Trailers

[Luke]

hmmm

well acording to that your gtw is also 3500 - strange ive never seen that before - was it a camper from new

[DarkLegend]

Probably, i'm not sure until I get all the details back from DVLA. It's definately motorcaravan on the V5. (I've written off for details on previous owners / V5's etc.)

But it's on a Ford plate. Unless they supplied them to the manufacturers or supplied the chassis cab already rated to 3.5t?

If it was a 5.5t is it still PLG for tax and MOT? Just thinking that it would be easy to justify an uprate in GTW if a standard 190 is 5.5t. Assuming I take a trailer test.

[stevew]

That picture was from before I had it replated to 3500. Police had it uprated for some unknown reason! Remeber all the trouble I had getting it mot'd?

It was just a convenient pic to show the train weight is usually more than the gvw.

Steve

[Luke]

That picture was from before I had it replated to 3500.

i never knew the single rear wheelers could be uprated i thought it was 3500 max

[Luke]

Probably, i'm not sure until I get all the details back from DVLA. It's definately motorcaravan on the V5. (I've written off for details on previous owners / V5's etc.)

But it's on a Ford plate. Unless they supplied them to the manufacturers or supplied the chassis cab already rated to 3.5t?

If it was a 5.5t is it still PLG for tax and MOT? Just thinking that it would be easy to justify an uprate in GTW if a standard 190 is 5.5t. Assuming I take a trailer test.

i can only think its to do with it being a camper- it can still tow around 1500kg if the van weighs 2000kg which it probly does

[DarkLegend]

Ahhh just re-reading this in the cold light of day when i'm actually awake and realised, it's the GVW that dictates the class isn't it! The GTW doesn't matter. So even at 5500 as long as the top number is 3500 it's PLG.

Still be interesting to see if I could uprate it to 5500 if that would be the factory spec. That way I can tow bigger stuff, if / when I take my trailer test.

I'm hoping its around 2t as with my licence and current chassis plate i've got to keep under 3.5t GTW and the MAM of the trailer has to be less than the kerb weight of the camper, so I need to get the trailer and my race mini under 1500kg or less (depending on the weight of the camper, i'm taking it to the scrappies to put on the weighbridge with a full tank of diesel and water and some general camping paraphenalia on it)

Mini is 500kg and the trailer probably 200kg max (small, single axle, I can lift it up)

[DarkLegend]

Not sure how well the little 2.5na will pull 5.5t with the areodynamic profile of a breezeblock mind you Think a TD would have to be on the cards for that.

[mrbass]

i agree with you ive seen peps towing caravans at 70mph and over and they should be doing 50mph ive seen a caravan go over and it aint pretty, they should have a m.o.t of some sort. ive heard they are bringing in a sort of m.o.t for trailer's some time will keep you posted on this but it could be hear say.. you know what peps are like for over the garden fence stuff ... i have made trailer's out of my old cars and they tow well but i keep to the limit and i know they are ok for towing and strong. only put camping gear in them not junk..i havent got brakes on them as i can tow and stop them ok with a escort mk 1.3 so ok and that is loaded. not as heavy as the box thing that takes the garged waiste to the dump.

[djswampy]

Anyone that passed there test after January 1997 can only tow a trailer up to GTW of 750kgs, so basically if you have passed your test after that date and don't have HGV class1 then you can only tow a very small trailer!

Alot of people get away with towing but if you get stopped or have an accident then you are stuffed!

My licence allows me to have a gross train weight of 3500kg, and a trailer capacity of 750kg as pointed out earlier. So I can only drive a vehicle of up to 2750kg if I had a fully laden trailer. My van's empty weight being 2450kg means that with a loaded trailer, I can only put 300kg of weight inside. to brake it down further, if they include passengers then 3 people at 100kg each. What's the point in doing the trip in one van, got to be two if you gotta shift anything and people. The transit will haul more, just my licence won't.

[DarkLegend]

Just to clarify the towing laws on a post '97. It's not as simple as above.

On a post '97 licence you are limited to 3500kg GTW that is a combination of towing vehicle and trailer not exceeding 3500.

However. The MAM (maximum plated weight) of the trailer MUST be less than the kerb weight of the towing vehicle. So for instance, I can tow my caravan with my Landrover Lightweight as the caravan max weight is 1275kg which is less than the Landy kerb weight at 1400kg and together they add up to less than 3500kg.

However I cannot tow my mates 2t IFOR flatbed with the Lightweight even if it is COMPLETELY EMPTY, because it is the plated weight the coppers go off, not the measured weight. crazy

Basically your maximum trailer weight must be less than your minimum vehicle weight and all add up to less than 3.5t.

(You are also allowed to go over the 3500kg total if the distribution is a vehicle - 3.5t fully laden and you have a max 750kg trailer, giving a theoretical max of 4250kg. So a fully laden tranny and a small trailer full is allowed.)

[djswampy]

Yeah, I stand corrected. Thank you.

[DarkLegend]

Well I was more on about what Mr MP UK said in your quote, but the good news for you would be you can load the van to 3500 AND have a 750kg trailer.

[MrMPuk]

Nope, a post 97 licence can not tow a trailer with a maximum plated weight over 750kgs. By GTW I ment Gross Trailer Weight!

[Guy88]

Nope, a post 97 licence can not tow a trailer with a maximum plated weight over 750kgs. By GTW I ment Gross Trailer Weight!

What about if it hasnt got a plate

[MrMPuk]

Nope, a post 97 licence can not tow a trailer with a maximum plated weight over 750kgs. By GTW I ment Gross Trailer Weight!

What about if it hasnt got a plate

Try reading back a bit.