Damper failure on 3 year old ifor Williams 511

TRECtastic

TRECtastic

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This happened last week while towing 2 horses at 50mph on the A14 , very frightening .

I bought the trailer new 3 years ago , it has been regularly serviced and I tow with a kia sorento which can pull up to 3.5t

Myself and my friend were on our way to Suffolk for the TREC GB championship when in torrential rain the trailer started slightly snaking and feeling out of control , after slowing down and bringing it back under control we pulled over as we thought we had had a blow out , all tyres OK but the rubber boot round the damper was totally compressed

We called breakdown who were great ( thanks green flag and manchettes of Newmarket ) they recovered my trailer back home while my friends husband drove 2 hours with her 510 so we could carry on our journey. Our horses were fantastic , happily eating haylage , not a murmur out of them , plus we had to unload them off mine and onto her trailer on homebase car park ! Total stars

Trailer was then taken to ifor Williams dealer who have relplaced the damper but said it's just bad luck it went after 3 years and could go any time

I believe the anti sway bar fitted to my trailer helped save us from a more serious accident , I've been towing for over 25 years and have never experienced anything like this , nor do I ever want to again !
 
Have you spoken to Ifor Williams themselves? If nothing else they need the feedback, but TBH the consumer legislation in this country states that the product must be fit for purpose for "a reasonable time". It isn't defined but I would suggest that 3 years is not a reasonable time - contact them (not their dealership) and ask what they propose to do for you.
 
Hmm. 3 years for brake pads and discs, for sure. Perhaps for a clutch too. You might expect wear on a damper but this sounds like catastrophic failure. Are you talking about the damper on the hitch or on the suspension?

Either way it's worth speaking to Ifor. But sometimes parts do just fail, it's pure bad luck (or a bad batch), just lucky you were all OK.
 
It was the damper on the hitch

Was serviced last Aug by T&A trailers , Aldridge . They said that parts only guaranteed for 12 months and it's quite common for the damper to go . They said I could speak to IW but I wouldn't get any joy from them

It's the first ifor Williams trailer I have owned so am a bit disappointed tbh

Hopefully it will never happen again
 
It does pretty dramatic. I do think you should ask for the old part, send it to Ifor and ask for an explanation. I'm not a trailer guru but I'm guessing it's hydraulic, in which case it sounds like a seal has blown. But try and approach it in a spirit of feedback rather than confrontation....
 
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