Trailer FAQ

As a general rule, a trailer rated up to 750 kg gross vehicle mass may be towed without its own braking system, and anything above 750 kg GVM is fitted with brakes. Every trailer we build above 750 kg carries a braked axle and an overrun coupler as standard. Confirm the current requirement for your combination with your licensing office before you buy.

A non-braked trailer relies entirely on the tow vehicle to stop the combination. A braked trailer has its own brakes on the axle, actuated by an overrun coupler that senses the trailer pushing against the tow bar under deceleration. Non-braked suits loads up to 750 kg. Braked is what you want the moment the trailer is regularly loaded near its rating, or you tow on passes and gravel.

GVM is the gross vehicle mass, the maximum the trailer may legally weigh fully loaded. Tare is the unladen mass of the empty trailer. Payload is GVM minus tare, which is what you may actually put on the deck. A 1,500 kg GVM trailer with a 400 kg tare carries 1,100 kg of load, not 1,500 kg.

A Code B licence generally covers a light motor vehicle towing a trailer up to 750 kg GVM. Heavier trailers move the combination into a code that requires an EB or higher licence. The exact threshold depends on the tow vehicle as well as the trailer, so check your own licence code and your vehicle registration papers before you commit to a size.

Your tow rating comes from the vehicle manufacturer, not from the trailer. Look for the braked and unbraked towing capacity in the owner handbook, and for the tow bar rating on the bar itself. Both numbers apply. Send us the make, model and year with your enquiry and we will match a trailer to whichever number is lower.

A trailer is registered and licensed in its own right, and a roadworthy certificate is part of getting it onto the road and onto a licence disc. We prepare every trailer for that process, including the lighting, chevron board, reflectors and reflective tape that an examiner looks for.

Registration happens in the buyer's name at a licensing office and needs your identity document and proof of address, so it is not something we can complete on your behalf. We supply the paperwork the licensing office asks for from the seller side.

Four-in-one combination rear lighting covering brake, tail, indicator and number plate, a standard seven-pin trailer plug, red front and white rear mudguard reflectors, a 1150 mm rear chevron board, and 50 mm yellow reflective tape running along roughly 70 percent of both sides.

The 3.0 metre deck at 1.5 metres wide is the size we are asked for most often, because it swallows building rubble, garden refuse, furniture and small machinery while still reversing into a normal driveway. Go to 4.0 metres when the load is long rather than heavy, and add a second axle when it is heavy rather than long.

A single axle is lighter, cheaper and easier to manoeuvre by hand. A double axle spreads the load across four wheels, tows more steadily at speed, and keeps going if one tyre lets go. Above roughly 1,500 kg GVM, a double axle stops being a preference and becomes the sensible engineering answer.

Mild steel is the cost-effective workhorse for diesel. 3CR12 stainless resists corrosion and is the choice where the liquid is water, milk or anything food grade. Double-layer polyurethane will not rust at all, shrugs off UV and impact, and is the lightest of the three, which matters when the tow vehicle is a light bakkie.

Yes. Tell us the load, the duty cycle and the tow vehicle and we engineer the chassis, tank or body around it. Custom work goes through the same drawing, cutting and welding process as a catalogue unit.

Stock units are settled in full before the trailer leaves the works. Custom builds normally run on a deposit with the balance on completion. The exact split is confirmed in writing on your quote before anything is cut.

EFT and card are both accepted, and every price on this site includes VAT at 15 percent. A full tax invoice with our VAT number is issued on payment.

A trailer that is in stock is allocated the same day and dispatched as soon as payment reflects. A custom build is placed with the builder and you get a delivery date in writing with the quote. We do not quote a lead time we cannot hold.

Yes. The works is at 1 Dwars St, Hartswater, and you are welcome to inspect a unit before settling. If you are too far to travel we will send photographs of the actual trailer, not a catalogue picture.

Delivery is free anywhere in South Africa on any order over R20,000, using code TSA26 at checkout. Under R20,000, delivery is quoted per destination. Collection from Hartswater is free on any order, whatever the value.

It depends on the route and how far the destination is from the Northern Cape. We confirm a delivery window in writing when the order is placed rather than quoting an average that does not fit your town.

We quote into Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho, Eswatini and Zambia. Cross-border movements are quoted individually because the paperwork, the border post and any escort requirement affect the cost more than the distance does.

Expect to need the commercial invoice, proof of payment, the registration documents once the trailer is registered, and an export or customs declaration at the border. Requirements differ by country and change, so we confirm the current list with you before the trailer moves.

Yes. Couplers, jockey wheels, axles, bearings, lighting sets, spare wheels and covers are held at the Hartswater works and can be couriered to any town in the country.

We do. Bearings, brakes, couplers, lighting, chassis straightening and tank work are handled on any make from our workshop in Hartswater.

Check tyre pressures, lights and the coupling before every trip. Inspect and repack wheel bearings and check brake adjustment at least once a year, or every 10,000 km, whichever comes first. A trailer that spends its life on gravel wants that inspection more often, not less.

Cover applies to manufacturing defects in the chassis, welds and workmanship, carried by the builder and administered by us on your behalf. Wear items, overloading, accident damage and unauthorised modification are excluded. The full terms are set out on the warranty page.