Trailer rear door rattling

A

Akkalia1

Well-Known Member
Joined
3 October 2008
Messages
359
Visit site
How much noise is normal in a trailer?? I rode in there (on a private road) for a bit to see how noisy it was. Mainly because we got a new towing vehicle and the trailer seems to rattle far more than it did previously - I think the tow bar is sightly lower. You can hear it quite badly in the car but I thought I'd check in case it was really rattly in the trailer. However I don't think the tow ball rattling is audible in the trailer but god, it was SO loud in there. No wonder my horse hates travelling. I don't know if this is normal or not but I found the noise uncomfortable. It seemed to be stemming from the back ramp. It's a Bateson Ascot trailer with normal ramp back door. Has anyone done anything to stop the back ramp rattling? Maybe some sheet rubber wedged around the closure pins?
 
Someone once told me (think it was at a talk) to cover everything in vet wrap to stop it rattling.

You only have to stand on a rutted field at a show to hear how noisy most trailers are.
 
You can buy sticky neoprene/foam tape type stuff or you can get rubber seals. I've used both on mine. Rubber seals all round the metal edge of the ramps and the tape where the jockey door closes onto. Makes a huge difference.
 
We’ve used pieces of bicycle inner tube on the top of the centre partition pole where it clips in to the roof, and also draught proofing strips along the rear ramp where the top doors close onto it. This made a massive improvement to my formerly rattley Ifor.

I had a ride in the empty trailer off road, and was able to pinpoint where the rattles were coming from, which helped.
 
I have had several batesons and found they tow horribly empty very very bouncy and rattley however completely different with horse on board and you almost wouldn't know trailer was there when towing and horses all travel very well. Tow ball height is important also ours was too high when we got a new vehicle and trailer felt very unsteady was instantly transformed when it was lowered.
 
I had this with my Bateson - as above it tows like a bag of poop when it's empty but it's great with a horse in. I've got doors rather than a ramp so the fix I used won't be useful for you but apparently Bateson dealers are able to adjust and shim ramps to stop the rattling.
 
Millie-Rose said:
I have had several batesons and found they tow horribly empty very very bouncy and rattley however completely different with horse on board and you almost wouldn't know trailer was there when towing and horses all travel very well. Tow ball height is important also ours was too high when we got a new vehicle and trailer felt very unsteady was instantly transformed when it was lowered.
Click to expand...

That's interesting as before I changed towing vehicle I actually thought it towed quite quietly even empty. From the point of view of how it sounded from within the car. However our new tow ball I'm sure is lower and it rattles around on the ball badly, both empty and with a horse in it. So it's interesting that you saw a change for the better with a lower tow ball whereas I seem to be seeing a change for the worse! I'm going to look into the height of the tow ball more I think as that won't be helping I'm sure.

I've ordered some neoprene tape and bike inner tubes anyway to try and sort the ramp and partition rattles.
 
I stuck some foam tape around the jockey door that rattled. I also rigged up my hat cam to record pony on a shortish trip. I was amazed at all the vibration and noise and noticed pony looking behind himself all the time. Took out everything that was hanging on my hooks at the front ( spare head collar etc and shut his back door. Did it help him load better? Did it heck.:mad: Hour & half on thursday, missed our slot in the hired arena so cross with him..
 
DirectorFury said:
I had this with my Bateson - as above it tows like a bag of poop when it's empty but it's great with a horse in. I've got doors rather than a ramp so the fix I used won't be useful for you but apparently Bateson dealers are able to adjust and shim ramps to stop the rattling.
Click to expand...
Directorfury - I have an Ascot with doors and have had terrible issues with rattling, throughout the entire trailer really, I have managed to fix some of this but I wonder how you have dealt with the doors? I would love to know what you have done to reduce noise, I even have one side that is tricky too close and I have to lift the door up to get the hinge to line up so it will lock in. I am in New Zealand and my nearest dealer is on another island a few days (at least) drive away so I need to fix this myself, if you can offer me any help it would be greatly appreciated :)
 
Different trailers but just thought worth mentioning. We used to have an Ifor, I always felt it kind of bounced empty, bought a Richardson and the difference was massive you couldnt tell you were towing or hear a thing. I often wondered if they were slightly different heights for the tow bar as the Richardson was so much smoother?? I know Ifors are on leaf springs but it used to rattle and bounce along
 
Louby said:
Different trailers but just thought worth mentioning. We used to have an Ifor, I always felt it kind of bounced empty, bought a Richardson and the difference was massive you couldnt tell you were towing or hear a thing. I often wondered if they were slightly different heights for the tow bar as the Richardson was so much smoother?? I know Ifors are on leaf springs but it used to rattle and bounce along
Click to expand...

I dont know what it is, but Rice/Richardsons are so much nicer to tow. They just seem more stable. I've noticed it across different cars so I dont think its the towbar height.
 
DirectorFury said:
I had this with my Bateson - as above it tows like a bag of poop when it's empty but it's great with a horse in. I've got doors rather than a ramp so the fix I used won't be useful for you but apparently Bateson dealers are able to adjust and shim ramps to stop the rattling.
Click to expand...
Hey there, I know this is an old post but I have just come across it. I also have the doors but live nowhere near a Bateson dealer to have them adjust them for me. 1 is fine but the other door rattles and sits slightly lower than the other so I have to lift the whole door up to get the latch to hook in (hopefully that makes sense). I also hate the stupid little flaps at the top that clip up or fold down and rattle like crazy, I wish they had have just been full height doors like the American ones, so am looking to remove these and maybe just get an old school dust cover. Do you know what the dealers did to stop the main parts of the door rattle? I was horrified today when driving it home, thankfully without horses when the center divider pin in to roof fell out and the whole thing toppled over, that would have been a horror story with horses on board ?
 
Since this thread has been bumped (Sorry Dakota NZ, can't be much use to you as I don't have the doors), I thought I'd update as it might be useful for others.

We found our tow ball was in between 5 and 10cm lower than the recommended height for the Bateson. We finally got around to upgrading our rear springs so the tow ball is now at the correct height and the difference is huge. No more bouncing around on the ball or juddering and there are less rattles. So height does make a big difference.

On the trailer itself I put inner bike tubing around the catches on the ramp so it sits snug when shut and doesn't rattle nearly as much and also around some bits of the partition where it slots into the roof. Definitely much quieter in there.
 
Akkalia1 said:
How much noise is normal in a trailer?? I rode in there (on a private road) for a bit to see how noisy it was. Mainly because we got a new towing vehicle and the trailer seems to rattle far more than it did previously - I think the tow bar is sightly lower. You can hear it quite badly in the car but I thought I'd check in case it was really rattly in the trailer. However I don't think the tow ball rattling is audible in the trailer but god, it was SO loud in there. No wonder my horse hates travelling. I don't know if this is normal or not but I found the noise uncomfortable. It seemed to be stemming from the back ramp. It's a Bateson Ascot trailer with normal ramp back door. Has anyone done anything to stop the back ramp rattling? Maybe some sheet rubber wedged around the closure pins?
Click to expand...
The tow ball should not rattle. If it is a new ball hitch then you must have wear in the coupling that needs attention. As stated above, cycle inner tube over chain links, heavy duty draught seal.
 
phizz4 said:
The tow ball should not rattle. If it is a new ball hitch then you must have wear in the coupling that needs attention. As stated above, cycle inner tube over chain links, heavy duty draught seal.
Click to expand...

Sorry, possibly badly worded. The tow ball itself didn't rattle, it was just that the hitch didn't seem to sit happily on it so I think it was moving around on it or something, it almost felt like the car and trailer were fighting each other. But now that the height of the tow ball is raised it's no issue. It was serviced and there didn't seem to be any issue with the hitch itself.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top