SBS, Bramber or Extreme

[Frar]

Anyone got any opinions on Pros / Cons of the 3 main brands? Looking at buying new for a 7m RIB.

[Dry Run]

Have you looked at Extreme Trailers in Southampton?

[Dry Run]

Ah, sorry- I see you have. Should have raed more closely. We use them a lot when we need new trailers and have always found them to be excellent quality and a good price. The others you mention also make good trailers, but tend to be more expensive.

[paulbrown22]

I was super happy with the big twin axle Bramber under my 9m Ribtec - nearly 17 years old when I sold the boat last year and still in perfect condition.

[CJL]

We have recently been through a similar process and in the end went with Indespension as they were offering good deals via their Ipswich dealership.

Lead time on all the brands was pretty depressing.

Chris

[mhill]

Personally id avoid SBS, my trailer is 18 months ish old.
the quality is shocking, as is the fit of it to the boat. Its had to be completely rewired at 2 months old by me as the connectors they use are not waterproof.
Their attitude and demeanour was shocking along with their lack of assistance.

Had a interesting chat with a marine engineer yesterday, he isn't a fan of the SBS setup as its all formed, welded and galvanised. This is fine until there is a small amount of rust & rot which requires it to but cut out and then re galvanised. The trailers from Extreme are bolted & clamped together which means individual parts can be swapped out.

My next boat will be sitting on a Extreme!

[jeffstevens763@g]

Bramber are good, SBS are cheaply made IMO

[mick]

Vanclaes from Holland

[Frar]

Lots too mull over, thanks all. Indespension cost 20% more otherwise I'd consider. Vanclaes have some good solutions but cost and import post Brexit?

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Frar

Lots too mull over, thanks all. Indespension cost 20% more otherwise I'd consider. Vanclaes have some good solutions but cost and import post Brexit?

Prior to my current VanClaes, I had 2 SBS trailers & they were fine, well built & did thousands of miles between them. Many times to the continent & back + all over the UK. The axles/brakes were Al-Ko, and straight forward to maintain. Any trailer needs setting up properly for each individual boat. Anyone who thinks that setting up a trailer is a 10 minute job hasn’t done it properly. Prior to the SBS trailers, I had an indespension roller coaster, this suffered from cracked welds & had to be re-welded several times.
You pays your money & takes your choice.

[mick]

Originally Posted by Frar

Lots too mull over, thanks all. Indespension cost 20% more otherwise I'd consider. Vanclaes have some good solutions but cost and import post Brexit?

Worth the money though if you do a lot of miles all I’ve done to mine is change the oil in 4 years

[Orwell boy]

SBS and extreme run Al-ko axles and brakes ,Bramber Snipe and Rapide are all now Mersea trailer brands out of Colchester essex and use Knott axles and brakes ,a 50 year in the industry friend of mine always says Al-ko axles ride better than knott ,indespension tend to use mainly knott ,however i always think the hollow suspension arms on Al-ko axles are a weak point as the trailers age !
when i was at Southampton boat show last year i spoke to vancleas who are now adding more competitive uk style trailers at lower than uk prices however all the fancy bits are extras if you want them ! i have a price list here somewhere which i am going to try and find

[mhill]

Originally Posted by Orwell boy

SBS and extreme run Al-ko axles and brakes ,Bramber Snipe and Rapide are all now Mersea trailer brands out of Colchester essex and use Knott axles and brakes ,a 50 year in the industry friend of mine always says Al-ko axles ride better than knott ,indespension tend to use mainly knott ,however i always think the hollow suspension arms on Al-ko axles are a weak point as the trailers age !
when i was at Southampton boat show last year i spoke to vancleas who are now adding more competitive uk style trailers at lower than uk prices however all the fancy bits are extras if you want them ! i have a price list here somewhere which i am going to try and find

I would be interested to see that if you have it?

[Orwell boy]

This was from 2021 boat show

[Wave Rider]

I bought a snipe over a year ago & have had no problems

[Frar]

So to summarise. All are same ballpark in price, have pros and cons and you might or might not be lucky? 😁😁😁

Decision made, 2nd hand SBS.

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

Prior to my current VanClaes, I had 2 SBS trailers & they were fine, well built & did thousands of miles between them. Many times to the continent & back + all over the UK. The axles/brakes were Al-Ko, and straight forward to maintain. Any trailer needs setting up properly for each individual boat. Anyone who thinks that setting up a trailer is a 10 minute job hasn’t done it properly. Prior to the SBS trailers, I had an indespension roller coaster, this suffered from cracked welds & had to be re-welded several times.
You pays your money & takes your choice.

Aye even trailer dealers cant get it right, I saw a new trailer with "Ashton marine services" stickers all over it in Largs recently (not a kick in the arse off his base so presumably set up by him) the swing cradles were so far apart that the main longditudinal members were bent over the axle like bananas & it wasn't even a big boat & trailer about 1000kgs.
Makes you wonder.

Sent from my SM-G950F using RIB Net mobile app

[beerbelly]

very impressed with my de graaf trailer iv only ever had indespension trailers before and this is much better

[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

[Orwell boy]

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

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