Frankenhealey
Club Retro Rides Member
And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death
Posts: 3,878
Club RR Member Number: 15
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Apr 26, 2022 21:11:58 GMT
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 When you've got three trailers and a 50's tractor with no lights half your life when you need to move stuff is playing with trailer boards. Duff bulbs, bad connections, frayed wires, broken lenses, you name it. Moving a few sheep or the car trailer becomes a major enterprise. Not with these babies! No cables, Bluetooth, 10 hours life and way brighter than any incandescent bulb. Just plug in the sender to the 7-pin socket, turn on the light units and magnetically clamp them to the trailer/tractor. Seeeemples  |
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Tales of the Volcano Lair hereFrankenBug - Vulcan Power hereThe Frankenhealey here |
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I wish they'd been a bit more affordable when I was a recovery driver. Trailer boards were a complete PITA
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Frankenhealey
Club Retro Rides Member
And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death
Posts: 3,878
Club RR Member Number: 15
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I wish they'd been a bit more affordable when I was a recovery driver. Trailer boards were a complete PITA A 'Genuine' Sparex set like mine are around £75 but there are knockoff sets on Fleabay for around £35. It's just a no-brainer at that price. |
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Tales of the Volcano Lair hereFrankenBug - Vulcan Power hereThe Frankenhealey here |
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I wish they'd been a bit more affordable when I was a recovery driver. Trailer boards were a complete PITA A 'Genuine' Sparex set like mine are around £75 but there are knockoff sets on Fleabay for around £35. It's just a no-brainer at that price. They were a lot more than that when I first saw them about ten years ago. Even at £75 they're only slightly more than a decent board and long cable. As you say, a no-brainer |
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brachunky
Scotland
Posts: 1,329 
Club RR Member Number: 72
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Apr 27, 2022 17:32:50 GMT
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Well I don't as yet own one of these but since seeing a video of them in use some years ago, I do fancy one! Identifying strange noises on older cars is something of a skill so although it may lie in cupboard a lot, I think it may be pretty useful when needed. I'd be interested if anyone has used one of these cheaper types of detectors/monitors.  |
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Apr 27, 2022 18:58:17 GMT
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Fraud owners club member
2003 W211 Mercedes E class
1989 Sierra sapphire
1998 ex bt fiesta van
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Apr 27, 2022 20:57:34 GMT
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I should have bought a lathe years earlier than I did.
The hydraulic press is a tool I don't use often, but saves so much time and effort it pays for itself over and over.
One angle grinder is a good start. But if you're serious, you'll have more.
Inspection cameras are now so cheap(under £10 if you plug it into your phone) it's daft not to have one.
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mrbig
Part of things
Semi-professional Procrastinator
Posts: 493
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Apr 27, 2022 21:02:47 GMT
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When you've got three trailers and a 50's tractor with no lights half your life when you need to move stuff is playing with trailer boards. Duff bulbs, bad connections, frayed wires, broken lenses, you name it. Moving a few sheep or the car trailer becomes a major enterprise. Not with these babies! No cables, Bluetooth, 10 hours life and way brighter than any incandescent bulb. Just plug in the sender to the 7-pin socket, turn on the light units and magnetically clamp them to the trailer/tractor. Seeeemples Those are cool! Assume they run on a battery? We just need someone to invent a 'transmitter' unit now that sits on the car light clusters, 'reads' what light is on and sends the signal to the trailer lights. Would save me £400 getting towbar wiring fitted to my car! |
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1969 German Look Beetle - in progress
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Apr 28, 2022 17:06:15 GMT
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a ratchet brake piston tool, got fed up if faffing with G Clamps over the years, for £6 this tool does the job amazingly well.  |
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Rich
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,303
Club RR Member Number: 160
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Apr 28, 2022 17:08:18 GMT
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When you've got three trailers and a 50's tractor with no lights half your life when you need to move stuff is playing with trailer boards. Duff bulbs, bad connections, frayed wires, broken lenses, you name it. Moving a few sheep or the car trailer becomes a major enterprise. Not with these babies! No cables, Bluetooth, 10 hours life and way brighter than any incandescent bulb. Just plug in the sender to the 7-pin socket, turn on the light units and magnetically clamp them to the trailer/tractor. Seeeemples Those are cool! Assume they run on a battery? We just need someone to invent a 'transmitter' unit now that sits on the car light clusters, 'reads' what light is on and sends the signal to the trailer lights. Would save me £400 getting towbar wiring fitted to my car! Who In gods name is charging you £400 for wiring a trailer socket? I assume it’s modern, you just need a CANBUS bypass module. They are actually worth fitting to any towbar install in truth as is unloads the original wiring on the car. |
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,243
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Apr 28, 2022 18:26:44 GMT
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Battery powered tools.
Bit of an investment to get set up but totally worth it. Less cables to accidentally kneel on/trip over, and battery life is such that you have to take breaks at sensible periods (I usually get about 2-3 hours work out of the grinder before it needs a fresh battery) so you actually remember to get up and move about, hydrate, etc. You also can't accidentally damaged/cut through the power cable, and it's way easier to just scoot everything into the dry if rain suddenly appears mid-job. I was actually surprised how much easier they are to live with and how much smoother a job can end up being simply because the tools aren't in my way while I'm working.
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mrbig
Part of things
Semi-professional Procrastinator
Posts: 493
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Apr 28, 2022 21:03:09 GMT
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Those are cool! Assume they run on a battery? We just need someone to invent a 'transmitter' unit now that sits on the car light clusters, 'reads' what light is on and sends the signal to the trailer lights. Would save me £400 getting towbar wiring fitted to my car! Who In gods name is charging you £400 for wiring a trailer socket? I assume it’s modern, you just need a CANBUS bypass module. They are actually worth fitting to any towbar install in truth as is unloads the original wiring on the car. £600 supplied and fitted (although that is for a removable bar) and the towbar itself is about £150 only. You're right its modern and needs CANBUS wiring running up the entire length of the car and splicing in under the dash. I'm happy to bolt on a towbar myself, but messing with CANBUS electrics is a little out of my comfort zone. |
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1969 German Look Beetle - in progress
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Rich
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,303
Club RR Member Number: 160
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Apr 28, 2022 21:46:26 GMT
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Who In gods name is charging you £400 for wiring a trailer socket? I assume it’s modern, you just need a CANBUS bypass module. They are actually worth fitting to any towbar install in truth as is unloads the original wiring on the car. £600 supplied and fitted (although that is for a removable bar) and the towbar itself is about £150 only. You're right its modern and needs CANBUS wiring running up the entire length of the car and splicing in under the dash. I'm happy to bolt on a towbar myself, but messing with CANBUS electrics is a little out of my comfort zone. Why does it need to go under the dash? The only wire a CANBUS bypass needs that could possibly come from the front of the vehicle is the permanent 12V feed it requires. Otherwise it connects to the tail light wiring the same as any towbar system except rather than the vehicle light loom powering the trailer lights directly the CANBUS bypass uses a set of microprocessor controlled relays to power the trailer lights from aforementioned 12V feed so there is negligible additional draw on the vehicle wiring. It’s really not a complicated system. Anyway, off topic. Sorry! |
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Last Edit: Apr 28, 2022 21:47:18 GMT by Rich
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mrbig
Part of things
Semi-professional Procrastinator
Posts: 493
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Why does it need to go under the dash? The only wire a CANBUS bypass needs that could possibly come from the front of the vehicle is the permanent 12V feed it requires. Otherwise it connects to the tail light wiring the same as any towbar system except rather than the vehicle light loom powering the trailer lights directly the CANBUS bypass uses a set of microprocessor controlled relays to power the trailer lights from aforementioned 12V feed so there is negligible additional draw on the vehicle wiring. It’s really not a complicated system. Anyway, off topic. Sorry! Apparently to shut down the parking sensors when a trailer is a attached and more importantly to 'tell' the car it has a trailer attached to change traction control and ABS parameters. Anyway, yes, off topic. Sorry!! |
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1969 German Look Beetle - in progress
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VIP
South East
Posts: 8,293
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When you've got three trailers and a 50's tractor with no lights half your life when you need to move stuff is playing with trailer boards. Duff bulbs, bad connections, frayed wires, broken lenses, you name it. Moving a few sheep or the car trailer becomes a major enterprise. Not with these babies! No cables, Bluetooth, 10 hours life and way brighter than any incandescent bulb. Just plug in the sender to the 7-pin socket, turn on the light units and magnetically clamp them to the trailer/tractor. Seeeemples Those are cool! Assume they run on a battery? We just need someone to invent a 'transmitter' unit now that sits on the car light clusters, 'reads' what light is on and sends the signal to the trailer lights. Would save me £400 getting towbar wiring fitted to my car! There was exactly this on an episode of Tomorrow's World back in the 80s. Some chap had invented a standalone set of trailer/towing lamps that had light sensors which suckered on to the tow car's own lamps and used that as a signal to illuminate the relevant lamp(s) on the towing board. |
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skinnylew
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 5,620
Club RR Member Number: 11
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Apr 29, 2022 16:51:38 GMT
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Never seen them before, what a great little thing. Not sure i could use them on either my Citroen Ax or Mondeo estate as both have plastic boot lids!!
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Apr 29, 2022 17:18:14 GMT
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Apr 29, 2022 19:56:40 GMT
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Never seen them before, what a great little thing. Not sure i could use them on either my Citroen Ax or Mondeo estate as both have plastic boot lids!! Same, I had to ratchet strap my recovery lights onto my Honda Insight as it’s all aluminum |
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Apr 29, 2022 20:56:01 GMT
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Never seen them before, what a great little thing. Not sure i could use them on either my Citroen Ax or Mondeo estate as both have plastic boot lids!! Same, I had to ratchet strap my recovery lights onto my Honda Insight as it’s all aluminum [br Just carry two thin sheets of steel around with you (4 inch x 4 inch) for the next 30 yrs in case you break down. 🤣 |
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Ax GTi Turbo
