Towing a car on a trailer malarkey

[mybrainhurts]

This towing malarkey is a black art to me.

What do I need to know about licence, insurance, speed limits and anything else I've not thought of?

I have a car with a tow bar and need to tug a dead Volvo V70 with a hired trailer to a dismantler about thirty miles away .

Help much appreciated...

[s p a c e m a n]

You're older than the hills apparently so you already have the license

40mph Single carriageway

50mph Dual Carriageway

60mph Motorway

I've never even thought about whether I've been insured to tow something, so now I'm interested, just assumed that my fully comp always covered it.

[mybrainhurts]

Ta ...

[s p a c e m a n]

Make sure the trailer comes with some straps before you take it, the handbrake isn't normally strong enough to keep a car on a trailer

[jeremyc]

No using the outside lane of a three or more lane dual carriageway or motorway.

Oh, and make sure the trailer is attached to the tow bar of the car.

Edited by jeremyc on Friday 7th February 18:17

Edited by jeremyc on Friday 7th February 18:21

[mybrainhurts]

jeremyc said:

No using lane 3 of a three or more lane dual carriageway or motorway.

Oh, and make sure the trailer is attached to the tow bar of the car.

Thanks, good point, that hadn't occurred to me....

Trucks go in lane 3 of 4, can't trailers do the same?

[jeremyc]

mybrainhurts said:

jeremyc said:

No using the outside lane of a three or more lane dual carriageway or motorway.

Oh, and make sure the trailer is attached to the tow bar of the car.

Thanks, good point, that hadn't occurred to me....

Trucks go in lane 3 of 4, can't trailers do the same?

You are quite right: the words didn't match what I meant to say. Corrected now.

[mybrainhurts]

Ta...

[balls-out]

s p a c e m a n said:

You're older than the hills apparently so you already have the license

40mph Single carriageway

You sure about that? 50 I think

[TooMany2cvs]

jeremyc said:

Oh, and make sure the trailer is attached to the tow bar of the car.

Don't even joke about it...

A mate picked a car up from me last month. Five miles up the road, the trailer let go of the back of the car, wandered around the road, before attempting to self-load an oncoming Audi A6. Made a _right_ mess of the trailer (Brian James, so a decent one). It turned out to be due to a combination of wear in the hitch on the trailer and probably in the ball of the car. He'd borrowed the trailer from his boss.

[kambites]

balls-out said:

s p a c e m a n said:

You're older than the hills apparently so you already have the license

40mph Single carriageway

You sure about that? 50 I think

50 for trailers; 40 is only for HGVs.

[s p a c e m a n]

kambites said:

balls-out said:

s p a c e m a n said:

You're older than the hills apparently so you already have the license

40mph Single carriageway

You sure about that? 50 I think

50 for trailers; 40 is only for HGVs.

To be fair, I never have or know of anyone who sticks to them

[Slidingpillar]

TooMany2cvs said:

Don't even joke about it...

A mate picked a car up from me last month. Five miles up the road, the trailer let go of the back of the car, wandered around the road, before attempting to self-load an oncoming Audi A6. Made a _right_ mess of the trailer (Brian James, so a decent one). It turned out to be due to a combination of wear in the hitch on the trailer and probably in the ball of the car. He'd borrowed the trailer from his boss.

Use the breakaway cable - and if there is not one, then it's missing and an unsafe trailer.

[Impasse]

Piece of peepee.

[mybrainhurts]

Slidingpillar said:

Use the breakaway cable - and if there is not one, then it's missing and an unsafe trailer.

Oh, blimey...what's that?

[s p a c e m a n]

There will be a cable on the hitch of the trailer, wrap it around your tow hook so that if the trailer falls off it will be pulled. It's attached to the brakes on the trailer, give it a tug and the brakes come on.

[Toaster Pilot]

If you're hiring a trailer, would it not be more cost effective to just scrap the car via someone who will pick it up?

[mybrainhurts]

Do the trailer brakes only operate in those circumstances?

[mybrainhurts]

Toaster Pilot said:

If you're hiring a trailer, would it not be more cost effective to just scrap the car via someone who will pick it up?

Maybe, but the breaker has offered me £1000.

[R0G]

LICENCE and towing
The general rules are the same for towing on either a B or B+E but for B there is one extra rule which is ...
When towing a trailer which has a plated MAM over 750 kgs on a B licence the vehicle GVW added to the trailer plated MAM must not total more than 3500 kgs

GVW, MAM and MTPLM all have the same meaning for the driving licence rules - the maximum something can legally weigh when fully loaded
Vehicles = GVW
Trailers = MAM
Caravans = MTPLM

On a Vehicle which can be driven on a B (car) licence the weight plate is usually found under the bonnet or hidden in a door frame but can be almost anywhere
The plate will have 4 figures and they are always listed from top to bottom in the same order
GVW = the max it can legally be when fully loaded
GTW = the max it and whatever it is towing can be when weighed together on a weighbridge
Axle 1 = the max the front axle can be
Axle 2 = the max the rear axle can be
The total of the two axles will always add up to more than the GVW to allow for flexibility in the load placement

On a trailer or caravan there will usually be a silver plate with the MAM and unladen weight on it - happy hunting for it

The internet is also a good way of obtaining weights providing the exact info of the model being searched is known

Usually, but certainly not always, a towing capacity will be imposed by a vehicle manufacturer and that is usually the GTW minus the GVW but always check with the V5 registered keepers doc or the handbook

In most cases these weights will be needed ...
Vehicle GVW & Towing capacity
Trailer MAM and unladen weight

Take the lower figure of the towing capacity or trailer MAM and use that as the max figure for the trailer when its loaded
Take that lower figure and deduct the trailer unladen weight - that gives the max that can be loaded onto the trailer

Hope that helps