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Apr 29, 2010 17:20:15 GMT
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Hello! I have been floating around this site since last year as some of the builds on here are top quality! But I have never had a car worthy of being on this forum. I am a bit of an Alfa fan and had this - This was my 1st alfa and everything possible went wrong...with the engine, with the body with everything! So basically I have started again with this - yes that is me at a 145.com meet last week. I am addicted to that forum! :lol: Now the old red car is now being stripped to sell all the parts...and as I have always wanted to make a car trailer, I may aswell do it with this! Basically it will be a trailer that I can use for camping and for moving stuff about like any other trailer This is what she looks like now - All the interier, front end, everything underneath! is now removed after quite a few days stripping bits off all that is left is the wiring loom inside and the engine. Once that is removed the angle grinder will come out Now we are (me and my old man) are debating where exactly to cut. But I do believe the front windscreen is coming out. The doors are quite big as its only a 3door so just deciding what to do. Basically more to unfold over the next week or two Please give me ideas what to do with any add ons like BBQ or anything....
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Last Edit: Sept 1, 2010 20:37:24 GMT by naanbread
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valman
Part of things
Posts: 603
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Apr 30, 2010 18:15:58 GMT
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i like it , where are you planning to make the cut?
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Apr 30, 2010 22:44:02 GMT
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well you see this is where is becomes debatable lol basically now the interier is out its massive inside! probably touching 10ft long! Now I'm just over 6ft so it has to accomodate me for sleeping etc But i would really like to have at least one door at the front for access as the boot is quite difficult to climb in and out of. The green line is where I will first cut and see what i think. The windscreen will come out and a whole new steel front will be welded in place of it The blue line is where it will get cut if I'm not happy. The blue line is over 6ft from the back to the front. so plenty of room to sleep. It will mean i will loose the doors tho, but we shall see. I did buy a gas stove today from B&M bargins and 4 bottles of gas all for £11! nice and cheap this is where it will all begin............
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Nice project, I like your enthusiasm. Be very careful with the weight balance though, especially the amount of weight placed on the drawbar. Being a small hatch, your Alfa has the rear wheels placed all the way at the rear axle line, whereas a proper trailer has the axle in the middle, supporting the majority of the load. What this means is that if you just weld a drawbar on to the car in front of the windscreen line, the towbar of your car will have to bear nearly half the weight of the whole laden trailer, which is far too much weight for most tow vehicles, even with a light trailer. As a general rule of thumb, the downwards weight on your towbar should be around 10% of the trailer weight. Many towbars are rated to a maximum ball weight (vertical force downwards on the tow ball) of around 120kg. If you're not careful your Alfa trailer could dangerously exceed this, so be careful and do some calculations first.
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I was thinking the same thing as Waveman. Either of those cuts are still gonna mean a lot of "nose weight" on the towbar. I'd check the nose weight of the car u're gonna be using too, A lot of cars around that size can be as little as 40kgs My Sierra is only 50kgs nose weight limit On the plus side, with the trailer wheels being so far back it will be nice n easy to reverse ;D
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yeah i had this worry to...I will have to weigh it, and see what happens. but tbh I'm not so good with maths lol
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I'd use the front half up to the bulkhead with the tow hitch on the back of it so that it looks like a car going the wrong way when your out on the road, stash a tent in it to sleep in, if you want a trailer long enough to kip in you need to to start with a car with much more rear overhang or build a teardrop caravan.
Maybe you could buy a trailer tent and clad the trailer in the alfas front panels and use the alfa rear beam to mount the wheels on.
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Volvo back as my main squeeze, more boost and some interior goodies on the way.
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valman
Part of things
Posts: 603
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I think you should try do it so you keep the windscreen, that would be very cool like this:
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Last Edit: May 3, 2010 15:59:07 GMT by valman
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Now that is kool!!! screw the nose weight problem...it doesnt matter if it falls apart its all part of alfa ownership!
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Now that is kool!!! screw the nose weight problem...it doesnt matter if it falls apart its all part of alfa ownership! It will tow just fine behind a 3 ton truck, but if you hook up 300kg of nose weight onto a hatchback you'll lift the front wheels in the air! Perhaps not enough to clear the ground, but certainly enough to completely ruin your steering and braking effectiveness.
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What about this: (excuse the poor photoshopping!) It'll solve the "getting in the front" and "getting out of the back" issues, as well as supporting the nose weight (just leave the steering rack in with no wheel connected and the front wheels will act as jockey wheels, like when a-framing a car. I don't know it if will be legal, it probably won't reverse very well though!
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haha that almost looks like it could be driven off don't forget these 145's weight 1350kgs which is very heavy and it does have a 2.0 TS in the front of it so I don't think it will tip up to badly...also I am putting stiffer springs on my new one which will stop so much pressure being put down on the back end. I'm gonna get the engine out of the trailer car tomorrow and see what happens
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Last Edit: May 4, 2010 12:33:09 GMT by naanbread
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max nose weight for your alfa is gonna be about 50kgs simply because you wont find a towbar rated higher than that for such a small car, theres no way your gonna get away with towing that car cut at the front so you keep the doors on it.
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Volvo back as my main squeeze, more boost and some interior goodies on the way.
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max nose weight for your alfa is gonna be about 50kgs simply because you wont find a towbar rated higher than that for such a small car, theres no way your gonna get away with towing that car cut at the front so you keep the doors on it. Popup's right Ya gotta remember there's more to it than just ya rear spings, the towbar will be bolted to the body shell and could do damage to the shell it's self or in worse case, rip the towbar from it's mounts or welds. I've seen a good few cars bent from over heavy nose weight trailers. things like 4x4's have an actually chassis to bolt to. Generally a hell of a lot stronger and less likely to bend, Hence 4x4's can have nose weights upto 1/4 a Ton (and even more in some cases) Also gotta remember when loaded, if u should have to stop in a hurry, granted it's only a short time but there will be a hell of a lot more weight on that towball while u come to a stop.
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Last Edit: May 4, 2010 15:30:16 GMT by Deleted
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Love the idea, how light do you think you could make the shell by keeping the fron end as light as possible? Would ballast towards the rear of the trailor help?
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VIP
South East
Posts: 8,293
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Love the idea, how light do you think you could make the shell by keeping the fron end as light as possible? Would ballast towards the rear of the trailor help? But then you are making the trailer heavier, and you'll run into a whole new set of problems.
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rob0r
East of England
Posts: 2,743
Club RR Member Number: 104
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I'd use the front half up to the bulkhead with the tow hitch on the back of it so that it looks like a car going the wrong way when your out on the road Great minds think alike, here's what I started earlier!
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Last Edit: May 5, 2010 11:31:20 GMT by rob0r
E30 320i 3.5 - E23 730 - E3 3.0si - E21 316 M42 - E32 750i ETC
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Lawsy
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,615
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I had a mk1 goof, weight limit for towing unbraked was 300kgs and nose weight on trailer was 45kgs, had around the 300 kgs on a trailer on the back and it was loaded a little heavy, made driving the car very very scarey, front wheels were skipping along the road a few times. (was first time I'd ever towed) so stopped and rebalanced the trailer so nose weight was almost nothing and rear of trailer almost nothing - made a massive difference..
Morale of story
Yes a car trailer would look awesome and would be good to sleep in, as said loads above tho, it will be too heavy - the best way to do a trailer with a 3dr car is to chop it on the b pillars, nice balanced then
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after considering what has been said, your all right! soooo...plan B cut further back and make it more streamlined and hopefully lighter! I will do another picture tomorrow when i get home, or infact I might have it cut if i get enough time so i will upload a photo
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