Looking for 7.5 Horsebox, advice needed!!

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kibo

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Hi, I've not been on the forum for a long time but wondered if anyone could help me?
As in the title I am looking for my 1st horsebox, I have been towing for 7 years & now me & my daughter are going further afield & want to stay overnight I have persuaded hubby we need a lorry!

Can I have your opinions on Ford Iveco/Cargo & Leyland Daf please?
What should I be looking out for? I have been told the Fords tend to rust.

The lorries I am looking at are around the '89 - '94 age.

Many thanks
 
First thing you need to know about any possible lorry is its empty weight. A lot of lorries from that era were built without regard to weight as it wasn't really an issue back then. Now it is and a lot cant even carry one horse legally. Only way to find out true weight is by taking it to a weighbridge. Do not rely on any bits of paper you may be shown.
 
I would avoid the cargos as its true, the cabs rot badly. I have had a few roadrunners and they were good little workhorses.

Along with the payload the most important things for me are a tilt cab (if the cab doesn't tilt no one wants to work on them as what would of been a simple job becomes a nightmare) and a coachbuilt aluminium body (either stick or smooth sided).
 
I was wondering what sort of money you are looking at? Only because the market is on its backside at the moment.

It is a great time of year for you to buy and I am just saying that you may get more box than you expect. Don't be afraid to make an offer.

I would agree to look at weight as many are over weight with a couple of horses, a tilt cab, the floor is imperative.
 
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You have towing experience so another option might be something like a 6 tonne GVW van type horsebox without living and tow a caravan

That could easily be done on a pre 1997 licence
Vehicle 6 tonnes GVW with perhaps a 2+ tonne payload
Caravan with MTPLM of 2 tonnes - that's a big caravan!
 
DAFS are great, the main thing with any lorry is the age and condition of the chassis. The chassis dies long before the engine/box. So get someone who knows to get underneath and have a good look.

Do not be swayed by a freshly painted coachbuilt one. Tilt cab is a must and a good solid floor, and of course check the weight and how much you can legally carry.

The bigger the living, with all those cupboards etc all take away the amount of weight you have left to carry your horses.
 
Thank you Rog but one of my reasons for wanting a lorry is I don't want to tow as far as we want to go, good idea though!
 
Thanks everyone, have now decided to look for a Leyland with tilt cab. Why are they always miles away??

We only need a small living so hopefully can find what we need.

Please let me know if anyone hears of one for sale, we are in Bedfordshire.

Thanks again.
 
I bought my first lorry 4 years or so ago (Iveco). The main problems I have encountered were:
1) Leaking in - it developed a very small and quite discrete leak which after months of heavy rain rotted a small part of the floor. Luckily, we were able to safely replace that very small portion as it is in the very front of the living and no where near the horses. But what it made me realise is that if the living had been carpetted, or there had been matting on the walls, I would never have noticed. So be very careful to lift carpets, lift rubber matting, check behind cupboards, prod anything that looks dubious (?!?) etc.
2) brakes seizing - I understand this to be a problem across all types of horsebox, not limited to one brand. My mechanic keeps yelling at me that this happens because they are built for use as long distance commercial lorries and not to be left standing for a month then taken to the local show. So if I was buying one which the owner told me had been standing for a period of time (which is what happened to me) I would budget for things like seized master cylinders!
3) Finances generally - someone warned me that a horse box would be a money pit. My gosh, was that right. I wasn't prepared for how expensive things get when they go wrong. That said, I wouldn't be without it!

Good luck!
 
kibo said:
Thanks everyone, have now decided to look for a Leyland with tilt cab. Why are they always miles away??

We only need a small living so hopefully can find what we need.

Please let me know if anyone hears of one for sale, we are in Bedfordshire.

Thanks again.
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Look on preloaded, that's were we found our layland daf, tilt cab :). It was in amersham and we are also in beds:)

My dad's a mechanic so we just took him with us.

The plating will have unleaden weight, so will the brake test sheet it should be with the mot papers.

Ours is 7.5 tonne with and unleaden weight of just under six tonne. We are going to strip out the living as it has a big grill/heavy cub boards. Every little helps:)
 
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