Watch your weight

[oblio]

More from a MoHo forum....

"It's not only France! on a recent trip to Norway whilst travelling in Germany on the E40 around junction 10 near Duisberg, the authorities have set up a weigh station on the motorway (both direction carriageways), basically they funnel all traffic down to two lanes with the inner signed for over 3500 Kg and the outer for up to 3500 Kg. There is signage ref speed through the area, although it was not necessary when we went through as the volume of traffic meant we were literally crawling along for several Kms. you then enter into a stretch with barriers to segregate the lanes which pass over a weighbridge with multiple cameras focused on each lane, shortly after this they have constructed a lay by with multiple exit lanes to an inspection area. An attendant indicates to any vehicle they wish to check to enter the indicated turn off.
The episode caused a delay of around twenty minutes from the start of the jam caused by the process to actually exiting the area..."

[JapanRed]

Watchman said:

JapanRed said:

The X5 is a big car. The caravan is 27 foot twin axle which is also big. The 4930kg includes the weight of the actual car and caravan.

By plated weight do you mean MTPM? (3030kg for car and 1900kg for caravan = 4930kg total).

Ooh interesting. What is it? I am (still) looking to buy a massive caravan. So far my only requirement is twin axle and as large as I'm allowed to tow with a Merc GL (3500kg) on my own "grandfather rights" licence.

I had understood the max length to be 26ft unless you tow with a commercial vehicle but that may be an incorrect length associated with a poor conversion from a metric measurement.

Whilst looking at "as big as I can tow" vans, some of the new vans I saw at the NEC show earlier this year we're touted as 8ft wide. They were notably bigger inside but I wondered whether they might just be a tad too wide in the UK? I last towed a conventionally wide 26footer through Wales quite confidently but then I saw a similar one struggle through Devon which made me think again.

It’s a sterling Eccles 640 (pic below). Not sure whether limit is 26 or 27 foot but when I bought it I checked with caravan club and ours is about 6” short of their max length. We also looked at the 8 foot ones at NEC and having towed it to the lakes last weekend I’m glad I didn’t go down the 8 foot route. Had no issues with ours but a couple of times met other Caravans or busses/lorries coming in other direction and don’t think we would’ve got past in an 8 footer.

[chasingracecars]

The 85% that the caravan club suggest is the 85% figure you got from the Kerb weight which was 1857kg.

What the caravan club suggests is the MTPLM of the caravan (in your case 1900kg) should not exceed the 1857kg from above.

In reality this never happens you are more likely to have a car full and the caravan lighter then MTPLM. Effectively the 85% is the worst case towing situation with the outfit. Yours is very close. Mine is the other way and will soon change the tow car as driving is tiring. It’s closer to 105%. I have weighed the car and caravan and caravan is around 100kg down on MTPLM and car was almost max.

[Watchman]

JapanRed said:

It’s a sterling Eccles 640 (pic below). Not sure whether limit is 26 or 27 foot but when I bought it I checked with caravan club and ours is about 6” short of their max length. We also looked at the 8 foot ones at NEC and having towed it to the lakes last weekend I’m glad I didn’t go down the 8 foot route. Had no issues with ours but a couple of times met other Caravans or busses/lorries coming in other direction and don’t think we would’ve got past in an 8 footer.

Oh man, that's a beauty.

I'm in the Lakes right this moment, between Ullswater and the Kirkstone pass. It's bloody tight in my Merc GL. I can imagine how tricky it would be with a large caravan on the back.

But I'm older and wiser these days. Gone are the days where I threw a Caterham around lanes like this. Today I drive sensibly and considerately. I think I'd be OK with a large caravan but I must admit I agree with you about the 8-footers. I would really love one - they're so much more inside than the extra inches would lead you to believe, and you're parked-up inside one for far longer than you are towing it. But imagine dinging it on a Lake District dry stone wall. I would be gutted.

There's another caravan show later this year. I'll make my mind up and just order one. Thanks for the pic. I love "big rigs" like yours.

[Pericoloso]

chasingracecars said:

Don’t forget the tow hitch for the caravan adds around 90kg to the car.

That seems very unlikely.

I used to fit OEM towbars to SAABs BITD and there's no way the whole thing weighed even half that as I could easily lift the box of bits up.

[pja]

Pericoloso said:

That seems very unlikely.

I used to fit OEM towbars to SAABs BITD and there's no way the whole thing weighed even half that as I could easily lift the box of bits up.

I Think he means the nose weight of the caravan adding to the weight of the car rather than the actual weight of the tow bar equipment

[pja]

Watchman said:

Oh man, that's a beauty.

I'm in the Lakes right this moment, between Ullswater and the Kirkstone pass. It's bloody tight in my Merc GL. I can imagine how tricky it would be with a large caravan on the back.

But I'm older and wiser these days. Gone are the days where I threw a Caterham around lanes like this. Today I drive sensibly and considerately. I think I'd be OK with a large caravan but I must admit I agree with you about the 8-footers. I would really love one - they're so much more inside than the extra inches would lead you to believe, and you're parked-up inside one for far longer than you are towing it. But imagine dinging it on a Lake District dry stone wall. I would be gutted.

There's another caravan show later this year. I'll make my mind up and just order one. Thanks for the pic. I love "big rigs" like yours.

I have an 8ft Elddis & visit Coniston regularly with no problems & off to Cornwall in a week or so
its no wider than a 7.5t you just need to take your time in places

[Watchman]

pja said:

Watchman said:

Oh man, that's a beauty.

I'm in the Lakes right this moment, between Ullswater and the Kirkstone pass. It's bloody tight in my Merc GL. I can imagine how tricky it would be with a large caravan on the back.

But I'm older and wiser these days. Gone are the days where I threw a Caterham around lanes like this. Today I drive sensibly and considerately. I think I'd be OK with a large caravan but I must admit I agree with you about the 8-footers. I would really love one - they're so much more inside than the extra inches would lead you to believe, and you're parked-up inside one for far longer than you are towing it. But imagine dinging it on a Lake District dry stone wall. I would be gutted.

There's another caravan show later this year. I'll make my mind up and just order one. Thanks for the pic. I love "big rigs" like yours.

I have an 8ft Elddis & visit Coniston regularly with no problems & off to Cornwall in a week or so
its no wider than a 7.5t you just need to take your time in places

Fair play. We drove around Coniston on Saturday and it's even tighter there than Ullswater and Kirkstone.

My GL is about 1.9 meters wide - I think that's without mirrors. An 8ft van is 2.4 meters so not a huge stretch.

I might see if my local caravan place will let me try pulling one. That extra width is really fabulous inside.

[Rosscow]

JapanRed said:

Thanks again for all the help. I know they are daft/newbie questions but I’d rather be certain for when we go to France. I will look in the handbook when I get home after work to confirm but I’ve found a figure of 3030kg online.

So assuming the above is correct;
3030kg max mass - 2185kg Kerbweight = luggage plus all occupants can weigh 845kg.

Max mass of car 3030kg, plus max mass of caravan 1900kg = 4930kg. I am ok to tow this on my B+E licence hopefully?

Thanks again.

Edited by JapanRed on Friday 26th July 10:39

Sorry for the late reply, but yes I can see no problems with the above and it's well within the limit of your B+E license (I had to get one of those as well).

If your car is loaded to 3030kg, then the 85% guide is 2575kg, much more than your fully loaded 1900kg caravan.

I pulled our twin axle ace with a MTPLM of 1750kg with our old Audi A6 (which had a towing limit of 1900kg) for years without a problem.

We've just upgraded to a VW Touareg which also has a towing limit of 3500kg the same as the X5.

You won't have any problems, just go steady and watch the cross winds when going across bridges/viaducts and the 'suction' when passing arctics.

Enjoy!

[FlipFlopGriff]

We dropped into the weighbridge on Monday on the way back form Silverstone as we were pretty loaded up (apart from less beer and food than when we started) and had the front, rear and total weights measured - cost £25 for all 3 measurements. 5,020kg so not as heavy as the 5,800kg in the original Winnebago info in the handbook. We've kept the slips in there for information. I need an MoT in 4 weeks and most of the local stations have a 5,000kg lift capacity so taking a load of stuff out will get us well under 5,000kg so I have increased my options where I can take it - also for servicing and repair.
FFG

[Origin Unknown]

Thanks for this post OP! We are off to Ile de Ré in a couple of weeks and as our tow vehicle is a T5 van and the caravan is 24' in length, I suspect we will be prime candidates for a tug!

I post up my maths for review this weekend.

[Origin Unknown]

T5 Max permissible Mass 3,200kg
T5 Mass in service 2,071kg
T5 max towable mass (braked) 2,500kg
Caravan MTPLM 1,495kg
Caravan Mass in running order 1,296kg

T5 max additional load 3,200 - 2,071=1,129kg
Caravan max additional load 1,495 - 1,296=199kg

Are these sums correct?

[Origin Unknown]

Bump

[Mr lestat]

Hi I’m the op but I can’t help you with your sums I’m afraid. We have a motorhome.

[chasingracecars]

Origin Unknown said:

T5 Max permissible Mass 3,200kg
T5 Mass in service 2,071kg
T5 max towable mass (braked) 2,500kg
Caravan MTPLM 1,495kg
Caravan Mass in running order 1,296kg

T5 max additional load 3,200 - 2,071=1,129kg
Caravan max additional load 1,495 - 1,296=199kg

Are these sums correct?

Yes all correct. It’s worth putting anything heavy in the tow vehicle in any case.

Only thing to ensure is noseweight is good. If max noseweight is 90kg of tow ball then aim at 85kg.

[Origin Unknown]

Thank you!