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this is a daft question but i am totally confused

the following information is based on a standard volkswagon t5 however the van will be adapted for a wheelchair passenger, 2 rear passenger seats and will have extra wieght of an hydraulic taillift for a wheelchair

which figure is the kerbweight and with the addittions will kerbweight increase or decrease?

right i unstand what you are saying,and i am just trying to make sure i understand it all

however it states towing limit is 2200 kg if using 85% rule from kerbweight which would be 1538 kg maximum weight of caravan, would the remaining allowance of towing limit be able to be added to gross vehicle weight as long as total weight of both units didnt exceed the total train weight which is 4800 kg?

or have i got it totally wrong?

may help

http://www.practicalcaravan.com/legal/index.html

kerb weight is normaly the veh with full tank and a driver, unladed is normaly veh empty and tank dry ,as has been stated the ideal thing would be to take to a local weigh bridge once you have it fully modified and get it weighed

david

Quote: Originally posted by prematurity on 03/1/2008

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right i unstand what you are saying,and i am just trying to make sure i understand it all

however it states towing limit is 2200 kg if using 85% rule from kerbweight which would be 1538 kg maximum weight of caravan, would the remaining allowance of towing limit be able to be added to gross vehicle weight as long as total weight of both units didnt exceed the total train weight which is 4800 kg?

or have i got it totally wrong?

 

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You have an unladen weight of 1798kg, nothing you can do will change that, you have a gross payload of 802kg making the maximum weight the vehicle can be without caravan hitched is 2600kg, you must not exceed this no matter what. If your licence will allow it (pre 1997 ) then you can add to this fully laden vehicle another 2200kg as a trailer and be perfectly legal in all circumstances. However whether it would be wise is something else. The 85% is a recommendation only and carries no weight in law so do not apply this figure to rigidly 50kg over is unlikely to make very much difference.  If your licence is dated after 1st jan 1997 then your caravan has a limit of 1702kg for it's maximum technical permitted laden mass ( note this is not the actual mass but the manufacturers palted maximum )as this is the weight that would take the train weight up to 3500kg    which is the maximum train weight your licence would allow. Mind you if you did this then you could not drive it as you are not included in the unladen mass ( UK definition which is the one that counts ) 

It's a minefield of restrictions, but unless you plan on towing an extremely large caravan or having an immense load in you vehicle you should have no problems