Yes, all trailers including low volume concessional approvals require the drawbars and safety chain attachment points to be tested by a ROVER certified testing facility. Drawbars may be tested physically or by approved calculations, however safety chain attachment points must be physically tested.

Physical testing is cheaper and more accurate than FEA, so a lighter design is more likely to pass testing. FEA requires some assumptions to be made and a larger safety factor. However, FEA can be done before the trailer is built, and does not require a physical sample drawbar to be provided, although it does require a suitable 3D CAD model.

Absolutely, if the same drawbar or the same safety chain attachment point design is used on multiple different trailers then one certification can be shared between them, as long as the test capacity exceeds the ATM of the trailer.

For physical testing we require a sample drawbar to be provided to our facility in Ballarat, Victoria. This should be a complete drawbar, attached to a small sample chassis. Safety chain attachment points are usually provided as part of a drawbar, however if only the safety chain attachment point testing is required we only need the nose of the drawbar. For FEA based testing we require an accurate 3D CAD model, or we can model your drawbar for an additional charge.