Towing with a Motorhome
Advice re towing eg weight and size restrictions etc. Motorhome is a swift kontiki 649. Looking at an A-frame to tow a mini. All advice welcomed. Thanks.
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You will need the Gross Vehicle Weight and the Gross Train Weight of your motorhome which you will find on the vehicle VIN plate. Make sure you look at the final stage VIN plate which will be the one fitted by Swift. You then need the Gross Vehicle Weight off the Mini VIN plate.
Subtract the GVW of the motorhome from the GTW and this will tell you what weight you can tow. If the GVW of the Mini is less than this figure then you are ok to tow provided that you have the correct driving licence.
I wouldn't recommend A-frame towing outside of the UK, they don't like it over the water.1 -
Geoff, have you got the power? I'm thinking of a Motorhome that's 5 tonnes on the road, with a tonne of Mini on the back - with only a 2.3 litre engine?
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In addition to all the above, you need to consult the MH converter's facts and figures as, often, having an Alko extension chassis greatly affects the towing ability.
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I think the new Mini will be too heavy, even my Fiat 500 has a GVW of 1305kg and has an actual weight around 1000kg. This is well within my 2000kg towing weight but the Kontiki has half that.
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A "Smart" is 750kg,and no road fund tax !! Towed mine on an "A" frame for many years ,until E.U got snotty ,particular Spain.YET only last week i saw a French M/home towing a Seat 600 on just the same "A" frame as we had from 'Car.a.Tow ' from Poole !! .1 -
Hi,
This is my 4th year towing a C1 behind my Swift Bolero through France and Spain on an A-Frame without any issues.
Our A-Frame is an electronic system that meets all requirements for towing a trailer including Lights, Brakes and Reversing without intervention (Granted reversing around a corner is next to impossible).
My wife having mobility issues make the car a necessity when touring abroad or a home for that matter.
I can fit or remove the A-Frame assembly in under 2 minutes and de-couple for maneuvering on site or at home in under 30 seconds. With practice I can drive the car up to the motorhome and stop within mm’s of the coupling position without any assistance. Driving the motorhome with A-Frame attached is a doddle being close coupled and much narrower than the motorhome mean you hardly notice it, also the effect on fuel economy is minimal, I still achieve 30+mpg. In my opinion an A-Frame is more stable , easier to drive and safer on the road than using a car transport trailer.
I could not manage any of the above, with a trailer and storage both on site and at home is also an issue, for all the above reasons a trailer is not an option for us.
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.Paul 1951 ,Hi .Many times the problem of reversing with an "A" frame has come up .Once again i will cover this having towed a Smart on an "A" frame through Europe MANY times behind my previous M/home.Place a pair of expanders/bungee's around the spokes of the steering wheel of the tow car,and hook under the seat frame.The vehicle can then be reversed in a straight line ,or round corners ,left or right ,just as any trailer can.BEEN THERE --DONE THAT many times .Try it and see .!! Let me know how you get on .
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Paul, towing with an A-frame is illegal in Spain, full stop.
if you are stopped and requested to decouple, and if you have only one driver, this would be very difficult for you to continue your journey....
while youve not been 'caught' yet, the police are pretty hot on this one....
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Paul1951
I actually live in Spain and like you towed on a A-Frame here for about a year and in that time was stopped four times, first time near Valencia and was fined e60 and took an hit, the next three times was around the Alicante province were we live and each time the fine increased till the last time was a steep e120 after they took photos of my set up and yes I speak Spanish and showed them two letters saying because my country of origin was the UK and they shouldn't make me uncouple. This was the Guardia Civil Trafico (nasty) and all four of them laughed, about three weeks later the local Police came round for a word, so I have now sold the A-Frame back in the UK. Sooner or later they will catch you and once they have photographed you are toast.
Phil
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Coming back through Germany last week ,i saw a "Concorde" motor home towing a ,,,,28ft yacht on a trailer !!!! .Some can get away with it .
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yes, Tricky, trailers are allowed.....with cars or yachts....
try pullung a yacht on an A-frame
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That's the whole point, Triky. A trailer is a trailer while a car is a car and, in the eyes of European law, a car cannot become a trailer simply by attaching an A-frame.
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