vsb1:
THE VSB1 IS THE BUILDING SMALL TRAILERS GUIDE AND CONTAINS INFORMATION ABOUT REQUIREMENTS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION &
LICENSING OF SMALL TRAILERS. LIGHTING, REFLECTOR, MUDGUARD & SUSPENSION POSITIONING REQUIREMENTS CAN BE FOUND IN
THE VSB1.
VSB1 REVISION 6 PDF
VIN OR CHASSIS NUMBER:
VEHICLE IDENTIFICATION NUMBER ( USUALLY 17 DIGITS ) OR A CHASSIS NUMBER MUST BE STAMPED INTO THE DRAWBAR AS PER
THE VSB1. TRAILERS BUILT PRIOR TO 1989 MAY NOT HAVE A VIN OR CHASSIS NUMBER AND TRAILERS BUILT PRIOR TO 1991 MAY NOT HAVE A MANUFACTURERS PLATE.
FOR TRAILERS YOU HAVE BUILT THIS YEAR YOU WILL NEED TO create a rover account and then apply for either a "concessional rav entry" for 4 or less trailers per year, or "type approval" for more than 4 a year.
rover page & guides. rover portal
HITCH & CHAIN:
HITCH:
THE HITCH OR COUPLING MUST HAVE THE APPROPRIATE MARKINGS AS PER VSB1 ie: CAPACITY IN KG or LBS
IF THE TRAILER WAS MANUFACTURED PRIOR TO 1989
CHAIN:
THE CHAIN FOR ALL TRAILERS BUILT FROM MAY 2007 ONWARDS MUST BE MARKED AS TRAILER CHAIN ie: 4177-?? 4177 DENOTES
TRAILER CHAIN. THE LAST 2 DIGITS DENOTE THE CAPACITY. IF THE CHAIN IS 10MM IT SHOULD HAVE A STAMP ON A MINIMUM
OF EVERY 4TH LINK OF "4177-25" THIS IS A TRAILER CHAIN WITH A CAPACITY OF 2500KG. DIFFERENT SIZES OF CHAIN HAVE
DIFFERING CAPACITY SO BE SURE TO USE THE CHAIN EQUAL TO OR EXCEEDING THE CAPACITY YOU ARE BUILDING THE TRAILER
TO. AND BE PERMANENTLY AFFIXED TO THE TRAILER BY WELDING A MINIMUM OF 50% OF THE LINK CIRCUMFERENCE WITH THE
NEXT LINK FREE TO MOVE. THE LINK WELDED TO THE DRAW BAR MUST NOT BE ABLE TO CONTACT THE GROUND. ONLY ONE CHAIN
IS REQUIRED. FROM 1989 TO 2007 THE CHAIN CAN BE MILD STEEL AND ONLY 1 IS REQUIRED. PRIOR TO 1989 MILD STEEL
CHAIN CAN BE USED BUT 2 ARE REQUIRED.
TYRES:
TYRES MUST HAVE THE MINIMUM TREAD DEPTH AS PER THE VSB1.
TYRES MUST HAVE A LOAD RATING SO WHEN ADDED TOGETHER THEY EQUAL OR EXCEED THE TOTAL CAPACITY OF THE TRAILER.
EXAMPLE:: SINGLE AXLE TRAILER WITH AN AGGREGATE OF 750KG MUST HAVE A MINIMUM TYRE LOAD RATING OF 375KG PER TYRE.
MUDGUARDS / MUDFLAPS:
MUDGUARDS MUST COVER THE TREAD WIDTH AND THE MUD FLAP MUST HANG TO SLIGHTLY BELOW THE CENTRE OF THE WHEEL. THIS
A GENERAL GUIDE. THE VSB1 SHOWS THE FORMULA FOR MUD FLAPS.
MANUFACTURERS PLATE:
FOR NEW TRAILERS A MANUFACTURERS PLATE WITH ALL RELEVANT DETAILS MUST BE ATTACHED TO THE TRAILER. MANUFACTURERS
PLATE AND ENGRAVING IS AVAILABLE ON SITE. SOME TRAILERS MAY NOT HAVE A MANUFACTURERS PLATE FITTED. THIS MAY BE
DUE TO THE PLATE FALLING OFF, NOT REATTACHED AFTER A REPAIR OR THE TRAILER MAY HAVE BEEN BUILT PRIOR TO A
MANUFACTURERS PLATE FITMENT BEING A REQUIREMENT. IF YOUR TRAILER DOES NOT HAVE A MANUFACTURERS PLATE YOU ARE NOT
REQUIRED TO FIT ONE, AS ONLY THE MANUFACTURER OF THE TRAILER CAN DO SO. DURING THE INSPECTION A SEARCH IS
CONDUCTED OF THE TRAILER FOR THE MANUFACTURERS PLATE AND THE VIN OR CHASSIS NUMBER STAMP. THE VIN OR CHASSIS
NUMBER WILL BE USED TO IDENTIFY THE TRAILER. IF NO IDENTIFICATION CAN BE FOUND WE WILL APPLY FOR A NUMBER ON
YOUR BEHALF AND STAMP THE NUMBER INTO THE DRAW BAR. WE ARE ABLE TO APPLY FOR VIN OR CHASSIS NUMBERS FOR THE YEAR
YOU THINK THE TRAILER WAS MANUFACTURED IN.
LIGHTS & reflectors:
VSB1 SHOWS DIAGRAMS AND MEASUREMENTS FOR THE PLACEMENT OF LIGHTS. AS A GENERAL RULE MOST TRAILERS ONLY REQUIRE
LIGHTS AT THE REAR UNLESS IT IS WIDER THAN 1800mm OR OVER 4000mm LONG. IF YOUR TRAILER IS LONGER THAN 4 MTR,S
AND WIDER THAN 1.6 MTR,S THEN REFER TO THE VSB1. ALSO IF THE TRAILER IS WIDER THAN 1.8 MTR,S OR OVER 2.1 MTR,S
YOU WILL NEED TO CHECK THE VSB1 FOR LIGHTING LOCATIONS AND COLOURS, AS DIFFERING LENGTHS & WIDTHS WILL HAVE
DIFFERENT PLACEMENT & LOCATIONS.
reflectors are also required, the locations can be found in the vsb1.
BRAKES:
ANY TRAILER WITH AN AGGREGATE OF 750KG OR LESS DOES NOT REQUIRE BRAKES. TRAILERS OVER 750KG BUT NOT MORE THAN
2000KG GTM REQUIRE BRAKES. OVERIDE HYDRAULIC, MECHANICAL OR ELECTRIC BRAKES ARE SUITABLE UP TO 2000KG GTM. FOR
TRAILERS OVER 2000 KG GTM BUT NOT EXCEEDING 4500KG ATM, A BREAK A WAY BRAKE SYSTEM IS REQUIRED. THIS IS USUALLY
AN ELECTRIC SYSTEM WITH A CONTROL UNIT FITTED IN THE TOWING VEHICLE AND BREAK A WAY UNIT FITTED TO THE TRAILER.
SPRINGS:
SUSPENSION MUST BE RATED EQUAL TO OR EXCEED THE TRAILER CAPACITY. ie: A PAIR OF SPRINGS RATED TO 500KG EACH
WOULD EQUATE TO 1000KG TOTAL AGGREGATE TRAILER MASS. THERE MUST BE NO EXCESSIVE FREE PLAY IN THE BUSH'S & PIN'S.
HUBS:
HUBS MUST SPIN SMOOTH & SILENT WITH NO EXCESSIVE FREE PLAY.