For more than a quarter of a century, Sydney's Sloanebuilt Trailers has been earning a reputation for industry-leading innovations. The latest groundbreaking product from the Sloanebuilt stables is the Low Rider series of three and four axle dogs.
Sloanebuilt's engineers have lowered the centre of gravity on the dogs by an impressive 40 mm, with the dog now sitting on the outside of the chassis. This lower, wider stance - boosted by a stronger beam inserted over the main chassis runners - improves stability by allowing the dog to achieve a better tracking behind the truck.
"The idea is a proactive move on our behalf. Rather than always reacting to our customers, its something that we came up with ourselves, to keep our product range a cut above the rest," says James Cranfield, Sloanebuilt's Sales Manager. "It's a natural evolution, in many ways. Our older models of dogs are renowned for being strong and durable and having a lot of integrity in their designs, but we're always looking for that cutting edge, staying one step ahead of everyone."
Aimed at quarry applications, Sloanebuilt is offering its customers the trailers in a choice of three or four axle configurations. The three axle dog (48 T GVM) is better suited to operators who do a lot of city driving and need good maneuverability; whilst the four axle (50 T GVM) suits those doing longer runs, with the extra axle offering ease of loading and that little bit extra level of support. Both versions provide a 33 T payload.
Sloanebuilt trailers are renowned for their quality finish, an attribute that can be traced to the company's used of American Brite Plate.
"We've always used the American Brite, it just seems to suit what we do very well. It's actually only just been made available again here in Australia, which is why we chose it for the low rider series. American Brite has a nice mirror finish and just looks very good compared to other aluminium that is available on the market," James says.
"We of course use aluminium for the trailers because of the weight savings it offers, but we're also making these units available in Bisalloy. We're actually seeing a take up of around 30 percent for the Bisalloy units. Some people just prefer the extra strength, depending on the application they're running."
To ensure this strength links up with the extra stability provided by the lower centre of gravity, Sloanebuilt relies on the Solid Works 3D design program. Indeed, much of the testing of the low rider series was carried out on solid works prior to the trailers even reaching the build stage, to the point where almost everything Sloanebuilt needed to know was determined by a computer.
Test analysis identified potential stress points and any required adjustments were made by Sloanebuilt's engineers. Figures revealing the likes of weight distribution and the spread on the axles were all included, meaning that everything was virtually tried and tested before the dogs hit the road.
James explains that the main problem Sloanebuilt has to overcome was finding the engineering time to actually do the work.
"We had to allocate so many hours for the boys, aside from the regular workload, to come up with the design for this unit. It took about a solid month of engineering work in all to build it."
With few people in the industry beginning to voice concerns about the state of the economy, James is pleasantly bucking the trend by being quietly confident of the potential of the Sloanebuilt product. The low rider series, he believes, represents the next wave of Sloanebuilt gear that will further boost the company's reputation in the Australian marketplace.
"We're very busy at the moment, we haven't noticed any slowdown at all thankfully. Especially with the grain season still going, we've still got a good mix of orders coming through. The low ride series is going to help keep Sloanebuilt right at the forefront of the industry. Our engineers are always looking at ways of improving our current range, as well as coming up with new ideas, which makes it so much easier for us."
