The new u-bolts for the trailer arrived late yesterday afternoon, and since I have a day off today, it's time to get the trailer done as the weather is looking very good for a haul-out tomorrow.

The first order of business was to replace all the existing, damaged and missing u-bolts on the cross beams. The new u-bolts come with self-locking nuts which is an improvement since most of the old u-bolts used double nuts to lock.

The new u-bolts are a bit longer than the old ones, however, I'm not going to cut these down as I may add an additional locking nut if it looks as though the self-locking nuts work loose. They should not do this, but tests have shown that after much vibration, they can still come loose.

Next up was to fit the new, additional centre bar under the existing one. I had some old plates that were just wide enough to use and I cut some spacers to go between the old and new centre beams to act as spacers as the new bar doesn't fit snug against the old bar, but rests on the existing u-bolts.

I had to fabricate a new fixing assembly to attach the new centre bar to the axle bars. This has to be fairly sturdy and I think I achieved that.

Finally, the trailer was hitched up to the minibus, the guides and trailer board put in place and the lights checked ready for the off tomorrow.

Definitely time for a cup of tea.