Towing with a Morris Minor

[gasolinescream]

Hello folks

Do you tow with a Morris Minor? If so i'd like some feedback please.

Over the last 4 years I've been a caravan convert. I've attended car shows for 30 years and always camped but eventually did myself a favour and bought a very small, classic caravan. In fact as small as they come as I've always used a small/medium sized classic to tow them. I sold my caravan last year but would like to get another for next summer.

Now I know size matters with a Moggy so the early 70's Eriba Puck is most likely to be the van i'll go for. You can't get much smaller and it's pretty basic but I have to say I love them.

I'll be running a 1275 so should have enough power to haul it along okay, not much weight and just me and the dog in the car. The rear will be running a shock conversion though i'll be using remote adjustable air shocks and adjust for when using the caravan. I'll look to do a disk/servo upgrade and add a remote filler to the bulkhead to save ripping up carpets to top up the brake fluid. What an idea that was I haven't seen a tow bar I like or trust so i'm getting a custom one made up. It will tie in with the bumper mounts, rear floor and rear chassis and also be removable.

So are any of you pulling a camper with your Moggy? Any tips apart from don't do it?

Regards Dan

[bmcecosse]

just make sure the caravan has it's own 'over run' brakes. Then there is no extra load on the Minor brakes.... I used to tow a racing Mini on a trailer behind my Minor - it didn't have any brakes, which was 'interesting' at times - but the actual towing wasn't a huge problem. I would NOT go with 'air shocks' - I would fit 7 leaf Traveller rear springs - and fill the dampers with SAE 40 oil... And yes - my Tow bar was a Dixon Bate, and it had STURDY angle brackets that bolted through the rear chassis members and the boot floor - and the bumper mounts of course - for what they are worth....

[Matt]

It was advised that Minors could tow about 400kg (I can't remember the exact figure... so I am prepared to be corrected).

Legally -
If your caravan is unbraked - its maximum plated weight (or the sum of the load rating on the tyres) legally has to be less than half the unladen weight of the towing weight.

If your caravan is braked theoretically (because it hasn't got a manufacturers weight plate) you can tow whatever you want so long as its not "dangerous". The general wisdom of VOSA is that "dangerous" would be the caravan weighing more than the towing vehicle.

I don't know if that helps or not?

Have a quick look at this thread http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=50747

[gasolinescream]

Blimey that's some going, towing that lot. Was that with a standard MM? A race mini has to be around 550kg plus the trailer and spares. As an early Eriba is less than 350kg and half of that weight, looks like my car will be up to the task then. Maybe why Eriba Pucks weren't fitted with brakes, weren't needed

Thank you for the tip on the leaf springs and oil, I take it that will stiffen up the rear suspension. I appreciate it keeps it stock looking however offers no amount of adjustment that I can see. The car will have dual roles of being a daily and also hauling a little caravan away to car shows. If I harden up the rear suspension to tow the caravan i'm stuck with a hard ride on the rear. This becomes an issue when daily driving. If I don't harden up the rear suspension I get a better daily but the cars rear will sag when towing. For the sake of changing the rear shocks over to any adjustable telescopic shock i'm able to dial the cars rear suspension into what it's being used for.

Hopefully some caravan loving Moggy owners will chime in and share some details.

Cheers Dan

[bmcecosse]

DAMPERS make no difference to ride height (or stiffness) - they simply dampen the oscillations of the suspension.... You'll soon get bored of adjusting dampers. The race Mini was extremely light, and the trailer was 'minimal' to say the least. It was a warmed up 948 Minor - and was certainly hammered on hills - but only failed once when the centre ripped out the clutch plate.... The old skool way with a car used for towing was to add AEON bump stops in place of the normal solid ones . In fact though if your caravan is nicely balanced - it shouldn't add much weight to the back of the car - although you DO need some nose weight for stability. I frankly don't think you will have any problems towing with a standard car - provided the caravan has brakes, and you are absolutely right to want a very strong tow bar and not rely on the useless bumper mounts.....look inside the boot to see what they attach to!

[a8pte]

and also you can tow a small freedom caravan no prob..