Hi there I have a peugeot 307 estate I am looking in to buying a caravan prefer 4 birth but I only have b on my licence not the b+e can any one help me on the rules of maximum weight of caravan I can pull and thank you for any help
You'll find the weight information on the plate inside the door of the car and in the handbook. Without knowing the details of your particular car eg year, engine, fuel and gearbox we can only guess at what you can legally and safely tow. Have a read of the thread at the top of the page about what you can tow on your licence, it's not as complicated as it sounds.
Thanks Rob in laymen terms as long as caravan is not heavier than the car and both together not over 3500 kgs with laden weight passengers luggage etc gonna have a look now at my car now am I right what am saying or am I totally wrong thanks again rob
It also depends on the weights given by the car maker and the max tow ball weight. Beginners are recommended not to tow more than 85% of the car kerb weight.
Give us the details of the car and weights off the plate and we'll be able to give better advice.
Quote: Originally posted by sheady on 30/5/2015
Thanks Rob in laymen terms as long as caravan is not heavier than the car and both together not over 3500 kgs with laden weight passengers luggage etc gonna have a look now at my car now am I right what am saying or am I totally wrong thanks again rob
In simple terms find the cars weight plate and note the max groos weight ( the second largest figure on the plate ) then subtract that from 3500 to find thr maximu plated weight that your caravan can have for your licence to cover it.
Then again from the plate find the highest figure ( this is the maximum train weight ) and subtract the max gross weight from it. This gives the maximum actual weight that you can tow. ( there are some very specific exceptions to this but for all normal purposes this works )
This covers all the legal bits
Common sense and good practice also say that you should look at your V5 document and find the mass in running order. It is very unwise to tow a caravan weighing more than this figure ( but not necessarily illegal ). As someone new to towing you are advised to stick to towing no more than about 85% of this figure but with experience and care up to 100% is acceptable.
------------- Bill
For a licence dated 1997 or later you must add together the plated max weight of the caravan and trailer, if the total is 3500 or less you can tow it. You may even tow a caravan with a MAM greater than the cars unladen mass the restriction was removed in 2013
Cars weight is 1328 kgs says on site I can pull up to 1500 kgs pulling weight a know that probs be pushing it am just looking for a caravan around the 1000kgs to take the kids on a few holidays holidays abroad are so expensive thanks again really good site this
That is kerbweight, you need to look at higher figure which will be max gross weight, ie max weight car can be with full load.
Gross vehicle weight for 307 estate 1.6 diesel is 2000kg for example which does in theory mean you could tow a caravan of almost 1500kg on just a B licence but for safety you need to restrict caravan to well under weight of car to prevent 'tail wags dog' situation so you could probably go for caravan of around 1100kg fully laden weight.
This assumes you have a diesel. If petrol you have much less torque so if petrol it will probably struggle with a ton.
if kerb weight is 1328 then GVW is going to under 2000
You need to look for a 4 berth caravan that is under 1500 mtplm for B licence towing (easy) but as a first timer you really need one no more than about 1100 mptlm
Sprite Alpine 4 berth 2011 is 1029 mtplm
I am certain there are others around that figure
------------- EX Advanced driving observer (IAM)
EX LGV & B+E instructor