Another nose weight question
So my question is- so to make this simple i have made up these weights, so if i have a car weighing 1900kg and the tow bar weight is say 100kg, so to work out the recommended weight of what can be towed do i use the vehicle weight as 2000kg or 1900kg?
thanks
Comments
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It is irrelevant, if the car isn’t type approved for towing then its towing limit is 0kg. If it is type approved there will be manufacturers details of max train weight and max towing weight. It may be less, the same as or more than the ‘kerb’ weight.
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As flatcoat says, the max weight your car can legally tow will be on the weight plate/in handbook.
if you're towing on just a Cat B licence(for which the trailer legally has to weight less than the car), it's the UNLADEN weight of your car that matters, so putting weight in it or (on the towbar) is irrelevant. It's also based on the Max (MTLPM) weight of the caravan, not what it actually weighs (so stripping a van out to shed weight makes no difference in law, it's what is on the weight plate that matters)
The guidance that it's best to tow a trailer with max 85% the weight of your towcar is also based on unladen/kerb weight, otherwise it would suggest that filling your boot with bags of sand would mean the car will then tow a heavier caravan...
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Markflip's statement that, on a Category B licence, the trailer legally has to weigh less than the car is incorrect.
As Flatcoat says, the statutory plate on the car will give details of its permissible weight (GVW) and its gross train weight, if it is type approved for towing. Subtract the weight of the car from the train weight will tell you what you may tow. If the car is already loaded right up to its GVW limit when solo, then adding the noseweight of the trailer after the trailer is hitched up will result in the car being overweight by the amount of the noseweight.
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Just as the car, the nose weight stated is simply the load capacity of the bar/vehicle.
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What is the relevance of 85%? I Assume you are referring to the utterly misleading and oft misunderstood guidance that has no legal basis? And if you are, the 100kg noseweight you refer to is about 5.5% of your vehicles kerb weight, and i defy anyone to be able to tell the difference between 85% and 90.5% ratio of weight when towing. You dont suddenly become unsafe at 86%! I would concentrate more with a) being legal and b) having a balanced set up.
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"You dont suddenly become unsafe at 86%!"
Phew, thank goodness for that. I was at 86% when I was tugging.
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Maybe i am tired and my brain isn’t functioning well but i still don’t understand why the noseweight is critical to your towing weight ratio. It would be a lot simpler to look at the ‘kerb’ weight of the (A) tow car, the MTPLM of the (B) caravan and if B is less than A you are towing at less than 100% weight ratio using the NCC methodology. It dorsn’t mean you are legal (for example if the max train weight is exceeded or the max legal type approved certified towing weight of the car is less than ‘B’). Assuming everything else is legal can you explain precisely what the problem is?
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The way I'm reading this (incorrectly?) is imagine your van weighs 1300kg and has a nose weight of say 75kg. When hooked up to the car then technically is the weight of the van now 1225kg, that is the weight going through the tyres to the road, as 75kg is on the hitch.
If you asked a scientist they would probably say yes, this is the case. The mass of the vehicle is measured through it's direct point of contacts with the ground.
Colin
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Using the figures that you provided, if the caravan weighs 1300kg, then it always weighs 1300kg, whether it is hitched to the car or not. However, the car is only towing 1225kg. The remaining 75kg, the noseweight, aren't being towed by the car but carried by it. In other words, the car is 75kg heavier when the caravan is hitched.
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Apologies, Lutz is correct, I wasn't aware that the legislation was changed in 2013 and the requirement for the car to be heavier than the trailer removed - every day's a school day!
I note that the advice here:
https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/advice-and-training/advice-for-beginners/driving-licences/
still includes the obsolete regulation.
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