Any Cheval Liberte Trailer Owners With Dangerous Floor?

I think if you look underneath all you will see is some grey fibre glass. If there is a problem you should see a sunken section and it may be spongy if you stand on it.

I've not read every post yet so maybe someone has answered the question already: Has anyone been given a replacement floor after say 3 years?
 
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i sold it and now have a lorry, i would never put my horse in a cheval trailer again.
if i see one at a show i tell the owners my story and tell them to take it back to the dealer and get a new floor.
 
miscat said:
Underneath I think you will see a layer of fibre glass, probably grey.
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thank you for your reply .. I also know of a cl that the back door dosnt fit anymore as boby has changed shape . The jockey door dosnt do up very wel lon ours , which makes me think the whole structure is unsafe . we first became aware when robinsons recalled there trailers because of the floors which are cl without the name on it why carnt cl own up to it and give us safe transport for our animals they soon took our money ..
 
clait said:
i was given a new cheval gold trailer to shut me up after my horse fell through the floor.
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how terrible . thank god that didnt happen to us .in a big fight with the people we brought ours of .. If i give you my email address could you send me your story I think we need to do something to get all the plywood floored trailer owners aware
Davidgillallen@aol.com
 
I think horse and hound should do a feature on this like they did the robinsons one, people dont seam to know they are the same thing.
 
gillallen said:
thank you for your reply .. I also know of a cl that the back door dosnt fit anymore as boby has changed shape . The jockey door dosnt do up very wel lon ours , which makes me think the whole structure is unsafe . we first became aware when robinsons recalled there trailers because of the floors which are cl without the name on it why carnt cl own up to it and give us safe transport for our animals they soon took our money ..
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have just had reply from lady who,s horse fell through floor if i give you my email could you send me details of your problems . I think all cl with ply wood floors should be recalled
Davidgillallen@aol.com
 
Have just had my Robinsons trailer at a CL dealership to have the plywood floor checked care of Robinsons. Have been told it's absolutely fine, no defects. Not sure if I'm happy with that or not, kind of feel like I've been a bit fobbed off!
 
There is know way to tell buy looking at it as the floor is sealed, how did they test it? did they pull back the rubber on the top?
 
FPErin said:
Just seen info on Robinson's Requisite trailers with dangerous floors.
Very interesting as we bought a brand new Cheval Liberte 1003XL in Sept 2007. We only use the trailer infrequently and it's been serviced regularly so hasn't been hammered and has been well cared for. We took my RID mare to a show last September and when we got back home opened the rear ramp and were shocked to see that a small rear left section of flooring had dropped out of the floor frame. Fortunately our youngster is very level headed and a good traveller so hadn't got upset or injured on the journey home, but it could have been so much worse.
We ended up taking the trailer to a CL Dealership to have the old plywood floor ripped out and a new polyester floor fitted by the Cheval Liberte fitter. The fitter also fitted another support bar under the trailer floor which was they obviously thought was needed. I did ask at the time if this was a recall problem etc but was told it wasn't.
Basically we've paid out for a new floor on a relatively new trailer and I'm just wondering if this cost should have been borne by the manufacturer. I was very miffed at the time but was just glad my horse hadn't been hurt.
If anyone else has been in a similar situation please PM me as I'd be interested to hear if you have taken the matter up with the Trailer Supplier/Manufacturer and any outcome.
Thanks Lynda
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could you email details need as many reports as possible
Davidgillaqllen@aol.com
 
indi4 said:
I use to own one of these and was very shocked by the quality of these trailers. When new it look very well made, and the selling point to me was the low towing weight. It was lightly used and after owning it for a couple of years my boyfriend was driving behind me and said that it didn't look very stable, on closer inspection the roof was coming away from the sides, it couldn't handle the weight of a horse leaning against the sides, so this is somthing else to be wary off.
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could you email me about the problems you had with your dealer thinks we are the only one .. Davidgillallen@aol.com
 
fjordhorsefan said:
I got my trailer in Dec 2006, and emailed the dealer to ask if it was affected. I recall it being some sort of plastic in the floor, but there must be wood in there somewhere too. The dealer advised me to get the floor checked, which I will be doing asap. If it is knackered then I will certainly not be paying for a new one!!
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i am collecting all reports on cl trailers could you email the faults you had with yours . Davidgillallen@aol.com
 
Lennyfan said:
Have just had my Robinsons trailer at a CL dealership to have the plywood floor checked care of Robinsons. Have been told it's absolutely fine, no defects. Not sure if I'm happy with that or not, kind of feel like I've been a bit fobbed off![/QUOTEI found we had a very spongey feeling on floor . got someone to stand inside and could see it bowing . I am being told i an
m the only person now i have read reports i know i am
not .. trying to get as many reports as poss .
Davidgillallen@aol.com
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Bloody hell, these people need to be stopped, they just do not care about our horses they take our money and turn a blind eye.
 
For the past few months I have been in touch with the uk importer, Cheval Liberte uk so they are very familiar with the problem. Despite promises I have so far got nowhere. Perhaps it would be a good time to bombard this man with emails and phone calls :) ...

Arwel Davies
07974 304717

sales@cheval-liberte.co.uk
 
Hi All

Thanks so much for your replies to my thread. I really wish I'd have posted it last year but thought I was a one off. For those people who are having probs with their trailers please try Consumer Direct. They will refer the matter on to Trading Standards. The more referrals they get the easier it will be for them to take action.
 
I'm happy to contact him however all I can tell him is my CL has given no problems but I've been told there may be a problem with it - might not get much response from CL UK

PS - just edited to add - please could you keep me informed of any developments with CL - thanks

miscat said:
For the past few months I have been in touch with the uk importer, Cheval Liberte uk so they are very familiar with the problem. Despite promises I have so far got nowhere. Perhaps it would be a good time to bombard this man with emails and phone calls :) ...

Arwel Davies
07974 304717

sales@cheval-liberte.co.uk
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This is all very worrying!

I bought a brand new trailer in early 2009 from Robinsons, it was manufactured in 2008.

We recently received a letter saying we need to check the floor, but as it has polyester bonded underneath and rubber on top you can't see the acytual wood, so Robinsins paid for it to go to a local CL dealer.

The dealer has basically jumped up and down in it and said it didn't collapse so it seems OK but there is no way they can say 100% without ripping up the rubber and looking at the wood, which would ruin the floor anyway.

I now don't trust the floor and don't want to risk my precious horse in it, just in case it's not safe.

I am very unhappy that a trailer I paid nearly £4k for brand new little over 2 years ago now has a big question mark over its safety. The whole reason I bought a brand new one was that you get piece of mind that it's safe!

Am going to pay for a new ali floor to be put in, v annoyed that I will be so much out of pocket, but at the end of the day my horse's safety is my priority. Lesson learned - won't be buying CL again!

Don't know if this helps but we were told that in 2006 CL changed to a cheaper supplier of plywood, but by 2007 had realised it was sub-standard and changed back again. Was also told that you can't expect these wooden floors to last more than 5 years! Ha! They didn't say that when I was parting with my cash!
 
Why the hell are you paying for a new floor, do you think a man jumping up and down is a good test? take it back and demand a new floor or a proper test and if they do any damage they will have to put it right.
 
Well they can speak to me if they want.
I'm happy to help in any way I can to make horse owners out there aware of this problem (not everyone has internet access).
Have just had my hair done and can give the horse a bit of a brush for the photos!!!!! Seriously though, the more cases of dangerous floors that are found the more of a voice we'll have. They may be able to fob off 2 or 3 customers but sounds like there's a heck of a lot more than that who are wanting answers and action from Cheval Liberte.
 
I don't understand why Robinsons trailers have been subject to recall and inspected and yet CL are not interested in helping owners of CL trailers.

I have a 2007 1003XL CL. I have not used it for the last 10 months and it has been in storage, I am going to collect it next week and inspect it.

I phoned CL a week ago asking for advice to be told how to check the floor, to look it it from ontop and under for any soft areas ontop or cracking in fibreglass underneath. Problem is the blasted sealed rubber means it is impossible to check the state of the wood.

Until I know for certain that it is safe I am not prepared to put a horse in it, how anyone can determine whether it is safe I do not know.

I think I'm going to take mine to a nearby CL dealer who also does servicing and specifically have the floor checked.

After seeing miscats pictures of a trailer identical to mine I am seriously concerned, because what you can't see from an external inspection are what the serious problems are...
 
The floor should feel solid if you stamp about on it. The wood at the centre of the trailer on ours was still dry so probably that will tell you how it should feel. Then check the edges. The really damaged areas on our was at the back 2 corners and they were very soft and we could see a sag. If there's any give in the floor I wouldn't use it.
 
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