Towing a caravan

[oddbod]

Ermm, I'm almost afraid to ask but here goes,what is a realistic caravan to tow with a standard Moggie,not what COULD it pull in theory,just what it should be comfortable with if the brakes are OK?

[badobsession]

well i tow a pod but have a 2lt my mate was towing his pod with a standard 1098cc and most of the time it was ok
only struggled on the bigger hills (but i had all his food camping and every thing out his pod O AND HIS PASSENGER )
did see a few small caravans at the national last year do not know what size the engine was ....



but with our experience go for a 1275cc if towing ...

[bmcecosse]

The caravan should (must!) have it's own brakes - and I suppose a modified 1098 with a few extra horsepowers would be 'ok' - but ideally a warmed up 1275 is what you will need. Of course - the rear of the vehicle will need to be very structurally sound for the tow bar, and there are rules these days about how much weight you can tow relative to the towing vehicle's weight. Also driver Licence rules I believe depending on when the Test was passed........ These little Pods are ideal - and look terrific!

[oddbod]

I passed my Test some years ago,so no restrictions on towing,and as to the braked trailer,yep my caravan has got brakes,but as its a classic itself,well made,well thought out and watertight I usually check it over before towing anyway! Its a Viking Fibreline Caravan, a particularly short one. I dont have the weight to hand,but it is a light caravan,though nowhere near as light as a teardrop.

[kennatt]

the regs are Laden weight of caravan should not excceed 85% of the UNLADEN weight or car,but don't think I would tow a caravan with a minor.Unless one of thous micro one you see about.

[bmcecosse]

I used a warmed up 948 Minor to tow a racing Mini around on a fairly heavy trailer - which had no brakes of it's own...... Stopping was always a bit of an adventure (even with W brakes - the trailer just pushed the car along with all wheels locked....) and eventually it ripped the centre out of the clutch plate. But never stuck on hills - just need to change down and rev the engine!

[autolycus]

the regs are Laden weight of caravan should not excceed 85% of the UNLADEN weight or car,

Sorry, but that's wrong. The 85% figure is purely advice from the Caravan Club. Modern cars have their maximum vehicle and train (i.e. car plus trailer) weights on their VIN plates, and it would be up to you to convince a court that it was not dangerous if your were exceeding these weights. Modern car handbooks also quote makers' figures, and again, you would be a brave man to risk arguing with them.

Classic Range Rovers weigh a couple of tons, but have a maximum towing weight of 3500kg. Series Land Rovers have pathetically low maximum trailer weights, typically 2 tonnes for trailers with the usual overrun brakes.

Kevin

[kennatt]

well you may well be right so I looked up the reg on the govdirect site and found this advice .................The VIN plate is usually under the bonnet or inside the driver's door. It will list a maximum vehicle weight and a maximum train weight. The maximum vehicle weight is what the fully loaded car weighs and the train weight is the maximum weight for the car plus a trailer. If your VIN plate doesn't list a train weight, you should not use your vehicle for towing................l So there you are, advice from the the gov never to use a minor for towing, my vin plate shows nothing and I doubt any other do,unless the info was shown on the last 1000s produced.So If you had a accident or issue with the police,the only thing you could use in your DEFENCE is the advice given by the caravan club as the 85% rule.I'm know that if I looked further into it(Can't be bothered)I would find that when the regs were introduced regarding the train weights and vin plates there was an exemption regarding vehicles made before that date,as just about every other construction and use regs have,otherwise every single vehicle on the road prior to the introduction of the regs could not be used for towing .We are not talking about a modern car after all are we. I still wouldn't use a minor to tow a caravan. Just did a quick look the vin plate and train weight appears to only apply to goods or dual purpose vehicles like land rovers and vans. There is no sign of legislation regarding private light good. except that which is recomended in handbook which is advice,but failure to comply with that advice could be used against you in the event of overloading etc.So with a car it appears you can pull anything so long as it is safe to do so,whats safe is a matter of opinion,sdtill wouldn't tow a caravan with a minor

[lambrettalad]

trailer yes ,but even small two berths are probably far too heavy for a moggie even with a 1275

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

Don't try towing in an 803... that engine struggles to move the car itself let alone a trailer!

[mike.perry]

My Series MM, 918cc side valve, tows my camping trailer quite nicely as long as I avoid the roads with little black arrows marked on the map.