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 could anyone advice me on a few things what dose m.t.p.l.m mean and is my kerbwieght the same as my max towing wieght. and also my mro . my car is a 1.8 petrol  manual hyundi with a max towing wieght of 1300kg .and a nose wieght of 52 is there vans out there that would suit needs to be at lest 3/4 berth .I have deducted 15% of my max towing wieght and got 1105kg is this right .  many thanks for any help Dave

MTPLM is the maximum technical permissable laden mass. In other words the max that the caravan should be loaded to. Ideally you shouldn't tow any more than 85% of your cars kerb weight. Your cars max towing weight will not be the same as your kerbweight. This is usually higher, and is based on towing a braked trailor generally. Anything much higher than your 85% may make the car struggle. MRO, is mass running order, how much the van weighs without loading.

Hope this helps

Mandy

For cars......

Kerbweight  = Unladen weight of tow car

Max Tow weight = Max weight the car can move from a standing start up a set incline.

Max gross train weight (GTW) = maximum combined weight of car and trailer

Kerbweight and Max tow weight are NOT generally the same figure (well they could be by a coincidence) and are not the same concept

For trailers/caravans

MTPLM = maximum weight of trailer & contents

MIRO = Mass in running order, weight of trailer with a basic loadout (gas, battery etc)

ULM = unladen mass, weight of trailer empty.

If you passed your test after 1/1/97 the MTPLM of your trailer must not exceed the kerbweight of your tow car, and the MTGW must not exceed 3500kg (this rules out many large car/mpv/4x4 & caravan combinations.

To get a 4 berth van round the ideal weight you may find it advantageous to look for a much older van, 80s or early 90s, when caravans were much lighter than many modern ones I have a 3/4 berth sprite that has a max weight of 891kg, my girlfriends "luxury" 2 berth from the late 80s weighs in at 975kg max. Both mine and the girlfriends regular cars are 1.8 and I personally would not really want much more behind despite the fact techinically we can tow much more.

Hi Dave, Go on  www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/ and look for your exact model of car then you will be able to get the kerbweight and then work out your 85% limit correctly hope you find this helps.

Cheers

Russ

  thanks for all the advice i now have alot more idea of what im doing.