Legal towing limits - I am confused!
I have recently bought a twin axle caravan that weighs 2600kg when fully loaded.
My tow car is a BMW X6 with a towing capacity of 2700k and a gross combined mass of 5500kg.
My driving licence is pre 1997 so I have the BE classification and can legally tow this weight.
All fine and legal I think!
However, the unladen kerb weight of my car is 2200kg which, if you apply the 85% rule, recommends that I should not tow more than 1870kg. Even at 100% my car is much lighter than my caravan but it tows it with ease.
I am confused.
Am I towing legally?
Should I replace my car with one which has an unladen kerb weighs at least 2600kg?
Is there a car that weighs that much?
Any advice will be gratefully received.
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I'd forget about the 85% 'rule' ... it's only a guide put forward by the club intended for the in-experienced.
I'm willing to be proved wrong but if you don't exceed the 3 figures on the weight plate of your X6 ie front/rear axle weight & gross train weight, then you're legal. Towing at more than 100% is not automatically illegal.
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The only restriction is if the caravans body length (not including A frame) is over 7mtrs in length,,, then the tow vehicle must weight over 3500kg
There is/was a 40mph speed limit if towing over the tow vehicles weight but cannot now find it?
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A very heavy caravan indeed, we must all be wondering what it is!
You say that your caravan weighs 2600kg when fully loaded, I hope you mean that the MPTLM of your caravan is 2600kg. Will you actually use all of the payload limit on the caravan?
I think the figures mentioned are OK but having the caravan weigh more than the car when you are towing is not ideal and I would suggest a visit to a weighbridge would be useful, I suspect your car fully loaded (fuel, luggage, people, pets, maybe the awning etc) for a trip could well come close to the 2600kg mark.
The other problem with a heavy caravan is the tow ball load, for example if your car/caravan only allows 100kg on the tow ball this would be less than 4% of the maximum caravan mass which is a bit on the light side.
Personally I wouldn't be happy to tow with the weights mentioned.
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I would agree.
Our Touareg weighs in at around the same, but our ( twin axle ) van is only 1900kg MTPLM, which, though above the suggested 85%, I find fine.
The car tows effortlessly, but not sure I would want to be dealing with an additional 700kg on the hook!
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Thanks for your replies.
The caravan is made in Wales by the Fifth Wheel Company. It’s called an Inos.
Most people tow them with Range Rovers or BMW X5’s. I already owned a BMW X6 and I’d prefer not to change it unless I have to.
Out of the factory the caravan weighed 2350kg including the spare wheel, motor movers, self levelling etc.
I had it weighed with all my stuff in and it was 2600kg which is well within the MTPLM for the caravan but getting close to my car’s towing limit. Having had it weighed I now put much more in the car so it is lighter than that when I am towing it.
The tow ball weight on the caravan is 110kg and the car’s maximum is 120kg so that’s fine as well.
I asked this question on the forum because my understanding of my combination of car and caravan is that although it falls outside of the 85% or even 100% guidelines for towing weights i.e. the caravan is heavier than the car, it is a legal combination.
Thanks for your feedback.
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What a beast!
MPTLM of 2800kg including 800kg payload and you have used 600kg of that.
Wow! that certainly makes our payload look very puny.
Moderator Edit:
For your information, your two posts have been 'reported' for investigation as there is no screen name displayed on either post.
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That's a bigger payload than my motorhome!
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Sure there will be someone on here who knows the correct answer, but I seem to remember that if you are stopped and checked, it is the plated weights of car and van that will be used.
So if the plated MTPLM of the van plus the MAM of the car adds up to more than the plated gross train weight of the car, you may have a problem, even though you are not actually exceeding it.
Worth checking out just to be sure.
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Plated weights of car and van will certainly be checked to ensure the rig is legal, as will the driver's licence categories, but units can be taken to a weighbridge to ensure theire is no overloading.
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Many insurance companies will not cover you if the MTPLM of the caravan exceeds 95% of the kerbweight of the towing vehicle. generally this is hidden away in the small print.
However either way as long as are within the maximum train weight of the vehicle you are towing legally even though it may not be safe.
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For years I had a VW Touran, and towed at its maximum maximum trailer weight (1500 kg). However, in 2018 I upgraded to a VW Caravelle, which can legally pull about 2,200 kg. The difference in behaviour of the outfit demonstrated that the caravan was under much better control (a sense gained through driving experience). Towing with the Touran never felt unsafe but, after the Caravelle, I do think I was driving closer to the edge of safety than I previously imagined. One reason for this is perhaps that I transferred some of the weight from the caravan to the car, and that weight was distributed fairly midway between the car axles. Precise loading of the caravan is certainly less of a chore.
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The maker's name "Fifth Wheel" suggests this is one of those beasties that should be hooked onto the back of a pick-up? That would certainly explain the weight. It would be hard to modify one of these, even harder to find a strong enough tow-bar!
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As long as you dont exceed the Gross Train Weight i.e. that is the weight your car is allowed to tow with a braked trailer The weight of the trailer does not exceed the balance of the train weight
Example
train weight 5000
car weight 3000
you can tow 2000 if your tow limit for you car allows
based on your figures you can tow 2800
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