Overland Trailer - Sankey Based

It's looking very tidy....keep the photos comming.

Griff,

Thought you might be interested to know that www.mikeandcarolgoest.blogspot.com are leaving for Ukraine, Russia and Mongolia using a TAB caravan this Sunday. Not all the info on their website is accurate especially valid UK tax for Mongolia - not needed so not sure where they got that from. They got in touch and they were unaware of the paperwork requirements re: trailers and the like as per Bevhelee's experiences at Narva border. Thought you might be interested in seeing how they get on.

Hope plans are going well.

Cassie,

thanks for that, Link does not work.

Will keep an eye on it.

Going to 'make' a V5 for the trailer, should be good enough going by my experiences with documents in West Africa. We will see. We are going to head to a small border crossing in the far northwest of Kazakhstan. Fingers crossed.

G

we've got a 1 tonne rapier trailer that needs work if anyone wants to volenteer !!

Correct link: MikeandCarolgoEast: Home

G

Looks like caravan got into Russia without problem. Hope plans are going well G. Just checked out your website - only 6 months to go!!!

Cassie said:

Looks like caravan got into Russia without problem. Hope plans are going well G. Just checked out your website - only 6 months to go!!!

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Hi Cassie

Yes, not long I did send them a question/email but not had an answer.

We have now changed our route slightly and will be heading straight to Nordkapp in late January the plan is to come back down Finland and drop into St Petersburg so that will be the 1st test if we can/cannot get in. At least at that stage it wont be a problem. I plan to copy my V5 and change the details for the trailer. I will keep that card in my back pocket. I will probably have to do the same for the ICMV. Did you guys get an ICMV for your trip?

Hope your all well & good luck with your vehicle sale.

G

Ok been quite busy for the last couple of weeks working on the water tank and sink unit.

Installed a low, flat 50L tank which is operated by a Flojet on demand pump. I have a 600mm sliding sink unit installed with 2 taps. 1 is unfiltered and the other filtered by a Nature Pure filter. The tank has an external filler and external drain tap to get water without opening up the trailer.

In the same compartment I have housed the battery and some extra space for storage. I have linked up the water pump and LED lights to a light switch depressed by the door.

doors have been finished with rock climbing holds instead of handles cheaper...



G

So not a huge amount has happened on my trailer recently, but we have sprayed it Epsom Green

I also decided not to do a sliding rear drawer in the back and instead have cargo lashing rails which seem to work really well.

We leave the UK around the 25th January and I still need to sort out the kitchen area, wire in stuff to the RTT, wire in the charge circuit and service the brakes/bearings/shocks.

looking good griff.

Be sure to let us know where your blog is before you disappear. Also when you get to South america i can give you some nice bars/restaurants and a few places to visit if you need.

BGB we are going to Siberia not the Americas! wrong way.

finished the final 2 lacquer coats off today, doors should be back on soon and its coming back together again slowly.

Our progress when we leave the UK on January 26th will be updated via Facebook predominantly and then through the blog on our website. Both are linked in my sig.

G

Griffdowg said:

BGB we are going to Siberia not the Americas! wrong way.

finished the final 2 lacquer coats off today, doors should be back on soon and its coming back together again slowly.

Our progress when we leave the UK on January 26th will be updated via Facebook predominantly and then through the blog on our website. Both are linked in my sig.

G

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You know what?! that does kinda make sense now! :doh: i noticed the FB page change to Russian.

Where did i get the south america thing from! anyway, ill be following along.

Trailer is looking good BTW.

BIG_GINGA_BEARD said:

You know what?! that does kinda make sense now! :doh: i noticed the FB page change to Russian.

Where did i get the south america thing from! anyway, ill be following along.

Trailer is looking good BTW.

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There are some friends of our there right now. I tend to cross post their pics to our page. They are driving a Mog.

Thanks

So there has been a bit of a gap between the respray and leaving on our overland trip!

Respray got done, everything got refitted. We welded some brackets for the Hannibal awning to go on the rack. Repainted the mud-shields and rear crossmember and fitted new door seals. I finally got around to hard wiring in the internal light for the RTT and putting in a 12v socket so we could run things in there like the heated blanket/laptop/charge phones etc.

Trailer has held up well with only a re-greasing of the brake damper needed. There is a lot of grit/salt in the locks and latches from driving through Scandinavia so it needs a wash and a re-lube. Hopefully everything will hold together for the rough roads to be encountered further east.

G

How has your planning of the trailer worked out, what would you change, if anything, and why?

Have you found it a necessity or more of a luxury? Has it caused any issues with, for instance, ferries, toll roads and the like?

Paul D said:

How has your planning of the trailer worked out, what would you change, if anything, and why?

Have you found it a necessity or more of a luxury? Has it caused any issues with, for instance, ferries, toll roads and the like?

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Plenty of questions Paul Trailer layout is fine, I am very happy with that. No problems yet, but it is early days.

Necessity for us as we are driving a 90. We had the whole debate over selling up for a 110/130 3-4 years ago, but having spent so much kitting out the 90 it kind of made sense to keep it. however...

It has caused issues. ferries are a little pricier, but you can sometimes blag 'small trailer' price like we did on the Norwegian fjord ferries. tolls not so much of a problem. Parking. Can be an issue in places. we just left Sarajevo for example and parking there was a nightmare. however, we knew it wouldn't be easy so left it in a campsite 10km from town and got the tram in for £3 return for 2 people! cheaper, more secure and I much prefer it.

U turns are a problem, but you soon get use to where you can turn around and what will cause issues.

Many times we have left the trailer with RTT and awning up in a campsite and just driven off in the 90. We took a remote road the other day to Lukomir in Bosnia, covered in snow. Glad we didn't take the trailer and by the same token, glad we were not in a 3.5 ton 110. the 90 made it through with no problems and we had a great day out. we were the 1st people to drive the road since August and met some very hospitable people.

So it remains to be seen what will happen when the roads turn to S%^T as so far its been mostly asphalt.

So overall it is a hindrance, but not as much as I thought and only in particular circumstances. Planning and thinking ahead is vital as reversing out can be tricky on mountain passes etc. and un-hitching is not always an option.

G

Nice one, thanks. Just thinking ahead for something possibly next year ..

maggiolinas are 20% if you look on ebay internationally - even with UK shipping from this italian dealer they are 600-900 quid cheaper than buying in UK (I know as I have a quote!).

jit07 said:

maggiolinas are 20% if you look on ebay internationally - even with UK shipping from this italian dealer they are 600-900 quid cheaper than buying in UK (I know as I have a quote!).

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what does that have to do with anything?

Griffdowg, how you getting on?!

I keep looking at sankeys on ebay, like you I want to keep the 90 now it's all kitted out.

Any good pictures of the sankey in action?