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 Topic: Caravan weight advice
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20/6/2020 at 4:29pm
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Unless you already know, check your company insurance will cover towing. And/or your company is happy with you towing.
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20/6/2020 at 4:53pm
Location: Royal Forest of Dean
Outfit: Motorhome
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When did you get your driving licence? If it was after 1997 you will be limited to a gross train weight of 3500kg unless you take the towing test to get a B+E licence. Without B+E you will be limited to a caravan with a max plated gross weight(MTPLM) of 1170kg (3500-2330=1170).
You should never tow anything heavier than the kerbweight of the car and the advice for a novice is to stick to 85% of the kerbweight so a caravan around 1325kg MTPLM would be a good starting point but you would need B+E to do this.
Rob
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20/6/2020 at 5:05pm
Location: London
Outfit: Lunar Cosmos 524
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Welcome.
Not only the car - caravan combination to consider, your driving licence may restrict you depending on when you past your driving test and/or if you have taken the addition towing test, see here:
https://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/articles/view.asp?id=297
Assuming your driving licence restrictions don't override the following weights, general caravan industry GUIDANCE (it's NOT a 'Rule' as often quoted as such, or enforceable in any way!) is for those inexperienced at towing not to exceed a trailer weight of 85% of the tow car kerb weight. With your car that would give you a MTPLM (Maximum Technically Permissible Laden Mass) of a caravan of 1325Kg. It's not cast in stone, a bit heavier is not a problem.
85% guidance origins are quite old and it's validity is a little negated by modern technology of damped hitch couplings and snaking control devices on some modern caravans and cars, but it's sound in principle as it makes for a more stable outfit that a novice tow driver should have few snaking problems with, and should they develop, it's more manageable than a heavier trailer.
This site will give you a good insight into what caravans meet your criteria, you can filter results to berths, max MTPLM etc. to exclude what is of no interest to you.
https://www.caravanfinder.co.uk/caravan_search_results.html
This site gives you car - caravan matching statistics, but it is reported that the car specs are not always accurate, so best double check.
https://towcar.info/GB/
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20/6/2020 at 5:15pm
Location: Royal Forest of Dean
Outfit: Motorhome
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The max plated weight of the caravan includes everything you load into it and must not be exceeded. It's the MTPLM you need to go by not the MIRO. 85% is a guideline, 86% would be ok but I would be wary of going too high before you have got a few thousand miles of towing experience.
Rob
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20/6/2020 at 5:25pm
Location: London
Outfit: Lunar Cosmos 524
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Two weights quoted for caravans,
MIRO, or sometimes MRO, stands for Mass in Running Order. That's the weight at manufacture.
MTPLM (Maximum Technically Permissible Laden Mass) is the absolute MAXIMUM weight of caravan and ALL contents in whatever form they take.
MTPLM - MIRO = PAYLOAD The payload is items you can add to the caravan. But this is rarely as clearcut as it would seem as some essential items are not included in the MIRO figures.
General advice is load the car and keep caravan as light as possible. You cannot legally exceed the MTPLM under any circumstances!
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20/6/2020 at 5:52pm
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personally I would say, don't get a caravan, because of the company car and not being able to guarantee the make and model, I would suggest to go for a folding camper instead, all the benefits of a caravan without the worry regarding weight as they are a lot lighter, also not so expensive to drag around either! you will end up with the same amount of space if not a bit more inside, and no making beds up each night
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25/6/2020 at 1:32pm
Location: Midlands
Outfit: 2019 VW Arteon + 2002 Avondale Dart
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Is the Seat Terraco the big 7-seat SUV? If so, a kerb weight of 1559kg seems low - the mechanically similar but physically smaller VW Passat and Arteon are heavier than that.
It's good, sound common sense that the weight of a caravan should be less than that of the car towing it, but a ratio of 85% seems to have been selected arbitrarily many decades ago. Don't forget also that the actual weight of a car will be rather more than its kerb weight when loaded up for a holiday. My gut reaction is that you could realistically look at caravans with MTPLMs of around 1500kg. However, it would be sensible to take it for a few lightly loaded trips for weekends away first to help you get comfortable with how the car and caravan feel on the road.
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01/7/2020 at 9:13pm
Location: West country
Outfit: Mondeo
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I think you need to be careful before going too heavy as SamandRose suggests.
The old guidance used kerb weight but the current MIRO includes items not included in kerb weight such as 90% full fuel tank and a driver. So kerb weight is quite a bit less than MIRO.
The guidance was issued when speeds were a lot less. Caravans used to be limited to 40 mph.
The guidance uses kerb weight. That assumes that there will be some weight added to the car. It is wrong to say that a loaded car has a higher kerb weight. Kerb weight cannot change.
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03/7/2020 at 10:12am
Location: Worcestershire
Outfit: Buccaneer Cruiser
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Will it be the 2l which can tow the 2000kg or the 1.5 which can only tow 1800kg. Automatic or manual?
Either way the kerbweight is a lot higher than the one you have quoted even on the basic models so you have be able to go for a larger caravan.
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03/7/2020 at 4:49pm
Location: Worcestershire
Outfit: Buccaneer Cruiser
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Quote: Originally posted by garytaylor on 03/7/2020
Iank01 it will be the 1.5 manual
The 1.5 has a kerbweight of 1634kg and maximum it can tow is 1800kg so a mre than adequate vehicle. Caravan of up to 1400kg should be okay and a good match.
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