Towing help please

[E55 Max]

In January I am lending my 1978 Aston V8 to a friend for his wedding, I am his best man and will drive him to the church in it, then he will drive away in it later.
The plan is this, to tow the Aston from Northumberland to Kent using a Disco 3 and double axle trailer. Use car for wedding and then the missus is off to our place in France for a bit so I will drive the Aston North again.
So the questions

1) Will I be breaking any laws WRT weight etc doing this?
2) I have wheel straps, do I just put the Aston in Neutral and put the handbrake on, or use Park?
3) any other business.....have I forgotten anything?

Thanks

Max

[R0G]

What licence do you have? B or B+E

I need these figures -
Disco GVW
Disco towing capacity
Trailer plated MAM
Trailer unladen weight
Aston unladen/kerb weight (the load to go on the trailer)

Securing the Aston onto the trailer - no set rules but as long as it will not move on accelerating, braking or cornering then it will be deemed safe

Edited by R0G on Wednesday 30th November 14:49

[R0G]

doogz said:

make sure the gross weight of the trailer is less than the tow capacity of the tow car,

Not correct

The MAM of the trailer can legally be more than the listed towing capacity
What does matter is that the ACTUAL weight being towed (uladen trailer + load) is not more than the towing capacity

EDIT - apologies if you meant GROSS WEIGHT to mean ACTUAL WEIGHT and not MAM

Edited by R0G on Wednesday 30th November 14:58

[redgriff500]

I'm sure its fine but check to be sure.

Park

Remember to strap pulling forwards AND pulling backwards - I've seen damage done when people forget.

[R0G]

doogz said:

R0G said:

doogz said:

make sure the gross weight of the trailer is less than the tow capacity of the tow car,

Not correct

The MAM of the trailer can legally be more than the listed towing capacity
What does matter is that the ACTUAL weight being towed (uladen trailer + load) is not more than the towing capacity

You sure?

"The total weight of the vehicle and the trailer together can’t weigh more than 3,500 kg. The weight of the trailer, when fully loaded, can’t weigh more than the unladen weight of the vehicle."

That's not quite the same thing. Nor is it actually true either as far as i'm aware. But it's straight from the direct.gov website.

You are looking at the rules for B licence towing and they are very different from B+E licence towing

Don't worry, you are no where near the first to do this !!

[redgriff500]

doogz said:

Durr... I should know better. Still though, i was pretty sure you can't tow something that's gross weight is heavier than the towing capacity of the tow car. i know people that have had trailers replated to a lower gross weight to cover their asses in this respect?

I think this is to do with big commercial trailers.

As I know people who have down plated trailers too.

[R0G]

doogz said:

Durr... I should know better. Still though, i was pretty sure you can't tow something that's gross weight is heavier than the towing capacity of the tow car. i know people that have had trailers replated to a lower gross weight to cover their asses in this respect?

Only required to conform for B licence towing

I'll give you a made up legal example for B+E
VEHICLE
GVW 2000
Unladen/kerb 1500
towing capacity 2000
TRAILER
MAM 3500
Unladen 1000
Trailer can be loaded with 1000

The same set up would be illegal for a B licence UNLESS the trailer was downplated to 1500 and could then only be loaded with 500

[E55 Max]

Thanks Guys, will ahve to check the figures, but as my license is pre 97 I have B, B+E, C1, C1+E,D1 and D1+E.
I have done plenty of towing, but don't know the weight rules!

The trailer is an Ifor williams Tiltbed
Unladen weight is 895kg
Gross weight 3500Kg

I will have to look up the Aston's weight.

[E55 Max]

OK Car weighs 1860Kg, so it looks like I am covered?

[R0G]

E55 Max said:

Thanks Guys, will ahve to check the figures, but as my license is pre 97 I have B, B+E, C1, C1+E,D1 and D1+E.
I have done plenty of towing, but don't know the weight rules!

The trailer is an Ifor williams Tiltbed
Unladen weight is 895kg
Gross weight 3500Kg

I will have to look up the Aston's weight.
OK Car weighs 1860Kg, so it looks like I am covered?

B+E = great
1860+895=2755 so the towing capacity of the Disco must be at least 2755

[R0G]

doogz said:

Do you have a link to somewhere that shows this?

I ask, as someone i know has had their trailer downrated from 2.8T to 2T, to suit the tow capacity of their car, as VOSA told them this was required to tow it with the car she had at the time. She holds her B+E licence, which in this case is a bit irrelevant, as she'd never be able to tow this combo without one due to the masses involved.

There is no link and no law either

I have lost count as to how many have claimed that the authorities have stated this MYTH so I will repeat what all now agree on -
THERE IS NO LAW WHICH STATES THE MAM OF A TRAILER CANNOT BE MORE THAN THE TOWING CAPACITY

I'll give my usual challenges -
Find a law that states this
Find a case where someone has been charged or prosecuted for such

So far over the last two years no-one can because there are none

IT IS A MYTH

[R0G]

For more examples and info
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.p...
hope it helps

[thinfourth2]

E55 Max said:

1) Will I be breaking any laws WRT weight etc doing this?
2) I have wheel straps, do I just put the Aston in Neutral and put the handbrake on, or use Park?
3) any other business.....have I forgotten anything?

Thanks

Max

1) If you friend is paying you in any way then you need a tacho. Wieght wise you are fine
2) Learn how to use wheel straps if not used before. some say all 4 wheels other say 1 front wheel only to stop the chance of pulling steering out of alignment. I say all 4.
3) Adjust mirrors on disco so you can see straps and don't be afraid to move aston around on trailer to get a good balance.
3b)If disco is diesel don't pull into a garage and fill the aston with diesel and the disco with petrol as then you can join my little retards club.
3c) If you can select low range manually do so as it makes reversing alot easier as you don't have to slip the clutch assuming modern cars have clutches

[E55 Max]

thinfourth2 said:

1) If you friend is paying you in any way then you need a tacho. Wieght wise you are fine
2) Learn how to use wheel straps if not used before. some say all 4 wheels other say 1 front wheel only to stop the chance of pulling steering out of alignment. I say all 4.
3) Adjust mirrors on disco so you can see straps and don't be afraid to move aston around on trailer to get a good balance.
3b)If disco is diesel don't pull into a garage and fill the aston with diesel and the disco with petrol as then you can join my little retards club.
3c) If you can select low range manually do so as it makes reversing alot easier as you don't have to slip the clutch assuming modern cars have clutches

1)No payment on this, it's just a favour for a good mate.
2)I will be strapping all wheels, I hope that the car will not move on the trailer, and if it does at all I will be stopping to adjust!
3)Agree with the mirrors, I like to know what is going on behind me, saved me once when I saw a trailer wheel delaminate in the mirror....
3b)
3c) The Disco is manual, I will be fine on the reverse....famous last words!

[R0G]

What is the towing capacity of the Disco?

[E55 Max]

3500 Kg

[Vladimir]

E55 Max said:

3500 Kg

As long as the trailer has brakes. Which it should do.

[thinfourth2]

E55 Max said:

3c) The Disco is manual, I will be fine on the reverse....famous last words!

Low range makes a huge difference to reversing as it lets you forget about clutch control as you can just let it trickle backwards in reverse. When i'm towing i rarely reverse without low range

[R0G]

E55 Max said:

3500 Kg

No probs at all then

[E55 Max]

doogz said:

As long as low range doesn't involve locking anything.

Found one of the liverys revving the st out her car outside one day, trying to reverse her trailer away. Someone had pointed out to her, that low range would mean she wouldn't have to abuse the clutch so much. They hadn't pointed out that it locked the centre diff, and on tarmac with lots of grip, and full lock, she'd wound the thing up so much it stopped moving. Lucky i found her before she broke something.

I will have to RTM as the Discojust has a twiddly knob for various terrains, hence just reversing normally!