Replacing Ifor Williams panels

neverenoughtea

neverenoughtea

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Hi guys, I've got some soft patches in a couple of panels on my HB401 and was wondering if anyone had experience of replacing panels themselves? It's an old trailer with a new floor, so the panels are wooden and the floor metal. Panels have softened at the back outside of the trailer, high up and about 10cm X 10cm, and another soft patch on the panel next to the jockey door. Any advice? Budget options grateful received!
 
neverenoughtea said:
Hi guys, I've got some soft patches in a couple of panels on my HB401 and was wondering if anyone had experience of replacing panels themselves? It's an old trailer with a new floor, so the panels are wooden and the floor metal. Panels have softened at the back outside of the trailer, high up and about 10cm X 10cm, and another soft patch on the panel next to the jockey door. Any advice? Budget options grateful received!
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I have to replace an outside panel on a 505. It doesn't look to be too bad a job. Domed nuts on the outside. But before starting, I will phone IW for advice and to order a new panel. I have always found them to be very helpful. Failing that, I know a very good IW distributor I can ask. Maybe a case of go thou and do likewise?:) Best I can offer, I'm afraid, but good luck.
 
Has anyone replaced an inside panel? Goes from the back ramp edge round to the jockey door. Ours has got cracked when the partition was swung round on to it one cold morning, it just cracked /shattered. Is that easy to do? I'm guessing will be easier in the height of summer when the panel is m ore flexible in the heat(its the creamy grey one with padding under)
 
Dubsie said:
Has anyone replaced an inside panel? Goes from the back ramp edge round to the jockey door. Ours has got cracked when the partition was swung round on to it one cold morning, it just cracked /shattered. Is that easy to do? I'm guessing will be easier in the height of summer when the panel is m ore flexible in the heat(its the creamy grey one with padding under)
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You can replace them fairly easily but the only sell the grey ones these days not the colour matched ones. A friend (who is a bit OCD) had to replace both (and the partitions!) as she hated the colours not matching. I had to replace the partitions last summer as my boy managed to wreck the back partition and could only get a grey one. I can live with blue walls and a grey partition although I did change both parts of the partition so they'd match each other as the front one was a little bit damaged anyway.
 
I have replaced all the panels in my Ifor trailer, including back ramp. Ifor were dreadful at supplying parts - maybe they are better now but my local horsebox repairer,builder said he could buy the sheets of coloured wood easily enough through a local timber yard and cut to size. He was going to do it when Ifor finally delivered the part after 8 months wait!
 
My dad replaced a side panel on a 505. I was very unimpressed with Ifor. The panel was expensive and took 4 months to arrive, leaving me with out a trailer. When I spoke to Ifor the service was terrible. If I needed another done I would rather pay someone to fabricate it.
 
Good luck, I just picked up the panel I ordered back in August! I think It's a relatively simple job once you get it but order it ASAP. I'm incredibly unimpressed with Ifor, appalling customer service and very rude with it. The dealership I ordered it through say they are known for it. I'll never buy another Ifor trailer, I'd be too worried to buy a new one in case it went wrong and I couldn't get it sorted. I was so annoyed after speaking to them I nearly started a rant thread about them!
 
Maybe the trailer company prefers to sell new trailers rather than help keep ancient trailers on the road? (mine's 1993 so I fall into the ancient bracket!)

I've seen Ifors with metal checkerplate or just plain sheets of metal (or even of plywood) put over the rotting areas of the panels.

Provided you got the right thickness, strong marineply suitably treated for damp/wet/rot might serve well as a replacement panel too?
 
I'm sure they prefer to sell new trailers but now i've had a bad experience with them i'm unlikely to use them again. My next trailer would have been a new ifor but I don't want to support a company with such terrible customer service. It's the rudeness that really annoyed me, I can understand issues with supply but there's ways of dealing with it.
I did consider just getting some marine ply but I wanted it to match so at some point this year I could sell it on and buy a new one!
 
You can buy the ply that matches the Ifor panels. Speak to any local borsebox builder they will advise you where to get it or else to your local timber supplier. It is standard just needs cutting to size. No need to bother with the Ifor non customer service - feel sorry for their agents.
 
A lot of big companies prefer to deal with their customers through their dealer network these days and IW are VERY big.

I enquired for some of the special rivets used on their flat bed trailers, expecting to pay. They sent me some for nothing. It was obviousloy not worth their while invoicing for them. I doubt whether they will be too concerned if they lose one potential customer. My local distributor is hopelessly off hand, so I go to one 100 miles away and get stuff brought up by carrier!
 
Bumping up a old post.
My early on 506 needs the full jockey door panel replaced due to corrosion at the bottom. Collecting panel today (6 month wait on it and £200 increase since quoted 2020, now £450) and the fitter told me on the phone it’s a pain in the ass to fit. Roof needs to be winched off - the lot, ahh.

I can’t afford £300 extra for the fitting of it.. so just hope between me, OH and OH father who’s a farmer with a tractor handy might be able to do it!
 
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