Q Last year in my specification for
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5-ton tipping vehicles I asked for seven-pin trailer sockets to be mounted at the rear of the vehicles. These were to be the current British standard.
expected the sockets to be like the caravan type with the wiring arranged according to the international code.
The vehicles were, however, fitted with NIPHAN N21480/517 SMMT EE4L plugs and sockets and I am told this is the British standard for hgv. The trailer manufacturers seem to stick to the caravan type.
Could you say what the standards are because I want to equip the vehkles so that all vehicles and trailers can be interchanged?
A There seems to be no rigid rule about
which standard applies to any category of vehicle, but companies producing hgv and semi-trailers for this category of vehicle adhere to the SMMT standard for trailer sockets; companies making the smaller trailers, and trailers likely to be pulled by vehicles such as Land-Rovers, private cars and small vans keep to caravan-type sockets with the wiring arranged to the international standard. This would explain the sockets fitted to your vehicles.
Your trailer manufacturer should be able to fit the SMMT type socket, but it s more expensive than the caravan type.