Quote: Originally posted by Slingerwoods on 09/3/2017
The tow limit of my car is 1400kg but I thought that if I needed to tow more than 750kg I would have to take the B+E test. is that wrong?
thats wrong.
if the combined max gross weights of your caravan and car are more than 3500kg you need to take B+E.
i dont know your car and caravan but my car is as follows,
mitsubishi outlander max gross weight (thats the weight of the car and its full payload, doesnt include the towing limit in my case)this is usually written on a plate inside the door.
Max Gross weight = 2450 (as i recall may be less)
my caravans MLPM (writen on the plate by the door) = 1600 kg
so the combined weight of both is 4050kg
i would be 550kg over the limit of my licence if i didnt have BE.
however it might be your car has a max GW of 2000kg in which case if you had a bailey ranger 550/6 like i used to have (1295kg MPLM) you could legally tow it without the B+E because the combined weight is 3295 so you are 205kg under the limit.
hope this helps you.
------------- First van bailey ranger 550/6
Now the proud owner of a coachman amara
Thanks very much. It turns out with a fully laden van and empty car I would have 132kg to play with. As soon as I add family and dog I'm well over that limit. Oh well, I had best keep that towing test booked for the end of the month. Its quite steep at £500 for a day and a half lessons and then test.
you cant look at it like that, the authorities look at both maximum rated capacities without regard for wheter you are fully laden or not. this means you have to refer to you cars max gross wt and caravans MPLM (max permissible laden mass)
i dont know what caravan or car you are looking at so cant comment.
i am lucky that i passed my test in 1994. i probably wouldn't have a caravan if i had to take a test again.
saying that if i towed my previous caravan with an estate car i would have been leagal....although not as safe as towing it with a jeep, as i did...sometimes the law is an ass.
------------- First van bailey ranger 550/6
Now the proud owner of a coachman amara
You need to check the gross vehicle weight for your car and deduct that figure from 3500 to check the max plated weight of caravan you can tow. If the figures add up to less than 3500 kg you don't need to take the extra test which will save you £500 which is quite a few trips away with your new caravan. In the long run it's worth taking the test to make your choice of vehicles easier in future but it's an expense that can be deferred to make sure you enjoy towing and caravanning first.
Post the figures from the weight plate on the car and we can have a look at what you can tow now.
Thank you very much for your information. Having replied to your post yesterday I did some more research and it turns out I can tow within the law. My cars kerb weight is 1640kg and the vans (Bailey Pageant Auvergne 2004) MTPLN is 1338. This puts me at a total combined weight of 2978kg meaning I have 522kg to play with in loading the car with the family and dog. Even taking into account the cars max gross weight I am still under the 3500kg weight limit. So thank you very much again as by highlighting the correct interpretation of the law you just saved me £500. If I upgrade to a Jeep and bigger caravan, which will probably happen in time Ill then have to do the test.
You are using the wrong figures. You need the gross vehicle weight (GVW) and the max caravan weight (MTPLM) to add up to less than 3500 to be able to tow within your licence restrictions. The plated weights are what counts, not the actual weights.
Slinger check your cars max gross wt again. It will be more like 2000kg because if the kerb wt is 1640, which is high as regular cars go the payload will be 400kg which is 4 of me or 5 skinny adults 😜. If your max GW is 1640 then your kerb weight will only be around 1240 which means you are towing over 100%. Check it out again or send us the figures off the rating plate inside the door or wherever it is.
------------- First van bailey ranger 550/6
Now the proud owner of a coachman amara
The cars Max Gross wt is 2040kg and the vans MTPLM is 1338kg so in total we could weigh in at a max of 3378kg. Im not small but dont intend to gain that much weight and I really hope that Mrs S doesnt gain that much weight so we should easily always be well below the 3500kg limit. I am really excited though as we are picking the van up later today and already planning an Easter trip away in it. Thanks for all the advice everyone.
I sense your enthusiasm, but your weight and that of SWMBO and the dog, kids and luggage is irrelevant with regards to the 3500Kg licence limit. Only the plates on the car and caravan count, as mentioned several times
If you encounter a roadside check, they will look at the plate on the car, that specifies the Gross vehicle Weight and each axle weight limit.
With the van hitched, you would be asked to drive over a device which measures the load on each axle to show that the individual axles are not overloaded. Then,adding these values together with everyone in, shows that the GVW has not been exceeded (this is separate from having the correct licence).
Continuing forward the caravan axle(s)are similarly measured and compared to the MTPLM on the caravan's plate.
Note that the van remains hitched. This is because the caravans noseweight is a load on the towball and therefore the rear axle.
It follows that if you struggle to keep the caravan within the MTPLM, you can't just bung stuff willy-nilly in the boot of the car, since there is, for practice purposes maybe 75KG of noseweight already in there so to speak.
Thank you all for the advice and I really appreciate it but I think its all becoming a bit over complicated. The GVW is the Max a car/vehicle can safely weigh including all luggage and personage. So surely if the GVW of the car (not to be exceeded) is 2040kg (taken from the plate in the car) and the MTPLM (again, not to be exceeded) of the van is 1338kg (taken from the plate in the van) the total combined max weight (2040 plus 1338) comes in at 3378kg and should not be exceeded. Therefore if I max the car and van out I will still be legal on my licence. Taking into account the weight of my family and dog I will still have 200kg that I can load into the car before I exceed the GVM, which I very much doubt I will manage to do. I'm not an idiot (I think) and wont be overloading the van or car and will be taking exceptional care with weight distribution within the car and van separately. We are used to travelling light as we previously had a Trailer Tent. I'm not going to get excited and bring the kitchen sink along with us in the van just because we have the space. I also understand that things add up alarmingly quickly when loading vans/cars so will be very careful. The only time that I would load more that a weekends worth of clothes/equipment into the car and van would be when going away for the summer holidays and even then there wouldn't be that much more than when weekend running. I am content that I am within the law and the safe designed perimeters of the car and van. Without having the convenience of a set of car/van scales I really don't know what more I could do.
Thanks Baileyjake. That's very interesting and something that I think I will get in time. We still have a few more bits to buy and if I go spending too much Mrs S will have a fit.
We are already looking at going away in a couple of weeks. Just need to properly clean the van to Mrs S's standards and get the gas checked out. Then we are all good to go.
our first trip was on my birthday weekend, on saturday night at a CC site only 16 miles from home.
it was a good introduction to towing and setting up the caravan. the wardens and other campers were very helpful and very interested to know how our first night with the children in the caravan went.
the warden actually ran though how to position my caravan, how to level it, connect the power, where to get the water, where to connect it up. how and where to fill and empty the toilet cassette.
on thing i learned on that trip was not to cook in the caravan late because it made it too hot to sleep and we had to open the windows to cool down.
------------- First van bailey ranger 550/6
Now the proud owner of a coachman amara
We are now booked into what looks like a nice site with some entertainment for the kids. I did a lot of caravaning as a kid with my parents so it will be interesting to now do it with my wife and kids. We are booked in for three nights over Easter. Hopefully the weather will be good. I love finding out these little gems of information, like not cooking in the van to late. simple little bits of information that can make life so much easier when away.
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: Buying Newbie.
