Ozz120

Can a ford fiesta ST 2005, tow a small caravan? And if so how heavy can it be?

phil_focus

have a look in your hand book or give ford a ring.

my guess is NO it can't but if it can then it'll be fuck all as doesn't weigh much. would be a crap tow car tbh.

1.9 xr2 on 40's

i saw a massive twin axel being towed by a golf the other day, damn it must have been hard work

some little caravans dont weight much and you already have brakes and shocks over the std car so would be better than any other fiesta

will deffo take its toll on performance

V6 Ste

You got a few things to consider to be honest. Is the car capable of towing the weight ?? my other half towed my broken down Series Land Rover a couple of miles in her Fiesta Zetec S ,a week later it needed a new clutch. The other thing you need to consider is the legal weight ratio. I think your only alowed to tow a weight thats two thirds the weight of your tow car.I towed a old series Land Rover from Derbyshire about 70 miles home. I used an A frame and a Freelander but the series Landy was a lot heavier. Never again tho its dangerous and was getting dragged all over the place. Hope this helps.

phil_focus

i'm sorry thats not true. for instance older discoveries and defenders which weight about 2 tonne can legally tow upto 3.5 tonne as thats what the manufacturer has designed and built it to do and then had it aproved.

so it all depends on whether ford have said the st can tow, how much it can tow and then what you are licenced to tow. i've alsojust remebered tha the mondeo st220 can not tow but the st tdci CAN.

mcst

The issue isn't with the towing capabilites of the freeloader but the fact that the brakes weren't offering any assistance on the series as you would get with a caravan or braked trailer. You could put that landy behind something heavier like a disco or patrol etc and it will still want to push on or dive under the tow car. Exactly why a frames are only intended for recovery.

IIRC if some cars can't tow its because of type approval for the fitting of a towbar rather than physically being able to. I seem to remember the fiesta range can all be fitted with a towbar apart from one variant. I'm open to correction on that though.

I'd predict that the ST will have the power to tow a caravan but any van of a decent size will give it a "wag the dog" effect, lightness in the steering etc. braking will be ok but getting going could well be another story.

there is always this if you're short: http://www.freedomcaravans.com/freed...y-le-i681.html

scoooby slayer

iTrader: (4)

i would say it can tow about aswell as the queen mother can run the marathon

Chip

iTrader: (3)

Fiesta ST is not type approved as a tow car as far as I am aware.

My source:
http://www.cuddles.abelgratis.net/ford.htm#fiesta306

JayCC

I wouldn't even try personally..

V6 Ste

Well as they say ,you learn something new everyday . I will be having a word with bloke who told me the info and tell him it was a croc of shit

mcst

Freeloader tows 2000kg iirc.
Caravan groups recommend a capacity of 85-95% of the gvw of the tow car unless othewise stated by the manufacturer.

My Jimny towed my sisters primera when she broke down, and recently my mates xsara. I can tow 1300kg braked but aside from anything big enough looking ridiculous behind it i'd not fancy it myself but i do know people who do. I towed my small trailer at its limit(maybe a kg or 2 over) and it was awful the front end was so light.
I have also recovered a 7.5t lorry stuck on snow in our carpark, he was about to hit the pub and as long as he kept his wheels spinning i wasn't pulling dead weight............my clutch went 3 weeks later!

focusv8

Disco's love towing(legal as well)

phil_focus

hehe they are awsome, i'm planning on getting a 200tdi as a daily/tow car/off road toy 8)

bunnymofo

discovery series 1 can tow 4 ton, but if over 3.5 much have assisted brakes i believe

phil_focus

4 tonne, fuck me

oh well i'll find out for sure when i buy one, no doubt the sills will need welding up though

bunnymofo

haha, yeah, they always kneed some welding when we got ours it had had new sills

phil_focus

i plan to use box section to turn them into rock sliders and add some tree sliders to 8)

bunnymofo

ooohh, sounds good. mush see pics when done :P

tommytwotanks

http://www.fordfiestast.co.uk/showfl...=205778&page=2

phil_focus

i'll have to do a project thread hehe.

got to get a job first though which sucks as theres fuck all about for automotiv engineering graduates. everywhere wants "experiance". how the fuck can i get experiance if no-one wil take me on. <-----real tears

tommytwotanks

so what can you do as a automotive engineering graduate, are you a mechanic, have tried AA, RAC, GREEN FLAG or fitting windscreens

yep, they want experience at everything, or a bloody health and safety card, or fork lift license or whatever, and then want to pay you shit money as well, they know how to impress

phil_focus

why do people think you need an automotive engineering degree to become a mechanic

sorry, no i have not trained to be a mechanic. my degree is basically car design and touched on a lot of areas, some in more detail than others. i won't properly specialise until i get a job and some experiance under my belt. theres a lot of complexity in modern car design so its a bit impossible to specialise at uni. its kinda like a welding course when you try every type of welding and then specialise afterwards with whichever your skills are best suited for, just a LOT more maths and computer simulations involved

i've started te application process for some graduate specific jobs such as jaguar land rover but they take a long time to process with lots of stages, i'v applied for specific jobs right for my degree but they want experiance and so now i've started applying for more technician/lower jobs that perhaps arent quite related to my degree at large oem's to get my foot in the door. fingers crossed i'll get something soon and can then get on with my plans.

zetec-Sam

iTrader: (2)

Quoted, like fuck can they! Once watched one annihliate it's clutch trying to tow a hatchback out of a field. The Defender did it no trouble