Home Built Trailer - Rules?

SeanF1

SeanF1

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6m Campervan
Afternoon all,

I have been looking at motorcycle trailers to tow my bike behind the van on trips. There are lots of different options and prices, but this got me to thinking about building my own, or even converting an existing general trailer to a bike carrier.

I then discovered that since 2012, all trailers built in the UK are required to have IVA or "Type" approval whether home built or not. This seems to not be terribly well enforced, as a quick look at trailers for sale on ebay produces many examples of home made constructions for sale which seem to be very unlikely to have had any IVA approval.

Does anyone have practical experience of this field and how this works in practice please? For example if I were to purchase an old trailer on ebay to do up, do I have to ensure it has IVA approval before using it on the road? If I build my own, how difficult is the IVA approval process and is it even enforcable in practice as how can it be proven when a trailer was built?

Many thanks in advance for any pertinent information.

Kind regards
 
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First question is how do you tell? Officer, I have had it for the past 20 years (pre 2012), it lives in my garage and I have changed the tyres and suspension due to wear and tear and safety due to tyres being over 5 years old. The bottom line is only you would know !
 
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The Coops said:
First question is how do you tell? Officer, I have had it for the past 20 years (pre 2012), it lives in my garage and I have changed the tyres and suspension due to wear and tear and safety due to tyres being over 5 years old. The bottom line is only you would know !
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Trigger’s broom
 
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A DIY trailer won't be an issue until it detaches at 60mph and ploughs into a bus queue.
At which point people will be asking questions and the insurance company has a guaranteed exit.

I saw some very nice folding bike trailers at LNB last year.
I think the cost is change from £3k new, but one assumes they must come up second hand from time to time.
 
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I built my own bike trailer using a kit of parts off eBay.
It included a pair of indespension units c/w hubs, a pair of tyres and wheels and a tow hitch.
The steel box section for the frame was purchased locally.
Once complete I bought a blank VIN plate off eBay and scribed on a fictitious manufacturer name and serial number and the gross axle weight.
I pop riveted it to the drawbar.
I doubt if a copper had stopped me they wouldn't have a clue.
 
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The Coops said:
First question is how do you tell? Officer, I have had it for the past 20 years (pre 2012), it lives in my garage and I have changed the tyres and suspension due to wear and tear and safety due to tyres being over 5 years old. The bottom line is only you would know !
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Now ,it is up to you to prove you have had it before the 2012 date ,not for them to prove you haven't. Apart from the fact that you are unlikely to find anyone official who even knows the law changed.

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I suspect a missing type approval on a trailer is something that doesn’t get noticed unless something goes horribly wrong. However if someone dies in a road accident the Police can get forensic in trying to find someone to blame.
 
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gus-lopez said:
Now ,it is up to you to prove you have had it before the 2012 date ,not for them to prove you haven't. Apart from the fact that you are unlikely to find anyone official who even knows the law changed.
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I guess that will also apply to towbars having the CE marking and type approval.
 
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IVA and Type approval isn’t really an issue as long as it isn’t clearly brand new or have any age identity.
What is crucial is that it is safe and complies with the regulations for being roadworthy.
 
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Built a few trailers in the past, even made my own "indespension" type units when someone at work discovered that the 9/16" rubber cord we used for a specific job was the similar size and hardness to that used in the commercial units. Just squeezed it into some 50mm square box section with an 1 3/16" square shaft positioned diagonally inside and got hubs and wheels from the scrappy.
If you needed heavier capacity suspension, you just made them longer. They were still on the old " overrun" type brakes where you had to get out and flick a lever over before you could reverse, but never had a failure.
Still got two pairs hiding in the shed somewhere with BL mini size stub shafts !
 
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A local Scout group have for many many years used a caravan chassis with a DIY box steel frame on top to transport their fleet of canoes. (About 10 canoes, so well over 3m high)

Last winter driving back from Scotland they were nearly home (Essex) when they were passed by a wheel.
Seeing a shower of sparks in the mirror they pulled over.
The Traffic Police had also seen the shower of sparks.

The Police were unimpressed and condemned the trailer there and then on the side of the road.
The canoes were offloaded to the embankment, and the police arranged a low loader to take the trailer straight to the scrapyard.
(Scouts had to pay for the 'privilege') As they did not want the option of repairing it to even cross anyone minds.

A friend was then called up in the early hours to bring along another canoe trailer to load the canoes and take them home.

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Brains said:
A local Scout group have for many many years used a caravan chassis with a DIY box steel frame on top to transport their fleet of canoes. (About 10 canoes, so well over 3m high)

Last winter driving back from Scotland they were nearly home (Essex) when they were passed by a wheel.
Seeing a shower of sparks in the mirror they pulled over.
The Traffic Police had also seen the shower of sparks.

The Police were unimpressed and condemned the trailer there and then on the side of the road.
The canoes were offloaded to the embankment, and the police arranged a low loader to take the trailer straight to the scrapyard.
(Scouts had to pay for the 'privilege') As they did not want the option of repairing it to even cross anyone minds.

A friend was then called up in the early hours to bring along another canoe trailer to load the canoes and take them home.
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Obviously well maintained and the annual risk assessment went well for their insurance!
 
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A few years ago, in fact many years ago, we had gone to collect an above ground swimming pool, bought it and loaded it into the trailer and off we went. After about 45 minutes a wheel rolled past us down the road, the girls in the back were giggling and we all started laughing, I had a quick look in the wing mirror, SH1T ..... It's our wheel ..
We still laugh now !
 
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MisterB said:
A few years ago, in fact many years ago, we had gone to collect an above ground swimming pool, bought it and loaded it into the trailer and off we went. After about 45 minutes a wheel rolled past us down the road, the girls in the back were giggling and we all started laughing, I had a quick look in the wing mirror, SH1T ..... It's our wheel ..
We still laugh now !
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Many years ago I got distracted while hitching up my trailer and drove off without connecting the electrics and with the hitch just resting on the towball. About a mile from home, I braked and turned for a junction and was overtaken by my trailer! Luckily there was no other traffic about.

Ever since that day, I always use a secondary chain restraint and double check the hitch and electrics.
 
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