Newbie weight questions - again!
hi all,
prospective new caravanner here, stumbling over towing weights, MTPLM and so on.
Hoping some kind members could help me check about MTPLM of a possible new van.
We have spent the weekend trawling through a caravan sales place and found an ideal caravan for our needs. Although we are a family of 4 we have found a 6 berth caravan as need to consider family visits to our house. My Skoda Octavia has a tow weigh of 1400kg (max weight of 2010kg).
The caravan we saw has a MIRO of 1217 kg but a MTPLM of 1435kg. At first glance this means the caravan would be 35kg too heavy (despite the dealer saying we were fine (he gave us a lovely print out to prove it but on closer inspection it was the wrong Skoda!)). However, the Personal effects payload states there is 173kg of allowance (the other 4 berth caravans state 150kg).
I was wondering if the 173kg takes into account 6 people travelling when if we were to tour it would just be a family of 4 (2 children under 12) - the other 2 would be bringin their own bedding/clothes etc - I would expect that by being careful, the four of us could keep our laden weight below 1400kg. Obviously before we buy the van we can't check the laden weights so was hoping for some experienced members giving me some ideas - even a definite no would clear up some ambiguities.
I realise that the likelihood is that we will spend another weekend revisiting another set of caravan sales locations for a different van!
Comments
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im not a caravanner but AFAIK all this stuff about 'personal effects payload' cant be any more than a guide...its a (IMHO, useless) 'term' bandied about in MH brochures, too...
the only weight that matters is that you dont breach the MTPLM..
..any/all of the 'personal effects' can be put in the car....
if the towing ratio is fine, and the tow hitch weight is also OK, then as long as you're below the MTPLM you should be fine.
unlike a MH, you have other places to spread your stuff around
good luck.
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It's my understanding that if you get checked they look at the plated weight as well as if you're overloaded.
It's something that I'd like a definitive answer to.
We are plated to tow 3500kg so it's not an issue for us but I would like to know for the future.
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Have a look here, for all the towing info you need: www.towcar.info/towing.php
The Club also have an outfit matching service for you to check out.
BB is correct above; the only legal limit you must not exceed, is the MTPLM. i.e. Never let the 'tail wag the dog'
Your towcar has won awards for its abilities as a tow car, so providing you get the weights right, you should have no problems.
Enjoy
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You need to be clear with your figures - find the kerb weight, towing limit, maximum authourised mass (MAM) and Gross Train Weight of your Skoda.
Forget about the MIRO of the caravan, it's the MTPLM you need to consider.
The caravan MTPLM is recommended to be 85% or less of the car's kerb weight, this isn't a legal requirement, but your car may struggle if you exceed this 'rule'.
The payload has nothing to do with what the occupants might take with them (some vans have ridiculously small payloads), it's simply the MTPLM minus the MIRO - the figures above suggest that the van you looked at should have a payload of 218kg, but if 'extras' have been fitted (motor mover for example) the weight of these need to be deducted, so that might explain why they are quoting a payload of 178kg.
The law only considers the plated MTPLM, not whether you haven't used all your payload, so if your car has a plated towing limit of 1,400, you can't legally tow a van with a 1,435kg MTPLM.
The plated MAM of the car plus the plated MTPLM of the van can't exceed the car's plated GTW (but car towing limits should take this into account).
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The law only considers the plated MTPLM, not whether you haven't used all your payload, so if your car has a plated towing limit of 1,400, you can't legally tow a van with a 1,435kg MTPLM.
was not aware that the cars tow limit was on the plate. Just the max train weight, car axle loads and max car weight from my recollection.
If a caravan is over 85% it does not mean tow vehicle will struggle. Depends more on the BHP.
Not sure of OP's exact model.
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As a former Skoda owner I wouldn't want to tow anything bigger than the 1366 kg I have now and Towed with the Octavia ordinary the better with the Scout version. I now have a Mitsubishi Outlander and it copes much better. Incidentally they sold me a Skoda Fabia as suitable for a similar sized caravan which was complete rot, but I quickly switched to the Octavia. The Fabia pulled ok but was quite unstable.
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First of all, the car's towing limit isn't plated. Its GVW and its gross train weight is, as are the maximum axle loads.
Secondly, you can legally tow a caravan weighing 1435kg if the manufacturer's towing limit is 1400kg so long as the noseweight is equal to or exceeds 35kg - which I hope is the case. This is because the car is not towing the full weight of the caravan, but only its axle load, so you have to deduct the noseweight from the total weight of the caravan to know what the actual towload is.
Finally the gross train weight is not the sum of the car's GVW and the MTPLM of the caravan. The car's GVW includes the noseweight, but so does the MTPLM of the caravan, so if you add the two together, you'd be counting the noseweight twice.
Gross train weight is the sum of all axle loads.
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