Collected our new (to us) van
Discussion
A childhood of family caravaning holidays and now having 2 young daughters have convinced us to get a van.
Purchased from some friends, comes with everything from all the carriers, bottles, plates and 2awnings.
Great condition, no damp just needs a service.
Not passed my trailer test yet but confident towing, if my sums are right my train weight is 2900kg which isn’t leaving a lot for us and our stuff, but should be ok for a short trip somewhere.
Waiting for a nice day to practice putting the awnings up!
Purchased from some friends, comes with everything from all the carriers, bottles, plates and 2awnings.
Great condition, no damp just needs a service.
Not passed my trailer test yet but confident towing, if my sums are right my train weight is 2900kg which isn’t leaving a lot for us and our stuff, but should be ok for a short trip somewhere.
Waiting for a nice day to practice putting the awnings up!
Excellent, its a great way to get out with the kids - ours love it. The tyres on it must be fantastic too 
Regarding the licence/trailer test - Your train weight calc suggests you shouldn't need to do the test although it seems low so you may want to check it.
If your GTW is 2900kg's you are well within the 3500kg's max on a standard B license. You also don't need to add people + stuff as you shouldn't be going over those Gross limits anyway (they are the absolute maximum weight for a fully loaded van/car).
Not sure what you are towing with but it may be that you have confused the vehicle weight with Gross vehicle weight. The latter should be somewhere on the drivers door pillar. The caravan will also have a gross vehicle weight somewhere on it and its these that are important for the B vs B+E license.
For stability reasons its normally recommended that the van is ideally no more than 85% the weight of the car for this you need the actual weights lol! May be worth checking that too.
Hope you enjoy it anyway!
Regarding the licence/trailer test - Your train weight calc suggests you shouldn't need to do the test although it seems low so you may want to check it.
If your GTW is 2900kg's you are well within the 3500kg's max on a standard B license. You also don't need to add people + stuff as you shouldn't be going over those Gross limits anyway (they are the absolute maximum weight for a fully loaded van/car).
Not sure what you are towing with but it may be that you have confused the vehicle weight with Gross vehicle weight. The latter should be somewhere on the drivers door pillar. The caravan will also have a gross vehicle weight somewhere on it and its these that are important for the B vs B+E license.
For stability reasons its normally recommended that the van is ideally no more than 85% the weight of the car for this you need the actual weights lol! May be worth checking that too.
Hope you enjoy it anyway!
Edited by a7x88 on Friday 30th March 17:21
You need to forget what they actually weigh as that's pretty irrelevant.
I don't know own too much about T5's but you need to find it's Gross Vehicle Weight. I.e. my S6 weighs 1980kg but the weight I'd have to use for a B licence calculation is it's gross weight (also known as maximum authorised mass) which is 2600kg.
The caravan I have actually weighs around 950kg unladen but again I'd need to use it's gross weight (MAM) 9f 1300kg for the calculation
2600kg plus 1300kg is 3900kg which is 400kg over the B licence limit.
If they were unloaded (1980 + 950 = 2930kg) I would obviously be under the 3500kg limit but that is irrelevant to VOSA the police, insurance etc.
Regardless of wether or not I loaded them up to their max weights I could not tow this combo on a B licence as it's done on plated MAM's.
I imagine the T5 has a MAM of 3000kg ish?
Saying all that - if the caravan really is only 350kg and has a MAM of under 750kg you can tow that with anything you can normally drive on a B licence (their are seperate rules for trailers with a MAM under 750kg) but most caravans exceed this pretty easily.
Looking at the van I would guess it's at least 800kg on its own (but again - important bit is gross weight/MAM)
Obviously if you do get B+E this is all irrelevant as long as you don't go over any weights
I don't know own too much about T5's but you need to find it's Gross Vehicle Weight. I.e. my S6 weighs 1980kg but the weight I'd have to use for a B licence calculation is it's gross weight (also known as maximum authorised mass) which is 2600kg.
The caravan I have actually weighs around 950kg unladen but again I'd need to use it's gross weight (MAM) 9f 1300kg for the calculation
2600kg plus 1300kg is 3900kg which is 400kg over the B licence limit.
If they were unloaded (1980 + 950 = 2930kg) I would obviously be under the 3500kg limit but that is irrelevant to VOSA the police, insurance etc.
Regardless of wether or not I loaded them up to their max weights I could not tow this combo on a B licence as it's done on plated MAM's.
I imagine the T5 has a MAM of 3000kg ish?
Saying all that - if the caravan really is only 350kg and has a MAM of under 750kg you can tow that with anything you can normally drive on a B licence (their are seperate rules for trailers with a MAM under 750kg) but most caravans exceed this pretty easily.
Looking at the van I would guess it's at least 800kg on its own (but again - important bit is gross weight/MAM)
Obviously if you do get B+E this is all irrelevant as long as you don't go over any weights
Edited by a7x88 on Friday 30th March 20:29
In all honesty I've never seen it. I used to do a lot of miles and saw a fair few VOSA checks being done at services etc. But they only ever seemed to check vans and lots as you say. I checked in a van once towing a digger but it was all fine (and I had done B+E for this job) however if I had been on a B licence I would have been caught.
In reality is probably only likely to be an insurance issue of you crash
In reality is probably only likely to be an insurance issue of you crash
Blakeatron said:
Test passed - 2 minors!
Numberplate ordered and i have gone through the van, just need some new tap washers.
Having a mobile bloke come out and service the brakes and check over the gas bits and then we are good to go.
Best work out how the awning goes together as well...
Well done. I'm doing my test soon, just doing a morning training with the test in the afternoon. I'm OK reversing trailer's so hopefully be OK. What did the test involve?Numberplate ordered and i have gone through the van, just need some new tap washers.
Having a mobile bloke come out and service the brakes and check over the gas bits and then we are good to go.
Best work out how the awning goes together as well...
xstian said:
Well done. I'm doing my test soon, just doing a morning training with the test in the afternoon. I'm OK reversing trailer's so hopefully be OK. What did the test involve?
Honestly it was quite easy, however I did get really nervous!10minutes in the compound reversing, uncoupling and coupling - there are very specific ways to do this and questions they will ask so worth revising.
Then we did a 15 minute or so drive with him directing, then 10 mins driving when he said just follow the signs and then kept quiet, then finally another 10 mins or so of him directing again.
The hardest bit was I didn’t know the area very well so got flustered on a roundabout and took the wrong exit - I was advised if I got in the wrong lane to carry on in it and he would redirect, rather than changing lanes on the roundabout which would be an auto fail.
Also little bits like the trailer has to stay in your lane, even on sharp turns, don’t block junctions, don’t make anyone other road user slow down.
I got a minor for going too slowly around a roundabout as I should make progress when possible.
The other minor was for coasting upto some lights with foot on the clutch.
Indeed for me it was the same I think they get the reverse out the way first as this is where most people will fail.
I had to pull up at the side of the road and move away, correct use of mirrors, staying within your lane. I too got a minor for not making progress on a roundabout! The local testing centres should take you round the expected routes so you can familiarise with them. Also practice with the actual car and trailer. You are allowed to get out and check you have reversed so the trailer is in the hatched area. Use it as it’s an auto fail if you’re not and you are allowed to shunt back after. Too far back and your done instantly.
This is a diagram of what you do you must not hit any cones and you are allowed to move forward I think only once.
I had to pull up at the side of the road and move away, correct use of mirrors, staying within your lane. I too got a minor for not making progress on a roundabout! The local testing centres should take you round the expected routes so you can familiarise with them. Also practice with the actual car and trailer. You are allowed to get out and check you have reversed so the trailer is in the hatched area. Use it as it’s an auto fail if you’re not and you are allowed to shunt back after. Too far back and your done instantly.
This is a diagram of what you do you must not hit any cones and you are allowed to move forward I think only once.
Still not been out in it, but booked our first night away for the end of June, just a local site but enough to practice on!
The van is now fully serviced and had 3 new tyres, just flushed out the loo and got all that working.
It’s got a 4.5kg butane gas bottle in at the moment with an unknown amount of gas in, borrowed a 15kg bottle from work and that didn’t fit so need to find somewhere that will let me try different sizes.
Tried the awnings that came with it:
The first was a huge thing but did t have any poles so a bit useless - might try it on eBay.
The second is real simple porch type thing that will be perfect for now for drying the dog off and keeping the chairs in.
Even though it came with most things the wife has been buying new cutlery, crockery, pans etc
The van is now fully serviced and had 3 new tyres, just flushed out the loo and got all that working.
It’s got a 4.5kg butane gas bottle in at the moment with an unknown amount of gas in, borrowed a 15kg bottle from work and that didn’t fit so need to find somewhere that will let me try different sizes.
Tried the awnings that came with it:
The first was a huge thing but did t have any poles so a bit useless - might try it on eBay.
The second is real simple porch type thing that will be perfect for now for drying the dog off and keeping the chairs in.
Even though it came with most things the wife has been buying new cutlery, crockery, pans etc
It’s definately not an air one, looking to see how much it’s worth on eBay I found some second hand poles.
So do I sell the cover for £100 or buy the poles for £100? The cover I have is in great shape and this years version is around £1500.
Tempted to just buy the poles then we have the option if we want it.
Will look at the 6kg bottles - there are 2recessed spaces in the front locker for bottles
So do I sell the cover for £100 or buy the poles for £100? The cover I have is in great shape and this years version is around £1500.
Tempted to just buy the poles then we have the option if we want it.
Will look at the 6kg bottles - there are 2recessed spaces in the front locker for bottles
Blakeatron said:
It’s definately not an air one, looking to see how much it’s worth on eBay I found some second hand poles.
So do I sell the cover for £100 or buy the poles for £100? The cover I have is in great shape and this years version is around £1500.
Tempted to just buy the poles then we have the option if we want it.
Will look at the 6kg bottles - there are 2recessed spaces in the front locker for bottles
6kg Red then! You can exchange cylinders and they can be bought very cheap on EBay. Deposit is about £50 and only last 5 years after that they go to the tip and the guys that work there usually keep them and sell them off. There is an exchange sheet on calors website however some stockist don’t mind what you swap!So do I sell the cover for £100 or buy the poles for £100? The cover I have is in great shape and this years version is around £1500.
Tempted to just buy the poles then we have the option if we want it.
Will look at the 6kg bottles - there are 2recessed spaces in the front locker for bottles
Blakeatron said:
Towing with a vw t5 - that weighs 2500kg and the van is plated at 315kg.
600kg left ish - me and the family weigh 200kg, leaving 400 for stuff!
Just for your info, and to stop you potentially overloading it, the van does not weigh 315 kg. That will be it’s payload which is pretty generous, many only have 2-250 kgs to play with. 600kg left ish - me and the family weigh 200kg, leaving 400 for stuff!
An unladen caravan will generally weigh more than a tonne these days, some of the bigger ones are more like 1.6 tonnes.
Even my little 8x4x6 box trailer weighs more than 315 kg empty!
I think though that you might be overweight as far as your licence is concerned.
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