Am trying to convince hubs that our next camping related purchase needs to be a trailer, rather than squeezing everything into our tiny Astra like we're auditioning for the krypton factor.
Does anyone have any suggestions? We won't need anything massive, just enough to take our tent and probably the air beds, sleeping bags, that sort of stuff
Everything depends on your budget!
Always afford the largest trailer you can manage within your budget.
No matter how large ... you will, eventually, want/need a bigger one.
Also, make sure your car is OK to tow it! Use this site to give you a reading on compatibility.
Choose the trailer tent selection in the caravan drop down box ... and the second choice for a normal car towing a 400 kg trailer. You can increase the towed weight in the detialed section after the trailer choice, so's to get a pretty good answer. A 1.4 Astra comes out OK towing 400kg ... but you can input your specific model and get a more accurate result.
I think the usual unbaked limit is 750 kg ... not that I'd want to tow that much unless I had a pretty hefty towing vehicle.
And, yes, I think what tow car site does assume all outfits are braked ... however, I think that at the lower end e.g. 300 to 400 kg unloaded, there's probably not a lot of difference.
I've written to them asking why they don't include a section for unbaked trailers, seeing as so many go camping.
I'm not holding my breath!
Yep, 750kg is UK limit for un-braked Trailer, for French registered vehicles the limit is just 500kg!
My Trailer when fully loaded with the camping kit comes to just 550kg, although the VW Golf Mk7 that I will be driving in July has a max of 630kg, which leave just 80kg to play with.
Even the current Mk6 Golf I drive has a max of 650kg, but you would not know that it is towing a Trailer, cruising at 81mph is a breeze.
Good that you have asked them to include un-braked, it would be usefull info for many folk.
The max UK limit for unbraked trailer is 750kg gross weight or half the kerbweight of car whichever is less. This is why smaller cars have max unbraked tow weights of less than 750kg. It does not matter if trailer max allowable gross weight is 750kg provided the actual loaded gross weight does not exceed the car's max unbraked tow weight.
Good point Billy, and for those with a lot of camping kit, say 500kg it is probably best to go for a braked Trailer.
When we go for our 3 week holiday to France each July, I remove the rear seating from the car, as we put around 200kg of kit in the car, and around 340kg of kit in the Trailer, so with 540kg of kit in total, if it was all to go in the Trailer, I would definitely need a braked Trailer.
Thankfully being just the two of us, it's not an issue, but you do see plenty of cars full of family, towing an obviously over loaded un-braked Trailer.
I bought an almost new Caddy 535 with extended sides which doubles the size of the trailer.
Complete with new spare wheel/tyre and a new cover, all for £300 a couple of years ago from my local Gumtree.
Ebay usually has lots of used trailers as well.
------------- It is a wise man who has something to say.
It is a fool who has to say something.
Yes the bigger the better we had a 4x3 and this was good until we started to get more gear together , now I have a 6x5 which is plenty big enough for the future
Sorry to hijack your post but what's the best paint to use for wood on trailers, I'm worried about it transferring onto camping gear
thanks
lee
Bearing in mind that you currently manage with just your car, some of the above suggestions seem a bit over the top.
Don't forget that you'll have to find room for it when not in use, which will be most of the time!
My 3ft x 4ft is plenty big and heavy enough and doesn't need brakes. It's an Erde from Halfords and is zinc coated steel. It has sat outside in the weather for probably 15-20yrs now and still looks good. I did buy the PVC cover which fits well and I can store equipment in it without it getting wet.
It gets used for other things besides camping. Logs, garden waste, washing machines, etc, etc. I have made some extra height panels which simply sit inside it to enable bulky but light stuff, like garden waste cuttings, to be carried.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Trailers
