Suspension sinks on Sundays! C5 X7 that works hard + 206 GTi HDi (and 406 Coupe and 306 HDi). - MattBLancs

[MattBLancs]

Apologies to those with keen sense of mechanical sympathy

Trailer + bins of garden waste (pictured above) and

Coupe boot

Full boot of plaster in buckets

All off to the tip this morning in the Coupe.

And missed heavy rain shower by about 10 minutes thankfully!

[MattBLancs]

Trailer needs a fix if it's to carry plasterboard in the near future. This is the issue:

Traffic calming measure in what should be a nice flat floor.

My tongue and groove floorboards, though thoroughly treated, have expanded in the damp conditions and are wider than when installed!

Next problem was these screws. M6 into the trailer frame. A lot more recessed than when installed! (IE the wood has grown around them!)

Spot the screw head!

Seemed more appropriate to put the solution here:
viewtopic.php?p=773832#p773832

[MattBLancs]

Calling that fixed. Wood decidedly warped too.

Mix of 4mm Allen head (likely remove with grinder) and M6 roofing bolts (too short for the third fixing)

[Rp0thejester]

You used tongue and groove floorboards for a trailer deck??

[MattBLancs]

You used tongue and groove floorboards for a trailer deck??

Yes, bit of an experiment really.

This is how the trailer was when it first came into my ownership:

Rather minimalist trailer deck!

It had sat on a farmer's field for an indeterminate amount of time.

I had a dig into what to make the floor from. Proper trailer boarding (effectively a waterproof ply normally with a non-slip coating and different glued used) = very expensive.

Marine ply also very expensive.

Normal ply doesn't like water much at all - delaminated in short order.

Galvanized sheet either cheap but bit too flimsy and thin, or nice and robust but bit expensive and heavy.

Possibly fishplate / Durbar sheet, stiffer, hopefully less slippery when wet. Again quite expensive.

All choices above also impacted by the trailer's dimensions= 1220 x 2500mm (larger, just than a standard 8' x 4' sheet = 1220x2440mm) so would give an annoying need for two sheets to cover it completely.

So, £35 worth of tongue and groove to get the trailer to get it functional and then change at later date if I can decide best way forward

[MattBLancs]

April 2021 I got / recommissioned the trailer, lives outside continually, so pretty pleased with my cheap fix floor for the moment

[Rp0thejester]

I can see your point, a heads up, if you see a building site removing the wooden hoarding from around the site ask for a couple of sheets of it, it's marine ply. That's why it's up for years without replacing it. It costs them to get rid of it so they will happily give it away. Also if you see a concrete structure being built look at the skip, if they have ply in there, normally got WisaForm stamped on it, grab it!!

[MattBLancs]

Must be skinflints round here, mostly see OSB going spare and doesn't seem to last well outdoors long term.

P.s. good tips though, thank you!

[MattBLancs]

https://www.bmsteel.co.uk/2500-x-1250-x ... s275jr/p58

This is what I might go for (and can get it in just the right size as above, 2500x1250 about perfect) but about £280 (plus delivery I guess?) It's way more than what the trailer cost so far!

This trailer size is about perfect for me as sheets of plasterboard etc are mainly why the other little trailer is "useful but not perfect" but arguably this big one is going to be more weight limited than size limited. It's old enough to have no data plates on it anywhere, so weight limits derived from the tyres = 700kg based on 2 ply 10" wheels. It's not light, so probably 500 kg payload. Which isn't much more than the little one (375kg)

Anymore weight capacity puts me above the unbraked trailer weight limit (750kg) and basically a bigger, braked trailer would introduce another faff and maintenance consideration.

[CitroJim]

Loving the trailer repair Matt!

[MattBLancs]

Loving the trailer repair Matt!

Was quite an evolving project really

Inverted, in field, preparing for the journey home

Trailer wheel one side, rusty ex mini / metro wheel the other. Fair to say that wasn't going to inflate or be safe on the road!

Microclimate inside a light housing ideal to support this moss!

Grease probably rather overselling this crud inside the wheel bearing.

[MattBLancs]

One of the first tasks for the recommissioned trailer was taking a load of soil to the tip.

In hindsight, this image rather explains what happened next

Tyre pressure ok, but rather under strain!?

On route to the tip, a wheel fell off! Thankfully only about 30mph at the time and fortunately the wheel carried along the road without hitting any of the surrounding traffic - it followed a line of cars who set off at just the right moment (roundabout with traffic lights) so as to clear the way. Wheel continued in a straight line and came to rest in the bushes in the centre of said roundabout. All happened very much in slow motion and still very conscious of how lucky I was that day!

Having not considered the density of the clay soil, quick conservative calculation after the fact says my "500kg capacity" trailer probably had 1000-1200kg on board that day. I am endeavouring not to be quite so daft / oblivious going forward.

Learn from your mistakes!

[MattBLancs]

But the learning process went beyond "check the wheel nut torque and don't put so much dense stuff in it!"

As this is what presented me on the missing wheel side of the trailer:

Box section not looking at all well

Worth noting also that the wheel studs were absolutely mangled beyond usability, so having decanted the soil to the smaller trailer in two loads (one to the tip and one back home again) I'd then to swap the hub complete (I had the well worn one I'd swapped at the farm, sloppy on the bearing but usable wheel studs) before I could limp the big trailer home.

30 minute trip to the tip turned into three hours saga! Fair to say my brother in law will likely think twice before offering to help me "just unload some soil at the tip" !!

So a chassis rebuild was next task:

New beam axle from Towsure, various lengths of angle iron from an online supplier. Started with the stick welder but finished off with the MIG (patience exhausted with the stick welder!)

[c16rkc]

Apologies to those with keen sense of mechanical sympathy

Trailer + bins of garden waste (pictured above) and

Full boot of plaster in buckets

All off to the tip this morning in the Coupe.

And missed heavy rain shower by about 10 minutes thankfully!

Wow Matt.... hang your head in shame....

First you abuse the C5, and show no remorse... and now you are abusing the Peugeot Coupe...

That poor car rolled off the production line, dreaming of a life of luxury and excess, with a loving owner who did obsessive oil changes, and polished the bonnet lovingly at weekends.

Instead you rocked up, took it prisoner - scaring it into line by showing it your last victim "head on a spike" in your garden...

"This will be you if you don't behave 406 coupe"

It dreams of seat face massages, using exotic leather conditioners, but you cruelly make it do slave labour, and make it eat dust!

Poor thing, I bet it cries itself to sleep every night, out in the cold, without a blanket.

[c16rkc]

Okay... Okay... you have part redeemed yourself with the love and care you have that sickly trailer...

However overloading it to the point it's boots came flying off was not your proudest moment.

I am betting your cars and trailers are all planning a George Orwell "Animal farm" style takeover of your household. I'll look out for it in the news.