Car transporter trailer question

[GAjon]

I am looking to buy a suitable vehicle to tow a car transporter trailer (which i will also be looking to buy).

I was using the premise, if the trailer + car & equipmemt weighed in at a max of 1.5t then I could consider large estates or SUV's with towing capacities of say 1800 to 2000 kg, I dont have to worry about license restrictions as im an old bloke.

However, whilst doing my reserch I spoke to a trailer hire company, to enquire about trailer weights and was told regardless of the weight of trailer or car on it, I must use a vehicle capable of towing 3.5t minimum.

Is this correct?

I've posted on here because there must be lots on here towing race cars around the UK and hope will be able to offer some correct advice.

Any help would be appriciated.

[frodo_monkey]

Totally incorrect. Go in the 'Speed, Plod & The Law' forum and check out R0G's stickied thread on towing - all the answers you need are in there.

[77racing]

This has been done to death over the years here, just type in TOWING into the search and 20+ threads come up answering all your questions by some knowlegable peeps. best of luck with the track use

[Super Slo Mo]

Your supposition is correct, as long as your trailer gross weight with the car on it is less than the manufacturer's stated towing capacity of the tow car, you are fine.

The thread by R0G as mentioned will tell you all you need to know, but you don't even need to get the plated weight of the trailer to be below the towing capacity of your car, it's only the overall actual weight that's important.

Keep an eye on gross train weights too though, it's possible to be overweight if you put too much stuff in the tow car.

[GAjon]

Thank you for the replies, I thought it sounded dubious, but I wanted to be sure before spending.
I posted in plod & law also and the answers are the same.

Cheers!

[anonymous-user]

GAjon said:

Thank you for the replies, I thought it sounded dubious, but I wanted to be sure before spending.
I posted in plod & law also and the answers are the same.

Cheers!

Jon,
You may get caught out with plated trailer weights.

That aside, and for info, trailer and something like a 3000M is unlikely to get below 1600 kilos, plus fuel and tools and spare wheels....

You need a new motorhome with a tow bar...

[stevieturbo]

TVRMs said:

Jon,
You may get caught out with plated trailer weights.

That aside, and for info, trailer and something like a 3000M is unlikely to get below 1600 kilos, plus fuel and tools and spare wheels....

You need a new motorhome with a tow bar...

Motorhomes have very very low towing weights, due to the weight of the base vehicle to start with.

[Super Slo Mo]

stevieturbo said:

Motorhomes have very very low towing weights, due to the weight of the base vehicle to start with.

Are you confusing payload with towing capacity?
The towing capacity of a 3.5 tonne vehicle should be in the region of 2 tonnes, I don't see how it being a motorhome would change this.
Obviously the motorhome will have a fairly low payload but that's not particularly relevant.

[88racing]

Discovery 4 - 3.5 tonnes towing capacity.

[GAjon]

TVRMs said:

Jon,
You may get caught out with plated trailer weights.

That aside, and for info, trailer and something like a 3000M is unlikely to get below 1600 kilos, plus fuel and tools and spare wheels....

You need a new motorhome with a tow bar...

Motorhome budget is blown on a daft race car, so I'm in bad books with the wife and two Labradors.
I think I have a solution sorted which will forego the worry of max weights in the shape of a crew cab 4x4, but may throw another curved ball in terms of commercial vehicle regs.

I have emailed the DVSA (ex VOSA), suprisingly (not) they haven't replied.

[Thurbs]

Why do MH have low towing capacities? Most MH are based on van chassis and as a result have high loadings by default.

I have a Fiat Ducato chassis & ACE ROMA body which has a 6t GTW with a 3.5t body meaning a towing capacity of 2.5t. Granted, not as good as a Disco 4 (which my wife has) but good enough to tow around a race car.

Who tows a 2.5t race car on a 1t trailer anyway?

[Super Slo Mo]

Thurbs said:

Why do MH have low towing capacities? Most MH are based on van chassis and as a result have high loadings by default.

I'm sure they don't, I suspect the poster was thinking about payload instead, which can be relatively low due to the MH body being quite heavy.

[Thurbs]

Super Slo Mo said:

I'm sure they don't, I suspect the poster was thinking about payload instead, which can be relatively low due to the MH body being quite heavy.

Yes, it is easy to get confused with chassis payload, trailer payload and GTW. I agree about MH having relatively small payloads, mine is a 3.2t empty and 4t max, but 750kg is an awful lot of breakfast cereal.

[Super Slo Mo]

Thurbs said:

es, it is easy to get confused with chassis payload, trailer payload and GTW. I agree about MH having relatively small payloads, mine is a 3.2t empty and 4t max, but 750kg is an awful lot of breakfast cereal.

It is, but add 4 people into that and there's 300+ KG's immediately, full tank of water and fuel, food, clothes, bedding, outdoor table and chairs etc, etc, etc, and you won't have a huge amount left to play with.

If you've got a 3.5 tonne motorhome, you're pretty much overweight just with two people and clothes on board.

I had a bit of a nasty shock some years ago when I ordered a new Luton van for a company I was working with. Unfortunately the payload question had been misunderstood by the vehicle supplier, and despite us building it with an ultra light alloy body it only had a gross payload of some 950 kg.

This was a 3.5 tonne vehicle, intended for use by people with modern car licences who couldn't drive over that weight. The first time we put it on a weigh bridge with kit on board, it came in at 4.9 tonnes! It turned out to be largely useless for what we needed.