Trailer servicing

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humblepie

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Re the Horse and Hound article about trailers - out of interest how many people on here have their trailer serviced and how often?
 
me every year and if I know anything needs doing it gets done immediately.
I was under it about 4 weeks ago taking all the fittings off so we could take the rubber matting up and have a look at the floor.
The guys at the farm laugh at me!
 
I bought my Ifor Williams 510 new in 2006.

I don't use it that much, I've had it serviced twice by a main dealer, and I reckon I'm a careful owner...... Twice in seven years isn't very impressive, is it:o! I do check everything is working fine before each trip, though.

There are a lot of death trap trailers out there. Some sort of trailer MoT is a good idea but no idea how it could be enforced.
 
i am a bit cautious as i bought a trailer a few years ago, my husband has a look at it and poked and prodded the floor checked all lights, handbrake etc.
Anyway I brought it home all delighted with myself and asked a mechanic to have a look at it, The floor was solid in some areas and shocking in others!
It had to be replaced and at the next service it cost me £450 as it needed bearings, new jockey wheel, electrics sorting (think some wiring was perishing and other things cant remember everything) so now I am much more cautious, new trailer got picked up and taken straight to main dealer for servicing.
 
Every year. Wheels and brakes etc need servicing on a trailer just as much as a car if not more due to the amount of time they sit around not used!
 
I suspect that most people *ahem* who do not get their trailers serviced annually will not post on this thread...

Slightly off topic but a good tip I was given by my mechanic is to take the trailer out empty every so often and give the brakes a good work out. I'm a VERY steady driver when towing and tbh the trailer brakes hardly come into play as I slow down using the gears when possible. I have a good local route that I use every couple of months or so where I take the empty trailer out and having checked there's no traffic around, I do repeated strong braking from 30 mph to stop to get the brakes working. Then check afterwards that there's no excessive heat in any of the hubs.

Yes and regularly lifting the rubber mat in the Ifor to check there is no damp trapped is a right PITA, isn't it! But I'm pretty OCD about doing that regularly having had a horse go through a wooden floor in a borrowed trailer (she miraculously only had cuts and bruises (and scuffed hooves).
 
Not yearly but fairly regularly. I only use it a few times a year but that is probably worse. I saw a program a few weeks ago about tyres on caravans which led to me crawling round the box park at the yard checking how old everyones tyres were. They recommend changing tyres at 7 years old and they are rarely worn by then. There is a small window on the tyre that has four numbers (although on my tyres they seem to be on the inside so I can't see them) the first two numbers show the month and the second two the year of manufacture. I will take my box for a service in spring and am thinking it may be four new tyres for me too.
 
Bought my trailer new in 2008 and have had it serviced every
March/April, mainly for peace of mind, my boys mean the world to me and I'd never forgive myself if an accident was caused by my trailer not being roadworthy.
 
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