question 1-tonne Hitch Height?

[Rangie]

I have been offered a 1-tonne Brockhouse trailor at a very, very, reasonable price

 

What is the standard hitch height of the vehicles this trailor is designed to go behind?

 

It may look ridiculous behind the Landie.......... And yes, it would seem the owner is incapable of measuring it with a tape measure, lots of sucking of teeth etc :nut:

 

Alec.

[fv1609]

As you know these 1 Ton trailers were expected to be towed by 1 Ton Trucks of the time ie K9, MRA1 & Humber. The spare wheel for these was interchangeable with those for the trailer.

 

I have looked in the User Handbooks for these vehicles & there is no indication of the height of the hitch. Nor in the trailer books or their associated EMERs,

 

Depends what sort of Rover you had in mind. I have a 1 Ton Cipher Office & towed it with a LtWt which looked a little silly. For a while I used a Dutch LtWt & that looked very silly. Behind a Defender & Wolf nose still down a bit but didn't look silly (to me) although the two were well "out of era". Behind a Bowman uprated Wolf it looked just right, at least from a towing point of view.

 

Bear in mind if you tow it for a while with the nose down tremendous force is applied to the fibre bushes that support the tow eye bar & the bushes will become eliptical.

 

I was unable to find replacement bushes & had some manufactured from a modern material. Of course I then started finding the original bushes from various sources!

[fv1609]

About 30 inches if that's any help. I say 'about' as the trailer is horizontal but parked on a slope, so allowing for the incline that's as close as I can get to it.

[Rangie]

Thanks Clive, thats great, it sounds promising!

 

The 109 is tall at the back, it may be fine. I really don't want to compromise the drawbar of the landie or the braking system of the trailor by towing it at a low hitch-height!

 

One thing that struck me when the owner was describing the trailor, is the location of the handbrake lever, it comes out below the nearside front of the trailor bed.

 

I thought from the description it was a Brockhouse, but the owner says the mudguards are square in section as opposed to round. It's on 900x16s.

 

Picture to follow, I'm away for a viewing now............... :cool2:

 

Alec.

[Rangie]

Well, the bed may not be original, it is all-steel, the chassis looks complete and unmolested (apart from the ball-hitch, but I have found its original nato ring-hitch), and its rock-solid.

The tabs on the wings have the 3-hole mounting centers for the standard size amber reflectors.

The hand-brake mechanism comes out the nearside front of the bed.

It is on leaf springs and 900x16.s with 6.5 rims.

 

 

 

Any idea how badly its been bu@@ered about? Is it a Brockhouse with a (very well-made, strongly fabricated) new body............?

 

A blast, paint, wax, rewire and brake overhaul and it shall last many many years :laugh:

[fv1609]

Ah so it is a 1 Tonne, I thought that was just a slip & your meant 1 Ton as you had said Brockhouse.

 

Looks like one of the 1 Tonne Rapier based trailers made by GKN Sankey either for carrying spare missiles (FV2411) or associated kit (FV2412).

 

Wheels 5.50 x 15 5-stud

Tyres 7.70 x 16

 

I get you a picture to compare. Have you a picture of the contract plate?

[fv1609]

I can't see how many studs yours has, but it could be a coming together of trailers. Sorry about the picture quality, but I didn't want to break the spine of the book. So how does this compare to yours?

 

[Rangie]

I haven't, not yet, just the one picture I managed to snap.

The plate was not obvious, had a general look-see but mainly to check for rot! Most important up in these parts!! :shocked:

 

Wheels are definatley 900x16s on 6.5" rims (well, the one I checked was, I shall check the sizes of the others when I get it home!!). There is also a spare mounted on a cradle under the rear section of the body. Looks original.

 

Matt/satin green underneath all that tractor paint that looks to have been applied with a damp bog-brush!

 

Did not see evidence of rear feet/supports but the a-frame has a foot attached rather than a jockey wheel.

 

I found a picture of a GKN on google images which does bear some resemblance........

 

Alec.

[Rangie]

Cannot locate the Data Plate, it is proving to be elusive, not on the a-frame as I expected and not obvious elsewhere.

 

8-stud 16" 6.5 wide rims with 900x16's on them, all three same size.......

 

It looks very much like a generic chassis/mudguards trailor unit with a modified body on top of it.

 

Very heavy construction, leaf-sprung without dampers, rod-operated brakes and under-slung spare wheel mount.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Any ideas?

 

Alec.

Edited May 24, 2011 by Rangie
update

[Rangie]

I nearly kicked myself......

Found a small brass plate either side on the inner wings

 

 

 

Now to trawl the web for pics of what it was originally..... Chassis/wings assembly for something I imagine.

 

Alec.

Edited May 30, 2011 by Rangie

[Rangie]

Any more ideas?

 

I could do with a spares list/exploded diagram for the brake system.

Going to strip and rebuild them but wouldn't mind knowing what i'm facing!! :-D

 

Alec.