Legal towing help

[lindrup119]

Now I have looked at the Towing thread posted by R0G but could I get a straight yes or no for this please?

Me and a friend are looking to buy a track car together, however we have thought that rather than insuring said (modified) car and taxing it, would it be cheaper to buy a towbar and trailer?

Now it would be pulled by either an Astra H 1.6 Sxi or a Mk Vi Golf 1.4 Tsi 122. Both of us have passed after 97' but are still unsure whether our B licences would cover such weight (up to 3500kg for car, trailer and track car - or do I have the wrong end of the stick?) or whether we would need a B + E licence....

Any help or opinions appreciated.
Cheers

Edited by lindrup119 on Saturday 9th February 20:08

[frodo_monkey]

I tow under these regs - what is important is that the max train weight (tow car and trailer loaded to max capacity) cannot be over 3500kg, and the max potential loaded weight (i.e. whats on the plate) of the trailer must be less than the unladen weight of the car. You might get away with a Se7en or other light kit car, but personally I think your tow car choices are a little on the weedy side... I tow my race car (800kg Reliant Kitten V8) plus tyres on a single axle Woodford trailer (max load 980kg and total weight 1300kg) behind a TDi Octavia estate which is fine, but I'd want a torquey diesel.

[lindrup119]

Ok so my car is 1215kg.
Braked towing weight is 1300kg.
Likely track cars (looking at MR2/E36) will be on but hopefully under 1300.
Trailer can't weigh too much surely?

So my car plus track car so far weighs in at around 2600kgs, which leaves me 900 to play with for a trailer right?

I know neither cars are really going to be great at towing but buying another car just to tow is out of the question for both of us, really only looking at this option in the hope that it is cheaper than making our track car road legal.

[Spangles]

The lightest trailer will be about 400kg.

[fastcars_hardy]

it has to be max gross. so how much the car can carry inside so its going to be more than that i was told that if you have a normal sized car. with a small caravan then you will be ok but a small caravan so i dont think you would be under with that but not 100% sure

[lindrup119]

I'm thinking something like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190795973773?ssPageName=...

But slightly tidier.

Edited by lindrup119 on Saturday 9th February 20:08

[fastcars_hardy]

if i have the right car then the weight of the car is 1745. its the gross weight not the normal weight. its a st law and i cant see why its done that way

[DaveEssex]

Sadly you'll need a trailer with brakes.

[DaveEssex]

The other problem is the the car needs to be able to resist the weight of the trailer - lifting rear wheels when on undulating road is not good. Towing car weight is key here.

[lindrup119]

Yeah braked trailer of course ( http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221187253978?ssPageName=...).

Weight of Golf not 1215kg? http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/facts-and-fi...
Parkers is my only reference so sorry if I'm wrong and that isn't the right figure!


So although not the perfect cars to use to tow, it is legally possible?

Edited by lindrup119 on Saturday 9th February 20:09

[xRIEx]

lindrup119 said:

Ok so my car is 1215kg.
Braked towing weight is 1300kg.
Likely track cars (looking at MR2/E36) will be on but hopefully under 1300.
Trailer can't weigh too much surely?

So my car plus track car so far weighs in at around 2600kgs, which leaves me 900 to play with for a trailer right?

From https://www.gov.uk/towing-with-car/driving-licence...:
"If you passed your driving test after 1 January 1997 and have an ordinary category B (car) licence, you can drive either:

• a vehicle up to 3.5 tonnes or 3,500 kilograms (kg) Maximum Authorised Mass (MAM) towing a trailer of up to 750kg MAM (with a combined weight of up to 4,250kg in total)
• a trailer over 750kg MAM as long as it is no more than the unladen or ‘kerb’ weight of the towing vehicle (with a combined weight of up to 3,500kg in total)"

So no, you have up to 1215Kg for the trailer/track car combo; taking someone else's estimate of 400Kg for the trailer leaves you with 815Kg for the track car.

Edited by xRIEx on Saturday 9th February 20:14

[fastcars_hardy]

Go on autotrader. It givea you all the info you need about the cars different weights.

[fastcars_hardy]

I think people are missing the fact thats its the mam of the car so its going to be more

[GreigM]

lindrup119 said:

So although not the perfect cars to use to tow, it is legally possible?

No. Your car has a maximum braked towing weight of 1300kg - that 1300kg must include both the trailer and its cargo - which would be significantly over 1300k. It would be not only illegal but very dangerous - if you had to emergency stop it could get very interesting.

[frodo_monkey]

My single axle Woodford is about as light as they come and is 320kg, Brian James or similar double axle will be 400kg or thereabouts.

[LooneyTunes]

lindrup119 said:

Ok so my car is 1215kg.
Braked towing weight is 1300kg.
Likely track cars (looking at MR2/E36) will be on but hopefully under 1300.
Trailer can't weigh too much surely?

So my car plus track car so far weighs in at around 2600kgs, which leaves me 900 to play with for a trailer right?

Your trailer weight would be included in the 1300kg (it's part of what you're towing)!

In which case you'd end up needing something like this: http://trailers.co.uk/Product/Car_Transporters/TW_...

1300kg max weight, but only gives you a payload of 980kg...

But to be squeaky clean given the kerb weight issues, you'd need them to drop the plated max weight (some of the trailer companies will apparently do that) which would probably end up knocking another 85kgs off the payload (to get down to 1215 total).

Suspect hitting that is going to mean MR2/E36 going on a bit of a diet.

[frodo_monkey]

And as above, if your car weighs 1215kg then make that the absolute max you tow - any more will be illegal and downright dangerous (not to mention scary); you'd definitely get pulled by the fuzz or VOSA.

[lindrup119]

Just found the gross weight figure! What a fat st my car is. So 1750 not 1215 then. :/

Looks like one of us will be needing a licence.

[alangla]

frodo_monkey said:

I tow my race car (800kg Reliant Kitten V8)

Utterly O/T, but I want to see this Reliant Kitten V8 (custard optional)

[fastcars_hardy]

I think people are missing the fact thats its the mam of the car so its going to be more