confused with what my car will tow
hi
after some advice as totaly baffled by all the caravan car matching sites
my caravan is a compass rallye 524 with plate details are mtplm 1550kg miro 1350
i have a zafira 2008 1.9 cdti 120bhp which i thought be great for towing whats confusing is people are saying mass towing weight is what to go on not kerb weight
the logbook says max permissable mass is 2195 mass in service 1613 so i thought if caravan is under mass in service it would be fine but further down logbook it says technical permissable maximum towable mass of trailer is 1300
plate on car says 2195kg and 3570kg so took one from other and 1375
so anyone pont me in right direction save me changing car
Comments
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No matter what any log book or any other source may say, the only definitive values are those on the vehicle weight plate. Going by the details that you have quoted, the maximum allowable gross train weight is 3570kg. If the caravan is loaded to its MTPLM of 1550kg then the car may weigh 3570 - 1550 = 2020kg (before hitching the caravan to the car) which is less than the quoted max. permissible mass of 2195kg. That means you wouldn't be able to load the car up to its max. permissible weight if you want to tow the caravan fully laden. Conversely, if the car is fully laden, the axle load of the caravan must not exceed 3570 - 2195kg = 1375kg. Allowing for a noseweight of, say 75kg, the total weight of the caravan must not exceed 1375 + 75 = 1450kg or 100kg less than its MTPLM so you wouldn't be able to load the caravan right up to its MTPLM. The choice is yours if you don't want to change the car. One of the two cannot be fully laden.
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This thread may help -
In my opinion, the caravan and car you quote are not a towing match.
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why make life so difficult, if you are like me and not into all this MTPLM etc just use the clubs matching service, it is free if you are a member, and although probably not an exact science it will give you the information you need, no need to be a mathmatician
the only thing i measure is "nose weight" and i know my Sorento has a limit of 100kgs and i have a good set of bathroom scales and a small square of plywood to rest the jockey wheel on, no kidding i used to use bathroom scales, Gkids bought me a proper device, anything 90kgs - 100 kgs is good for me.
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Rufs, the reading you take on the scales under your jockey wheel will not be the nose weight of the caravan. The nose weight will in fact be lower.
The maths is:-
A = distance form centre of axle to jockey wheel
B = distance from centre of axle to hitch
C = reading at jockey wheel
D = reading at hitch
A x C = ?
? / B = D
As an example,
In preparation for summer trip I've just been out checking the weights of my van with two bikes on the A frame carrier for the first time. The Alko Premium jockey wheel has a nose weight gauge built in. This read 70kg. My calculation showed the hitch weight should be 60kg. When I used bathroom scales at the hitch they recorded 58kg.
The difference can be considerable and the difference between a comfortable and a not so comfortable tow.
Colin
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cant fault your maths Colin, but my main concern is sticking within the 100 kgs limit that is pushing down on the tow ball because Kia Sorento manual says 100 kgs.
our caravan is a coachman Amara 5 berth MTPLM 1575, MIRO 1369, there are only the 2 of us now and we do travel very light, i put my bike inside the van and this sits quite nicely between the 2 front bunks, micro wave & water butt sit over axle, heavy stuff e.g. awning goes in the car, in fact most of our stuff goes in the car, my theory is, car is designed for 3 passengers on back seat =approx 220 kgs so more than enough spare capacity for awning (25kgs) folding table/chairs etc.
always have a very comfortable tow, a couple of times it has swayed a little so i stop and just move stuff around inside, no problems. I should say we have a very heavy folding bunk bed at the very rear which helps to balance the caravan.
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Have always respected your technical expertise Lutz and you always pop up when technical issues are raised, my theory is we are always punching above our weight, caravan too big for 2 of us, tow car over spec'd, but i have always over spec'd on the tow car as i consider this to be the safest way, only this weekend saw caravan & car overturned on the hard shoulder, Ford Kuga towing a twin axle caravan, madness.
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I appreciate what you are saying, however there may be compelling reasons for making do with an outfit which is not optimally matched, but still legal. One may need a larger (heavier) caravan in order to have enough space for the whole family without the possibility of changing the car or if the proportion of miles towing the caravan relative to total annual mileage is relatively low, so the emphasis will be more on its solo properties than when towing. If that's the case, one must, of course, take that into account in one's driving and exercise even more due care than would otherwise be necessary.
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Lutz, although the post did not start out about nose weight I mentioned this as another member had made comment on it.
Some members will not realise how important it is and those that do may well be unaware of the difference in readings between the jockey wheel and at the hitch. As such I thought it useful to post.
I suspect your comment was a little light hearted and you do take the nose weight into consideration in your loading of a caravan.
I'd hope we all know our tow bars are type approved with a max rating that must not be exceeded, just like our caravan and cars max weights..
Colin
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