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Not a match sadly. The caravan laden weight MPTLM is 1300kg, which exceeds the cars towing limit of 1200kg.

The police would have plenty to say about this, plus it would invalidate your insurance plus any warranty you may have, for exceeding the manufacturers towing limit.

You're correct in that you're well within the post 97 weights, but in this case that's irrelevant to this match.

May  I first state that for a beginner the outfit you describe is not at all recommended even if you can load it light enough to be legal.

Check what your Gross Train Weight is as not all cars can tow  the max tow weight when fully loaded. To my knowledge, loading a caravan lightly is possible to keep under the max towing weight, but loosing 100kg to get down to the 1200kg max tow weight will be difficult as you have to include the battery & gas bottles within your payload.

Another rule of the post 1997 licence is that the MTPLM or MAM of the caravan cannot be higher than the Mass in Service figure on your V5 for the car.

So while it may just be legal if you have an empty caravan it is so far outside the recommended paramiters (caravan to weigh no more that 85% of the kerb weight) that all I can say is do not do.

Quote: Originally posted by Gareth72 on 19/7/2011

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Plus (I only believe this to be true from other posts on here, so get clarification) if you're pulled over, the police won't take into account what the van actually weighs.... only what it says on the weight plate, so they refer to the 1300kg only. The lightly loaded argument doesn't wash....

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I think this may not be true.  The plate says MTPLM, which means Maximum Permissible Total Mass.  The MRO weight is more or less cast in stone, but what is added in the form of habitation equipment is acceptably variable up to what the vehicle can legally tow within the MTPLM.

It's the same with trailers.  These have a maximum loading capacity.  If hauling very light loads, a tow vehicle does not automatically have to be capable of the  load that the trailer is capable of carrying.

Bertie.

Fully understand the logic of that, as I said though I only believe that to be true from other posts i've read.... Seem to recall the argument was that the only weight the police could refer to at the roadside would be the MPTLM..... unless you were able to convince the cop who pulled you over to accompany you to the nearest weighbridge to prove the van weighed less..... Can't recall which post it was on, but that was the gist of it. Personally I wouldn't wanna risk points on my licence, fine, etc in the hope that an amiable bobby would take time out to come to the weighbridge with me!

Caravan

The actual laden weight of the Caravan must be less than its Maximum Authorised Mass¹ (MAM) (the new term for gross weight shown on the caravan 'weight plate'.

The caravan's Maximum Authorised Mass (MAM) must not be greater than the towing car's Maximum Permissible Towing Mass (MPTW) defined by the car manufacturer.

Mass in Running Order (MRO) is the unladen weight of the standard specification caravan as it leaves the factory. From 2011 this includes some items that used to be part of the 'user payload' – gas bottles, water in toilet/heating systems, hook-up and battery. Check caravan data carefully to make sure you know what's been included in the MRO figure quoted.

Tow car

You must not exceed the Maximum Authorised Mass² (MAM) – the weight of the car fully laden including passengers, luggage tow bracket and the nose-weight of the caravan.

The combined actual laden weight of the car and caravan must not exceed the Gross Train Weight (GTW) – the maximum permitted weight of car and caravan together specified by the car maker.

Mass in Running Order (MRO) or Kerb Weight is defined by the vehicle manufacturer and normally includes a 90% full fuel tank, and the driver but no load other than standard equipment/tools. MRO doesn't include the weight of the tow-bracket.