Our "New to Us" Winnie

Please feel free to describe your motorhome, campervan or caravan. (make, model, length etc)
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T1 Terry
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Re: Our "New to Us" Winnie

Post by T1 Terry »

BruceS wrote: Sun Feb 23, 2025 2:12 pm Terry I have a couple of questions for you.
Is the trailer axle round or square? square with a riser each side to keep the axle and bed height low as it has a 10 leaf spring pack each side with proper spring shackles, not slider plates
Do you know what size axle? No, looks like the hubs are small truck based and it has 15" six stud wheels, 8 ply light truck tyres rated @ 1120kg each
Do you have a 'rough' idea on how much more distance you need between the mudguards on it to clear your MG by about 5" each side? To get 5" over all, so 2 1/2 in per side clearance for the MG4 guards .... which are 700mm above ground height and the top of the trailer guards are only 300mm above deck height, roughly at the sill rails and axle centres on the MG4. By adding the 50mm railing I need to remove and added that to the outside would still have the inner guards clear of the trailer tyres, so increasing the axle with would not be required. At worst, I could get the rim centre off-set increased to gain clearance without needing to alter the axle width
Does it look like you could undo the "U" bolts on the axle or are they rusted & rock solid? No idea, the trailer would need to be split up the centre if the axle track was increased due to the axle/ spring design
It has electric brakes? Yes? No, hydraulic over ride brakes at the moment
If I needed to get the capacity upgraded, I would need to go to 10 ply tyres and electric brakes with an emergency breakaway brake locking system. The Winnie does have an electric brake controller in it, but I don't have a clue if it works or not ..... ......

T1 Terry
A person may fail many times, they only become a failure when they blame someone else John Burrows
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T1 Terry
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Re: Our "New to Us" Winnie

Post by T1 Terry »

The trailer weight is stamped as 700Kg, but with the granny scooter box removed, that would reduce that a bit, the MG4 51 kerb weight is 1635kg, as there is no oil or fuel weight to add to that, I believe I can use that figure as a good guide, the trailer gross load is 1990kg at present, a 335kg over load, but the tyre rating of 2240kg gives me 95kg I have to lose of the trailer mass, I reckon the granny cage will be more than that ......

T1 Terry
A person may fail many times, they only become a failure when they blame someone else John Burrows
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Greynomad
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Re: Our "New to Us" Winnie

Post by Greynomad »

So you’re tossing granny out with the scraps!

You cruel b****ard!
🤣
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T1 Terry
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Re: Our "New to Us" Winnie

Post by T1 Terry »

Greynomad wrote: Sun Feb 23, 2025 4:12 pm So you’re tossing granny out with the scraps!

You cruel b****ard!
🤣
She'll still have her cage, so she won't be unprotected on the scrape pile ;) :lol:

T1 Terry
A person may fail many times, they only become a failure when they blame someone else John Burrows
Those who struggle to become a leader, rarely know a clear direction forward for anyone but themselves
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T1 Terry
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Re: Our "New to Us" Winnie

Post by T1 Terry »

Looked up the trailer manufacturer on Google, not that far from here .... the problen is, my trailer is plate stamped 1/2000, the manufacturing company's website says they commenced operations in 2006 and the only build custom made trailers for each client ..... I guess that makes this a truly unique trailer, custom built 6 yrs before the company started :lol:
I'm guessing there will be a number of emails and phone calls over the next few days .....

Checked out $$ to convert the trailer to electric brakes and the cost of a hydraulic booster pump set up designed to work with an electronic controller or simply over ride and a break away set up, the hydraulic pump wins by a reasonable margin ....

T1 Terry
A person may fail many times, they only become a failure when they blame someone else John Burrows
Those who struggle to become a leader, rarely know a clear direction forward for anyone but themselves
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T1 Terry
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Re: Our "New to Us" Winnie

Post by T1 Terry »

:oops: ummmm :oops: Reading with two eyes identified the trailer manufacture date is 01/2020, not 2000, so that sorts that mystery :roll:

Not allowed to do much for a week, no bending over to do the Prius repair, or sticking my head into the battery compartment to sort the wiring .... and no heavy lifting, not that the eyes lift very much anyway, but they were the instructions, so no lifting the lead door stoppers out or fitting the new inverter ..... maybe I could get started on cutting up the trailer .....

T1 Terry
A person may fail many times, they only become a failure when they blame someone else John Burrows
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jon_d
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Re: Our "New to Us" Winnie

Post by jon_d »

Terry,

Before cutting it up. Maybe do your numbers (time and $) and work out if it will be cheaper to resell it and buy a new trailer. (??)
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T1 Terry
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Re: Our "New to Us" Winnie

Post by T1 Terry »

I'll think on it, but now time is not so critical and I've already spent all my pension money for the next yr or more, I'm thinking it might be a case of trying to recover some value for what I paid for the mega trailer .... rather adding even more loss to the thing ....

T1 Terry
A person may fail many times, they only become a failure when they blame someone else John Burrows
Those who struggle to become a leader, rarely know a clear direction forward for anyone but themselves
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Re: Our "New to Us" Winnie

Post by jon_d »

Fair point.
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T1 Terry
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Re: Our "New to Us" Winnie

Post by T1 Terry »

Today was yet another one of those frustrating days, where the plan and the out come don't seem to coincide.

Started by removing all the cables from the two Full River 120Ah door stops, and getting them out of the way. I was sure I'd seen a mega fuse holder in there some where, but it had either gone invisible or wasn't ever there ..... Off to Murray Bridge, 4 shops later, Repco had a Mega fuse holder and Mega fuse, when the young lady said the holder was $50 my immediate reaction "ouch, they didn't even use vasoline" that got a laugh, after all the discounts cards and phone apps, it came down $51 including a 500 amp Mega fuse .... so I walked out rather gingerly, still feeling the pain ..... Then of course, I get a total of 3 messages on the phone, a shopping list while I was there at Aldi :roll: It was after 4pm by the time I got home .... to realise, no lights and no water pump without the batteries connected :o
Out with the multi meter to do a continuity test to find which cables ran through to the bin the other side of the door to supply the inverter with battery voltage ...... imagine how excited I was to find the Mega fuse beside the inverter :twisted: What sort of moron puts the fuse at the end of the cable and not the start of the cable that it is supposed to be protecting :twisted:

Remove the Mega fuse from that position, thankfully the cable from the battery was long enough to reach the inverter, mount the fuse holder and fuse beside the battery, mount the shunt for the Victron BMV ..... and then end up refitting every B***dy cable back on where ever I could get them to fit so the pump and lights would work :roll:
Turn the inverter back on and ... presto, the circuit breaker in next doors power box clicked off ...... seems running the air con, charging the car after the Murray Bridge trip and the inverter attempting to charge the new battery ..... added up to more than 16 amps :oops: Turn off the inverter again, reset the circuit breaker, and all was well again ...... for maybe 30 mins .... no 240v again :? Unplug the car, reset the circuit breaker, return to check the black box that controls the charge rate going to the car, ah ... 13 amp, should have been 8 amps, plug that back in, turn the air con on again 8-)

The inverter can wait till tomorrow, there is enough in the battery to last the night ..... now to find a busbar and midi fuses and holders that won't cause the same feeling Repco provided with the mega fuse and holder :o

T1 Terry
A person may fail many times, they only become a failure when they blame someone else John Burrows
Those who struggle to become a leader, rarely know a clear direction forward for anyone but themselves

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