My big fat pikey towcar

[dieselnutjob]

how heavy is the W124 ?

 

okay just figured out what a W124 is. It's an E class right? Not a small or light car.

 

I think you should be able to tow a 1500kg caravan safely with that. The car will still be heavier than the caravan.

in order to tow it safely you will need to load it properly. I'm sure you know it already, but just for the hell of it.

Heavy stuff over the axle.

Nothing at the back.

 

The more nose weight you have the more stable it will be. I'm sure I read somewhere that ideally you would want 10% of the weight of the caravan as nose weight. The problem is that that would mean 150kg of nose weight which is a lot. Maybe just over 100kg would be more reasonable.

 

I have the same problem because although my caravan is lighter, about 800kg empty but probably over 1000kg loaded, the nose weight ends up over 100kg due to the gas bottles and probably the spare wheel under the front table. The max nose weight stamped on my Brink towbar say 75kg which is pathetic. So I ignore it. Thing is I am towing with an eight seat 806 and the 100kg on the hitch is much less than three people on the rear bench (which I don't use when towing) and it doesn't sit too nose up.

An 806 is less than 1300kg.

 

I had the thing upto 68mph yesterday with some pretty strong cross winds and it was as stable as a rock. I have had it upto 70mph on French motorways where I think it's legal. At 70mph it starts bouncing so that's the sign to back off. The nice thing with an 806 is that the rear overhang is very short so the towball is very near the back axle and that makes it a very stable tow vehicle. Also I think the MPV shape is quite good for pushing air over the caravan. An E class has a bit more of an overhang at the back so you will have to be a bit more careful than me.

 

I saw plenty of pretty big caravans out over the weekend being towed by Mondeos and the like, and my parents tow fine with a Seat Altea so I still think that it can be made safe even if you have to load it a bit tail down/nose up.

[garethj]

The max nose weight stamped on my Brink towbar say 75kg which is pathetic. So I ignore it. Thing is I am towing with an eight seat 806 and the 100kg on the hitch is much less than three people on the rear bench (which I don't use when towing) and it doesn't sit too nose up.

 

The maximum nose weight is less about the force on the rear axle, more about the strain on the towbar fixings that go up through the boot floor and the towbar itself.

 

I thought the maximum tow weight was conflicting – there’ll be a figure in the handbook (this is where it says a 4x4 can tow 3.5 tonnes) but don’t VOSA have guidelines about a braked trailer being no more than 75% of the towcar weight? I’m failing to remember the exact wording because I prefer the “don’t get caught†method.

[dieselnutjob]

don’t VOSA have guidelines about a braked trailer being no more than 75% of the towcar weight? I’m failing to remember the exact wording because I prefer the “don’t get caught†method.

 

There is no such 75% rule.

 

The camping and caravanning club and others always said 85% for a beginner and upto 100% for an experienced tower.

 

Legally you can go up to the maximum weights specified by the manufacturer which is often way over 100% and their idea of a limit is simply what weight the car can start on a 12% gradient or something; it has nothing to do with ability of the car to safely control the trailer at speed.

 

Personally I think that the manufacturers limits are really far too high for safety and although I could put 1800kg or something legally on my 806 I think that 1800kg with only 75kg nose weight wouldn't be very stable and I wouldn't feel safe.

 

The limits for safe towing with modern cars are realistically the pathetic nose weight that they allow rather than anything else, but maybe on a big old Merc that won't be such an issue.

[messerschmitt owner]

85% not 75%

[dieselnutjob]

85% not 75%

that's a club recommendation not a legal limit

 

I'm sure I read somewhere that ideally you would want 10% of the weight of the caravan as nose weight.

 

I just re-googled that and the Caravan Club apparently say 7% so sorry about the 10% as that's BS. So if you want to have a safe stable tow and stay 100% legal then you need a tow vehicle that can take 105kg nose weight. It does depend on the caravan though. It would be interesting to totally empty the caravan and see what the nose weight is empty.

 

I suspect that most caravan towers exceed the nose weight limit of their car without even knowing it. I have never heard of a towbar being ripped off the back of a car due to excess nose weight, but we have all seen caravans swaying around due to not enough. So shoot me for exceeding my stupid nose weight limit but I think it's safer so that's what I'll do.

[eddyramrod]

You'd think a Volvo 740 estate would be a brilliant towcar, wouldn't you? RWD, automatic, 2.3 injection, power assistance... and yes, mostly it was. I bought it for the job, and was never disappointed. However... (must find the pic and post it) after buying the car I went looking for a box trailer I could leave loaded for car-booting. Long story short, I ended up with a 16ft caravan with no interior. How much car-boot tat can you get in one of those? Let's just say, the Volvo knew it was pulling something! I have precisely no idea what weights were involved, but I did load the van with an eye to noseweight and general balance. If you do that, and go steady, you shouldn't have any problems. I'd expect a W124 to have roughly similar towing abilities to my Volvo, so a caravan grossing 1500kg should be a walkover. Tip: don't rush anywhere.

[garethj]

You're right, I was wrong. There's no legal limit except for what the manufacturer states in the handbook

 

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/vehicle ... ailers.pdf

[dieselnutjob]

interesting doc

 

For M1 category vehicles (motor vehicles used for the carriage of passangers and comprising not more than eight seats in addition to the driver's seat)

 

So if I put a nineth seat in my 806 (not hard to do) I just do what the hell I like

 

An inertia braking system muiust allow the trailer to be reversed with the towing vehicle without imposing a sustained drag force exceeding 8% of thetechnically permissible maximum mass of the trailer. Devices used for this purpose must act automatically and disengage automatically when the trailer moves forward.

 

My shite caravan doesn't do that because it was built in 1987. What happens if VOSA spot that noncompliance?

[Pete-M]

In Europeland they appear to have rules about what you can tow with certain vehicles.

 

When I went to get the Escort I was originally going to use a mates Carlton 2.0 Estate (Ok, it's an Omega) but the Czech chaps I hired the trailer from asked me what the load was going to be (rusty Escort MkII), did the maths and said that in order to tow an 850kg car on a car trailer I'd have to use a tow car that weighed more than 1600kg. Which is why I used the Transit to tow it instead. He wouldn't hire me the trailer if I were to use the Carlton as he reckoned the German motorway plod would seize the trailer instantly if they saw it carrying the Escort. To give him his due, on the Autobahns the only things I saw towing heavy stuff seemed to be Fourtraks and Mitsubishi Pikeys.

 

The Jeep is rated at 3.5 tons for towing, which I reckon it could possibly just about manage. It didn't do badly with about 2 tons behind it.

 

I towed approx 4 tons to Zakynthos with a Range Rover Classic back in 2003, now that's a proper tow vehicle.

[oman5]

Any 2.3 volvo 240,740,940. tried and tested.

 

If you want it purely for towing, a V6 petrol shogun is a good tool; pulls a caravan a lot better than the diesel and virtually the same on fuel. (when towing, that is) and a lot cheaper to buy. even the dizzler versions are crap on fuel.

[STUNO]

this will do it !

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motor ... 038983.htm

[Rocket88]

As a fairly experienced caravanist, and having towed a lot of old caravan shite with a lot of old car shite, best tow car of evah........Vauxhall Senator. Anti sway bars are a God send, and negate those OMG HGV tank slappers.........