SBS, Bramber or Extreme

[whiskylee]

Originally Posted by Orwell boy

Yes picture 2 is an al-ko axle demonstrating its later life crisis

That was a fun day ! When the suspension arm gave up on a single axle trailer 500 yards from our storage ! I had just had new bearings pressed into the hubs to bring the boat back from North Wales. There was only SBS that had stock of new Axles at the time last year.

[Limecc]

Originally Posted by whiskylee

We have had a fair share of trailers over the last 30 years, Indespension, snipe, Bramber, SBS etc, the only trailer frame we have had issues with was Bramber, it needed a rotted section replacement. We always launch in the sea mostly of the beach, we have had the suspension arms on the axles rot and snap, as others have said it is a weak spot Attachment 139699Attachment 139700

Imho if the arms have rotted this far then any useful suspension function was long gone. The rubber goes hard and the boat hull takes a pounding over potholes. It's particularly a problem with the later AlKo cords.

The AlKo axle for my Bramber was out of production, good really because I might have purchased it without looking for an alternative. It's easy, cheaper and better to get one made up and I specified 70mm box giving me a 250kg upgrade at no extra cost.

I've only ever had Snipe and now the Bramber. Both were excellent, very customisable.

[whiskylee]

Originally Posted by Limecc

Imho if the arms have rotted this far then any useful suspension function was long gone. The rubber goes hard and the boat hull takes a pounding over potholes. It's particularly a problem with the later AlKo cords.

The AlKo axle for my Bramber was out of production, good really because I might have purchased it without looking for an alternative. It's easy, cheaper and better to get one made up and I specified 70mm box giving me a 250kg upgrade at no extra cost.

I've only ever had Snipe and now the Bramber. Both were excellent, very customisable.

We put a new braked axle on the trailer, should of paid for the new axle before pressing/paying for new bearings on the old axle ! The old axle was 15 years old so as said well past its life span of use and abuse in salt water launch/recovery, we bought the boat/trailer when it was 15 years old. We normally have a separate road trailer to move the boat on the roads and leave a beach launching trailer in Wales !

[Orwell boy]

Originally Posted by Limecc

Imho if the arms have rotted this far then any useful suspension function was long gone. The rubber goes hard and the boat hull takes a pounding over potholes. It's particularly a problem with the later AlKo cords.

The AlKo axle for my Bramber was out of production, good really because I might have purchased it without looking for an alternative. It's easy, cheaper and better to get one made up and I specified 70mm box giving me a 250kg upgrade at no extra cost.

I've only ever had Snipe and now the Bramber. Both were excellent, very customisable.

Ref pictures in post 22

This is real boys own engineering by this axle company
1The axle x beam will make virtually no difference to the axle carrying capacity ,it is there to link the two chassis rails (after all you can buy the suspension units without the beam !
2. The bit that Al-ko and indespension do well are the chassis carrying Channels ,very strong because this is where the forces are !
3.Looking carefully at above described channels they are positioned so the centre of the bracket is centred over the hub ,not the axle as the weaker angle iron they have used !
4.750kg is max unbraked on road as we all know however the hub limitation is the wheelstuds at 3/8" unf however you can buy offroad 1000kg hubs with 7/16th unf and 1500kg with m12

Hopefully this will help people understand the importance of trailer being fit for purpose

[Limecc]

Originally Posted by Orwell boy

Ref pictures in post 22

This is real boys own engineering by this axle company
1The axle x beam will make virtually no difference to the axle carrying capacity ,it is there to link the two chassis rails (after all you can buy the suspension units without the beam !
2. The bit that Al-ko and indespension do well are the chassis carrying Channels ,very strong because this is where the forces are !
3.Looking carefully at above described channels they are positioned so the centre of the bracket is centred over the hub ,not the axle as the weaker angle iron they have used !
4.750kg is max unbraked on road as we all know however the hub limitation is the wheelstuds at 3/8" unf however you can buy offroad 1000kg hubs with 7/16th unf and 1500kg with m12

Hopefully this will help people understand the importance of trailer being fit for purpose

Not wishing to get into the in's and out's of axle design which after all is rudimentary and agricultural in nature..

However regarding point 1. The cross section of the beam does in fact affect the carrying capacity, not because extra strength of steel is needed, but because it allows thicker size rubber cords to be used. Normally 750kg unbraked axles are made out of 60mm box and the 1000kg out of 70mm. I don't know if there's another size for 1500kg, I guess not if a second axle is fitted. The AlKo axle had three cords, my new one has four cords. I'm not overloading the trailer by the way, I felt having a little suspension in reserve would be a good thing in a few years as all rubber hardens. It might contribute to a longer life and ride deep potholes better.

The 'weaker' angle irons can't be wider than the rails of the chassis, in my case 80mm x 40mm (h x w), or else the U bolts can't clamp it. IMHO it's plenty strong enough. Any weak point must be the welding because the irons are clamped to the rail so cannot flex or bend. The PCD, hub, and stud size, iron position and size are what you specify when ordering. In my case the former are the same sizes used by AlKo, it doesn't affect the price.

I purchased directly from the axle manufacturer (Peak Dynamics) who supply one of the leading trailer manufacturers. Can't reliably remember which one/s now unfortunately. Maybe someone else knows, I'll not guess.

I'm a happy customer at £153.30 +vat and £35 delivery. Very heavy and strong. My only regret is not upgrading from 10" to 13" wheels. The old ones are as new but skinny and sink into sand more easily when beach launching.

[Limecc]

Originally Posted by Limecc

I purchased directly from the axle manufacturer (Peak Dynamics) who supply one of the leading trailer manufacturers. Can't reliably remember which one/s now unfortunately. Maybe someone else knows, I'll not guess.

Their website shows they acquired:
Barford Trailers 1981
AP brakes 1981
Bramber 1993
Banbury Trailers 2009
Peak Trailers rebrand 2014

I don't understand why my 2006 Bramber had an AlKo axle therefore and how Bramber fits into the Mersea Trailers group, also comprising Rapide Trailers and Snipe Trailers.

[Last Tango]

A consideration might be the type of bearings they are using.
SBS seem keen on "sealed for life" ball race ones that cost a lot more to replace than taper-rollers and need a press to get in and out. It's also probable that your torque wrench won't wind up high enough for the single shot nuts on them.

The upside should be they last longer but folk I know are cursing them as they aren't lasting any longer than taper rollers and there's no preventative maintenance you can do to extend their life.

I've recently bough a new 1800kg Nicholson trailer and am well pleased with it.
All built-to-order and much cheaper than most other makes. (+..taper-rollers and bearing buddies included)

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by Last Tango

A consideration might be the type of bearings they are using.

SBS seem keen on "sealed for life" ball race ones that cost a lot more to replace than taper-rollers and need a press to get in and out. It's also probable that your torque wrench won't wind up high enough for the single shot nuts on them.



The upside should be they last longer but folk I know are cursing them as they aren't lasting any longer than taper rollers and there's no preventative maintenance you can do to extend their life.



I've recently bough a new 1800kg Nicholson trailer and am well pleased with it.

All built-to-order and much cheaper than most other makes. (+..taper-rollers and bearing buddies included)

I'm with you on this, sealed for life bearings are the daftest idea ever for trailer use. All it means is you cant maintain them, check them or grease them. As least with a taper roller bearing you can periodically strip them , clean & regrease & replace seals if failed coupled with bearing buddys or at least the ability to grease the hubs with a grease gun to drive out moisture taper rollers have to be the sensible choice.

Sent from my SM-G950F using RIB Net mobile app

[HDAV]

Don’t own one but CLH have a decent rep locally for trailers not sure on lead time and doubt a local dealer if you are in Scotland

https://www.clhtrailers.com/

[Last Tango]

"Nicholson" are based in Carnforth, Lancaster so no delivery charge. Just nip down and pick it up.

[blueboy758]

Years ago I bought a new single axle De Graaff trailer was brilliant for years, I then sold it with the boat. I bought a Humber and a Bramber came with it, it was never right, rollers moving U bolts never lasting and in my opinion not enough rollers for the size of boat.

I then went back and bought a new twin axle de graaff, brilliant trailers but everyone is different. [emoji51]

[blueboy758]

Not sure why it’s added it twice [emoji849][emoji23]

[gtflash]

De graft and rm trailers have been my favourite. Primarily due to roller design and frequency of brake/bearing changes.

SBS have been my least favourite. The rollers used to be click lock clips and were forever floating off and scratching the boat. This might have changed since. My latest sbs has done quite well. At least 6 years on same bearings and one pair of shoes but I still don’t like it. New brakes and one dip later and its seized but it is likely an alko issue. I now lube my drums with copper slip through the hose holes and after a few hammer hits it turns. It’s a yard trailer now. Not a road trailer so who cares.