi Marcus. Looking good,
Glad to see you have had a chance to get out and enjoy it. Can't be much left to finish now

[noseoil]

Looks really good now. Glad you were able to get away for a while & enjoy your work.

Wondering about weight balance with your setup. The axle looks to be at about the mid-point on the cabin. Do you have a tongue weight & all up weight at this point? I was thinking the tongue weight might be a bit light & there could be a little sway at highway speeds with the axle location as far forward as it is.

[new leaf]

Not got it weighed yet but is heavy on the car and toes well.
Well let you know what it all weighs when i take it to the weigh bridge at the tip,

What weight wood be on the toe bar ?
How much do most TD s weigh ?

[new leaf]

I can see what you mean by looking at it.
It toes really well, and is really heavy on the toe ball.I have not weighed it yet.( let you know when i do that)
I took about 700 mm of the front of the trailer as the whole trailer was bouncing.

[KCStudly]

Look for Sharon's trailer weight spread sheet.

Here is a summary of that data compiled by Angib.
http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=60392

[noseoil]

From reading about other people's builds it seems that 10-15% of the total weight on the tongue is about right for the balance. This keeps the sway out when towing at higher speeds & seems to be about right for most small trailer towing applications. If you come in at 600k, you would be at about 60-90k on the hitch ball, ideally. This is just a guess, but seems to be correct.

I know a guy who built one with lots of weight on the hitch. His axle is set pretty far back & he can't lift the tongue at all to put it on his truck. I would guess that more than 50% of the weight is on the hitch. He had to beef up his rear suspension on the truck with air shocks to take out the sag when it was first in place, but said it tows very well on the road. Found a picture of it from last year. There are two car batteries in the tongue box, as well as some other stuff. Take a look at the axle location on this one as it is set almost at the back bumper. I guess I'm worried about nothing on balance & weight for the build...

Will be curious to see where you end up, once you get it fully done & everything is in place. My build is very similar, so I'm just curious about the balance & towing. Glad it's going down the road well. Again, nice job on the build.

[KCStudly]

Angib has commented on this many times. 10-15% is standard here in the US, but for NZ you may want to lean more toward the European standard of 5-10%.

Cars tend to be smaller and there are fewer long stretches of highway in NZ compared to the US. Just saying, in the end it comes down to what works best between stable towing and the ability to handle the tongue (either by hand or with a tongue jack).

[Sheddie]

Hi Marcus, yes the recommended here is around 10%. Although I see you are towing with a ute, so a bit of extra weight on its rear suspension won't worry it. Ours weighs in at around 600kg and we have about 60kg on the ball, tows like a dream. If they will allow you the time to unhook from the vehicle when you weigh it all the better. But otherwise when you get it home just put the bathroom scales (when the wife's not looking ) under the coupling and add that weight. Preferably weigh it under the coupling as weighing it under the jockey wheel will give a slightly different reading (although not out by much). Will be interested to here the results.