Racing

2020 WBR Team Transporter

By April 16, 2020 September 11th, 2020 No Comments

THE BUILD

2020 WBR team transporter.

The current race transporter for WBR race team came about after Peter had just finished a trip home from a QLD round of racing, back to Victoria. While on the road for roughly 18 hours, he must have had too much time to think. Peter got home and said we need more horse power and a shower and toilet. From that moment all options were explored and we started to plan the next transporter for the team.

The countless hours of building, planning and working within our budget leaves us very pleased with the end result.

The prime mover is a MAN TGX8400 2012, with the sleeper cab converted and engineered to have a back seat, which makes the cab seating capacity 6 people. There is no need to sleep in the cab when on the road as the trailer has beds in it. The truck is a single drive which was sourced to keep on road costs down (cheaper to run and rego cost is less) but also has enough weight capacity to handle what we we need with the trailer fully loaded.

The trailer is a Peking trailer and was actually used for sprint cars before we purchased it. The appeal to the trailer for us was it was the correct size and dimensions to allow us to achieve 2 floors in the trailer.

The start of the build was to strip it all down. We started with modernising the trailer and fixing up the things it needed. New axles on Hendrickson air bag suspension, new brakes, wheels, wiring, floor, etc. From there we externally built boxes underneath, giving the trailer a better look and also creating more storage.

The trailer now features:

Kitchen – gas stove and hotplate with grill, a full size fridge that runs from 24v and 240v, full sink with hot and cold water, microwave and plenty of kitchen storage.

Bike storage – this is all done upstairs in the rear of the trailer, the bikes are loaded on the lift gate and taken upstairs. We can carry 9 full size bikes. Also housed upstairs are spare tyres, wheels and awning parts.

Work Shop – we have not built as big of a workshop as you see in many trailers this size, but we still have the essentials: vice, bench, compressed air and all tools needed. Generally the bikes are not rebuilt on the road and are done back at the shop.

Lounge – full size lounge couch, Smart TV, internet, diesel heating, table, stereo and split system air conditioner/heater.

Bathroom – full size shower, toilet and sink.

Bedrooms – upstairs towards the front of the trailer there are two bedrooms with double beds. These rooms have 12v power so you can charge phones, etc

Awning – when all setup there is a full awning from the side of the truck which is 13meters x 6meters in size. It can be fully enclosed and heated if needed.

Storage – room for all the things needed including fuel, parts, awning setup, tables and chairs.

 

Tail Gate lift -the trailer has a custom made tail gate lift that Peter designed and built. After doing some research and seeing what was available, the price for a tail gate lifter that can lift a car starts at around $45,000. After much thought Peter decided he could do it himself and do it better. It’s an incredible build that works perfectly and can handle lifting cars as well as the bikes. This works as the rear door of the trailer, but also the lift to upstairs.

How it all works – to power everything and make everything work, the trailer is fitted with electrical 24v, 12v and 240v wiring, gas for cooking and hot water service, diesel heater and x2 split systems for heating and cooling. The trailer has Solar to constantly charge the batteries. Everything in the trailer can be used on battery power without starting the generator, apart from the tailgate lift, microwave and some kitchen appliances (kettle, toaster, etc). When the generator is started, this also charges the batteries and the equipment then runs off the 240v.

Water – the trailer carries 2,200L of water that is used for the toilet, showers, sink and also for washing bikes.

The trailer has been built keeping in mind what it may end up doing in the future. As there is not a huge need for bike transporters of this size, it was built with the idea that x2 race cars could be loaded into the trailer, one upstairs and one downstairs. We currently have a small car we take to some rounds of races to do airport pickups or grocery runs. The car can fit down stairs when everything is still fully loaded with the bikes upstairs.

The whole build was done in house at Echuca Performance with Peter Whitten doing all the design and work to make it all come together. If you are after any custom work, contact Echuca Performance on (03)54 824 707.

FINISHED PRODUCT