Car trailer

Richard53

If you're only using it occasionally and don't mind the hassle, one way of making it very secure is to store it on jacks with the wheels off. A thief would have to come very well prepared.

Herzlos

drifter17a wrote: »

Plus one tow hitch lock, but which one?

Didn't it come with one?

There was something I had on an older trailer called a trailer cop hitch lock, it was a ball that expanded into the hitch itself, so you couldn't attach anything to it. Available on ebay for £12

As said, taking the wheels off is pretty foolproof as well. Most thefts will be fairly opportunist - dragging it onto a low loader or towing it away, and will be to use it. Not worth the hassle trying to steal a trailer with no wheels as you'd need to lift it and source wheels.

3. Would you load the car with prop stands down and not hitched to a car?

Prop stands down, handbrake on. No car.

4. Is there any reason why i should get servicing done at dealer?

Nah, there's no service history and the servicing is really just a case of greasing stuff and tightening cables, you should be fine.

5. What hitch should i buy? Any ebay ones will do?

As in, which towball assembly? I always used pfjones.co.uk

6. When you lower jocky wheel , you don't need to lock it, do you?

What do you mean? There will be a tightening screw on the body you'll need to tighten, then you twist the top to extend the jockey.

I think, given how unsure you are about trailers, that it'd really be worth you finding a driving instructor that does trailers for a couple of quick lessons. It'll be very much worth it.

Have you also confirmed your license and car weights are sufficient for the job?

drifter17a

Sorry i meant winch not tow hitch

I have a b+e license and have taken few trailers on track days but last night i encountered an issue hence the post

I raised the jocky wheel and removed it from car.

It was ok but few mins later it dropped.

I normally undo the tightening handle which is used to hold the wheel up while towing and then raise the wheel by turning the handle

I don't need to tighten the jockk wheel holder once it is on ground hence the reason for my question

AdrianC

A jockey like this, yes?

With the trailer attached to the car, the jockey should be fully wound up, and pulled up so that it can't drag...

When you come to unhitch:
Loosen the clamp. Lower the jockey body through the clamp, so that the wheel is not quite resting on the ground. Tighten the clamp.
Pull the trailer brake on.
Undo the security cable, any hitch lock, and any power cables. Lift the hitch handle, as you wind the jockey. It'll contact the ground, start to take weight, then lift the hitch off the towbar. When the hitch is fully disengaged, you can move the tow car out of the way.

If the jockey body slides through the clamp, you didn't clamp it back up tightly enough.

When you wind the jockey back into the body, make sure the notches are engaged on the wheel legs. Then loosen the clamp, pull the body up so that it's snugly against the trailer frame, then tighten properly again.

Richard53

AdrianC wrote: »

A jockey like this, yes?

With the trailer attached to the car, the jockey should be fully wound up, and pulled up so that it can't drag...

When you come to unhitch:
Loosen the clamp. Lower the jockey body through the clamp, so that the wheel is not quite resting on the ground. Tighten the clamp.
Pull the trailer brake on.
Undo the security cable, any hitch lock, and any power cables. Lift the hitch handle, as you wind the jockey. It'll contact the ground, start to take weight, then lift the hitch off the towbar. When the hitch is fully disengaged, you can move the tow car out of the way.

If the jockey body slides through the clamp, you didn't clamp it back up tightly enough.

When you wind the jockey back into the body, make sure the notches are engaged on the wheel legs. Then loosen the clamp, pull the body up so that it's snugly against the trailer frame, then tighten properly again.

Good explanation. I might add that if you had to reverse into the parked position, you may need to run the towing vehicle forwards a couple of inches after applying the trailer brake, as the reverse/braking mechanism could be compressed. I once lifted the rear of a Range Rover about 6" before I realised this. It was hard work.

Herzlos

Richard53 wrote: »

Good explanation. I might add that if you had to reverse into the parked position, you may need to run the towing vehicle forwards a couple of inches after applying the trailer brake, as the reverse/braking mechanism could be compressed. I once lifted the rear of a Range Rover about 6" before I realised this. It was hard work.

Lucky you. Last time I forgot to do that it disengaged and then decided to expand straight into the rear bumper of the car

drifter17a

Thanks mate

Spot on advise as I lowered the jocky and clamped it .
It didn't slide like last time

Last time I was expecting jocky wheel to take the load once lowered without clamping it

I have since loaded the car on with hand brake on and rear stands down

I drove the car right close to the winch bracket so even though the car is 4.4 meters, it has fitted perfectly on the 4 meters bed length.

Question is:

While leaving the trailer in garage loaded for long time, should i lower or raise jockey wheel? I suppose it need to be so that trailr is level

At the moment the trailer is not resting on it back stands which suppose means the load is on the nose or pole is way higher than rear and even when i stand on the back, i can't for it down to relax on rear support legs


Re reversing, i really didn't understand . Is that when parked and hand brake up, the trailer needs to be driven foward and then reverse?
If ues what happens if you don't


Finally would you invest in a winch like this ?

I don't want to buy ebay ones or sealy or silvirline as they are all cheap
https://www.westfalia.net/shops/tools/workshop_tools/lifting_gear/rope_hoists/430155-electric_winch.htm?art_nr=340695&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3bHl7dq21gIVxrftCh19kQNEEAQYAiABEgIcm_D_BwE&utm_medium=1.+SEA&utm_source=Google%C2%A0Adwords+WWC%C2%A0Produktdaten+UK&utm_campaign=Google%C2%A0Adwords+WWC%C2%A0Produktdaten+UK


Seems quite handy as you can even hand it from tow bar and pull car up

Herzlos

When reversing a braked trailer, the spring in the hitch will compress. That'll either mean you can't take it off the car or it'll ping forward a few inches once you do.

Probably best stored flat and on jockey wheel is fine. If it's a really long time like over winter I put mine on axle stands to take weight off the tyres and to make it easier to deal with them if they sieze (I don't use it much and rarely at weight capacity).