My car, '98 BMW 318i Touring has a towing capacity (unbraked) of 640kg.
My interpretation is that the total weight I can therefore attach to the tow is 640kg, some of which will be the trailer weight, some the spare wheel, and some the luggage, tent, etc.
However... This page I stumbled upon (albeit under "braked trailers") says the max laden weight of the trailer shown on the trailer plate must not exceed my car's towing capacity. Is this correct? Might it also apply to unbraked trailers too?
On a similar note... How do you weigh a laden trailer? I know it's possible to buy nose weight gauges but other than popping the local dump £20 to use their weigh bridge what's out there to weigh a trailer?
There isn't any other way of weighing the trailer other than taking it to a weigh bridge. The weight of a caravan which is a braked trailer should be displayed on a plate usually below the door giving the MIRO (unladen weight) and the MTPLM (maximum laden weight). If you subtract the MIRO from the MTPLM it will give you the payload which is the total weight of the equipment allowance such as water barrels, waste containers, pots, pans, cutlery, wheel clamp, hitch lock and any other personal effects such as a barbecue and folding chairs etc.
The link is reference to self built trailers (to avoid cowboy builders) which do not carry any certificate or weight limits which are now required by law since October 2012.
The 640kg unbraked limit is for small trailer without brakes, you will able to be able to tow much heavier braked trailer or caravan which will have brakes. Look at your car manual or V5 should also tell you max braked towing weight, I'm guessing this will be well over a tonne but in any case it is safer for a braked trailer/caravan to exceed no more than about 85% of car kerbweight.
If you want to weigh a trailer take it to a weighbridge. If it is too busy to allow you to unhitch trailer on weighbridge then weigh car/trailer, leave trailer nearby & then weigh car. Some places will allow you to check weigh for no charge, ie no printed ticket.
Thank you. To be clear, this means this statement on the page does not apply to me? I can buy an unbraked trailer with a plate showing max weight of 750kg?
REMEMBER, the law does not care whether the trailer is empty or packed to the roof with bricks, what counts is the plated gross vehicle weight of the trailer.
I think we have established in an earlier thread that information is not correct. To cut a long story short it confuses licence law with construction&use regulations but suffice to say that provided the actual weight of the trailer & load on the road does not exceed 640kg then it will be legal behind your car.
If you want to know precisely what you can tow if the trailer is braked then look at the weight plates on the car. The two largest figures are the max train weight and the maximum gross weight. Neither of these should be exceeded. If you subtract the mgw from the mtw then you get a figure that your fully laden car will tow. Other things can come into it but that is a good basis.
------------- Bill
For a licence dated 1997 or later you must add together the plated max weight of the caravan and trailer, if the total is 3500 or less you can tow it. You may even tow a caravan with a MAM greater than the cars unladen mass the restriction was removed in 2013
Quote: Originally posted by tango55 on 26/4/2014
There isn't any other way of weighing the trailer other than taking it to a weigh bridge. The weight of a caravan which is a braked trailer should be displayed on a plate usually below the door giving the MIRO (unladen weight) and the MTPLM (maximum laden weight). If you subtract the MIRO from the MTPLM it will give you the payload which is the total weight of the equipment allowance such as water barrels, waste containers, pots, pans, cutlery, wheel clamp, hitch lock and any other personal effects such as a barbecue and folding chairs etc.
The link is reference to self built trailers (to avoid cowboy builders) which do not carry any certificate or weight limits which are now required by law since October 2012.
Not true, aftermarket kits are available to weigh trailers, but typically cost over £100, Riech make one, and others are available.
What tow car is Dutch so car weights may not be correct for UK spec models & weights for UK caravans can be wrong anyway. Anybody wishing to choose a caravan for their car or vice versa needs to check weights from vehicle & caravan manufacturer sources not rely on internet sites that might supply information that is incorrect & might not be relevant for UK.
However... This page I stumbled upon (albeit under "braked trailers") says the max laden weight of the trailer shown on the trailer plate must not exceed my car's towing capacity.
I looked on that site and it says no such thing !
------------- EX Advanced driving observer (IAM)
EX LGV & B+E instructor
Hi cx5man,
I do get a result from the What Tow Car site adjusting to your figures.
As you said ... the initial offered figures are not the same as those you have given ... but you can change them on the input info so that you will get a read out of a range of relevant number for your tow car/van.
I do accept that you may need to adjust both MRO and MTPLM for any rig ... but even if you don't, it's likely that you will get a reasonable indication as to whether your car/van combination is a 'go' or not.
Thanks for drawing my attention to this ... I'll make sure I pass on that info in future.
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Topic: Towing Weight...
