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Hi there, new to site. I have recently bought a pennine crusader platinum, before this I had motor homes so I`m new to towing. I have a peugeot partner combi 1.9D and it seems to struggle, was down to second gear in places on a recent trip to Weymouth from milton keynes. We are off to south of france in August and I`m worried it might be a hell of a journey. Is this camper too much for this car? would I benefit from a stabiliser? should I change car? if so any suggestions.

Cheers Pete

Check your V5 (log book), it will tell you the max tow limit, also check your kerb weight. if you apply the caravan club guidlines for caravans this would indicate that the car must be able to tow atleast the max weight of trailer, and kerb weight must be heavier than trailer, 85% rule.

someone might know your car better, but I cant see it being a problem with a 1.9turbo diesel

Unfortunately its not a turbo, the max towing weight is 1100kg and I believe the camper is 900kg unladen. My major worry, apart from the lack of power, is that the trailer felt like it was "in charge". I`m prepared for any response ranging from "change your car" to "welcome to towing" :-)

If the weight is 900kg unladen, what have you put inside the camper?  This could very easily bring it to 1100kg. Therefore up to the max towing limit of your vehicle. Also I notice it is only 71bhp.  This is probably the reason why you are having to change gear. 

 I used to have a Conway Cardinal, about the same weight as your Platinum, I think the vehicle I had at the time was 95bhp? Didn't have a problem towing.

If you are in a position to change your car, go for one with a good weight ratio and also higher bhp.

Shirley

We used to have a non turbo deisel with about 70bhp which struggled when we once towed a caravan. Its not necessarily all about BHP - torque is also a big factor. Caravan was empty so probably equated to about the same as yours loaded.

Think you need to consider changing your vehicle. We currently use a passat TDi 130 and it would be very unusual to have to go down to second gear to climb hills.

The non-turbo is going to struggle a bit I think. I used to tow a Cardinal Clubman with the same engine but that was lighter. I now tow a Pathfinder with a 1.9 turbo Xsara and that's fine.

Although I'd never bothered with a stabiliser before I have now fitted one to this camper. These are quite large units and I did find a similar feeling of not quite being in control. I don't seriously think there was a problem, but I fitted an Alko hitch stabiliser and everything is fine now.

Glen

The best thing we did was to fit a stabiliser hitch to our outfit.  It made a lot of difference.  As others have said your horse power is lacking.

Regards Bob