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Quote: Originally posted by Captain Kipper on 22/4/2012Thanks, that makes it clearer.

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1075kg will reduce my choice considerably :(

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The defination of kerbweight is defined by EU directive 95/48/EC as the car with 90% full fuel tank, all necessary fluids, 68kg for the driver and 7kg for luggage.

So for you it will be slightly higher than the above figure......However the only way to get an accurate weight is to put 90% fuel in the tank and take it to a local weigh bridge and weigh it with you in the drivers seat. I did this with our X-Trail and as I expected it came in over the figures quoted on various websites. Kerbweights will vary from model to model and are effected by things such as the fuel type, engine type and if its manual or auto, etc

Use 85% of this as a guide and you won't go far wrong for starting out. I wouldn't get to hung up on the 85% figure and if it you need to go SLIGHTLY over this it shouldn't be a major issue. Personally I wouldn't go above 90%, but that is just me.

It will also be worth finding out what your cars nose weight limit is and then checking any van you are looking at with a nose weight gauge. As you are only looking for a 2 berth van you will probably be fine with this but it nevers hurts to check as some cars can be very low and with 2 bottles of gas in the locker you may find you are on, or even over, your limit.

Lunar vans tend to be light so are worth a look, as our the older Bailey Ranger series. However I would always spend £60-£80 and get an independant inspection done on any van by a local mobile engineer. Vans of this age may come with a host of hidden problems such as damp and panel stress cracks. There is no reason why you can't find a good one but just hunt around and ask for the vans service history. While by no means essential (or proof it is ok) a full service history always indicates to me that the owner has looked after it and had it reguarly checked.

Quote: Originally posted by dazzer252 on 22/4/2012

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The defination of kerbweight is defined by EU directive 95/48/EC as the car with 90% full fuel tank, all necessary fluids, 68kg for the driver and 7kg for luggage.

So for you it will be slightly higher than the above figure......However the only way to get an accurate weight is to put 90% fuel in the tank and take it to a local weigh bridge and weigh it with you in the drivers seat. I did this with our X-Trail and as I expected it came in over the figures quoted on various websites. Kerbweights will vary from model to model and are effected by things such as the fuel type, engine type and if its manual or auto, etc

Use 85% of this as a guide and you won't go far wrong for starting out. I wouldn't get to hung up on the 85% figure and if it you need to go SLIGHTLY over this it shouldn't be a major issue. Personally I wouldn't go above 90%, but that is just me.

It will also be worth finding out what your cars nose weight limit is and then checking any van you are looking at with a nose weight gauge. As you are only looking for a 2 berth van you will probably be fine with this but it nevers hurts to check as some cars can be very low and with 2 bottles of gas in the locker you may find you are on, or even over, your limit.

Lunar vans tend to be light so are worth a look, as our the older Bailey Ranger series. However I would always spend £60-£80 and get an independant inspection done on any van by a local mobile engineer. Vans of this age may come with a host of hidden problems such as damp and panel stress cracks. There is no reason why you can't find a good one but just hunt around and ask for the vans service history. While by no means essential (or proof it is ok) a full service history always indicates to me that the owner has looked after it and had it reguarly checked.

Post last edited on 22/04/2012 16:33:09

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Thanks for the Tips, they will be very usefull in the search for our first van.
I have some experience of towing but only with our camping trailer with our old car, I found it quite easy but I guess it will be a whole differant ball agame with a van.
Towbar load is 75kg max on our Civic.
I intend to have a good practice arround a local Business park when we get one.
The Bailey Ranger 460/2 mentioned above on ebay looks like a good choice for a first van, but we are looking to purchase at the end of May with a max budget of 5K.

Thanks for all the replys

Have a look for a Lunar Zenith 4, you may be able to find an early model from around 2003, ours is a 2006, and our Civic tows it just fine.

Theres just the two of us most of the time, but its always nice to have the extra bit of space with the rear single dinette, which for us is mostly used to stand our microwave on if we dont have the awning up.

You may also get away with towing an early model Coachman Amara 380/2, which tend to be a bit lighter than the new ones.

We love our Civic and have towed with it for three seasons now from new, without any major problems so far.

Julia    

Lunar Ariva would be another fairly compatible match, although maybe a bit too compact for some peoples liking, due to its shorter length and more slender body width.

Julia

Quote: Originally posted by romany girl on 22/4/2012

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Have a look for a Lunar Zenith 4, you may be able to find an early model from around 2003, ours is a 2006, and our Civic tows it just fine.

Theres just the two of us most of the time, but its always nice to have the extra bit of space with the rear single dinette, which for us is mostly used to stand our microwave on if we dont have the awning up.

You may also get away with towing an early model Coachman Amara 380/2, which tend to be a bit lighter than the new ones.

We love our Civic and have towed with it for three seasons now from new, without any major problems so far.

Julia    

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Since you are looking for a 2 berth caravan an Avondale Dart may be worth a look, as they do not have the gas bottle in the front locker but in acupboard over the axle, this reduces the nosewight of what is one of the lighter 2 berth vans, and as Avondale are out of business the vans should not be too expensive.

Good luck with your search

Hi Tim, we have a 2009 1.8 VTec Petrol 5 door ES Manual Civic, we normally tow with just the two of us onboard, but we also take along my mobility boot scooter, and the awning also tends to travel in the car, so combined they must weigh about the same as an extra adult passenger.

If you do go ahead and get a towbar fitted, its a good idea to have one of the stainless steel rear bumper protectors fitted to the hitch at the same time, the black 'honeycomb' shaped plastic on the Civic, thats fitted just behind the tow ball hitch is not very strong, and easily cracks if nudged, 

I was lucky that another owner tipped me off about that one, before I did some damage with my own car lol! 

Julia

We used to have a 2006 Civic & had a twin bolt bar fitted. We had a removable protector plate fitted to add to the protection, but reduce the things to bump into.

Granted our Civic was a 2.2 CDTi, so had more torque than the 1.8, but we towed a 1250kg Caravan with ours & it was always as steady as a rock with superb stability. The wheels at each corner and the suspension that is definitely on the firm side of supple have their advantages!!!!  Standard ESP just adds to the confidence.

Post last edited on 25/04/2012 08:01:56

Post last edited on 25/04/2012 08:03:20

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All year Dorset!!!

The Ranger is a 2007 Series 5 470/4. The pre 2007 Rangers had an angled front part of the roof & a more sloped front. Before the weight plate upgrade it had a MTPLM of 1179kg.

I just used the internal headlight adjuster & had no issues. From memory the colour of ours was Cosmic Grey.

If you have a Sport then you also have the 17" wheels so the handling should be even more assured!!