Converting a 60 series wagon into a trailer ? Legally whats required ?

Google 'trailer ADR ' & you can download the Vehicle Standards Bulletin VSB1 & all your questions will be answered.

Get On - You'd be hard-pressed to find an old HJ60 wagon that wasn't seriously rusted out in the body, wouldn't you?
Pity you never brought this up earlier. Old Joe, my mechanic neighbour scrapped a HZJ80 wagon that had a perfectly good body, just last month. It would have been ideal as a trailer.

Cheers - Ron.

G'day
Get the ADR for trailers and make sure everything complies. We have done this with a troopy, makes a great campa. No trouble passing licencing inspection.
Cheers Mac

If you do go ahead with this then notching the rails and moving them in will work providing it is acceptable to the registration authorities. I did it a few years ago on a Hilux chassis but prior to welding it I did a few test pieces using steel cut from the front of the chassis. I set up two chamfered pieces in a vice and experimented with a MIG to get the weld penetrating right through while welding in the vertical up position. When I was finally satisfied, I ground the excess metal off both sides then bent it 180 degrees right along the weld and hammered it flat. The steel did not crack and the weld did not let go. As an extra precaution I bent a piece of cold drawn welded tube to the shape of the rails then cut it in two along its length and stitch welded each piece under the notches as a tension strip.

yeah plenty of Holden, Mini, Escort etc pannos now being used as trailers.. and maybe even a few Hiluxes :)

Cruiser chassi may be heavy - might be worth looking at a new one

As mentioned, VSB1 has - and is! - everything

I'll be following this post closely as I've often thought about doing the same thing.
Saw an SS LXTorana hatchback once with a cut down SS LXTorana hatchback as a trailer complete with Hatch Hutch. It looked awesome.

Personally, I think the biggest issue is stripping weight out of it. I hope I'm wrong.

Anyway...good luck and keep us posted.

Fab.

Um yeh VSB1 wont tell you everything.

years go ther was a lot of this went on, ute chop trailers where reasonably common.

My broinlaw had a ford pilot ute chop trailer, the local buss operator had a chevy pick up ute chop trailer

One big thing is the weight.......by the time you get the body and the chaisis, it will be heaps heavier than a well designed from the ground up trailer....both the above trailers where heavy as

then there is the ballance thing......the utes are general better distributed arround the rear axle......station waggons tend to have the axle more toward the rear of the body.

Chopping the body is pretty straight forward cut and shut exercise...one thaught if I havent already put you off is to cut and shut the rear of another body onto the front....doors front and rear.

As for the chasis.......the best option is to cut the chasis neard the front cut point and close the ends across with some channel and fit the drawbar in the usual manner.

As mentioned using an axle with adiff in it is very much frowned upon.

Remember you need to be able to justify the engineering.....load capacity of the springs in particular

Seriouilsy the only reason you would do it is because you want the look.

cheers

If I was going to do something like that I think I'd use a Mitsubishi Express or a Hiace or similar, preferably withOUT glass as it's very heavy.

The above I Ton vans would be favourably well balanced over the axle, have a flat floor (other than the wheel arches), and be not much wider (if at all) than the 60.

Good Luck,

Peter

Um the vans are even worse tha the stationwaggons....generally L300 have the rear wheels quite close to the rear of the body and hiaces are very similar.

I don't thing there is much to be gained in replacing the chasis....the majority of the excess weight in the the bodywork..remember trailers don't requre any impact stength or roll over capacity...but paseenger cars do

there would also be big advantages in using the existing chasis because of the sprining arangements because they would be far better than cheapo trailer industry crap.

If ya want an L300 body..I got one you can have.

BTW none of this needs "engineering" most of this stuff could be salf assessed and straight forward examination by a chair pollishing clerical type.

cheers