I`m off to pick up a Cosworth from Portsmouth and will be using a trailor to collect it. Couple of things i`m not sure of, will my peugeot 406 td be up to the job of towing it (No engine or box in cossie) and am i allowed to use the motorways?

Ed

 

Yes and yes.

 

Top stuff. Cheers m8...

 

Recently towed a tonne and half of calibra with a 90 bhp tdi golf, yours should have a fair bit more oomph, and sounds like won't have more weight to drag considering.
Got to 60 and held ok, which is all you need
Averaged over 40 mpg too, through rush hour, with me racing everyone

 

What about insurance? Should i tell my insurance company or is it covered already?

 

Car insurance should cover it, but is always best to check.

 

best to check insurance, depends on your policy. you may be insured to tow, but it dont mean whats on the trailers insured if the worst happens, so best check.

dont know how familar you are with towing so please ignore if you know all this, just thought id share the info, so your legal:

as for the car, yeh it will tow it i assume, should not weigh too much with out engine/box! its a turbo diesel after all. i use my landrover defender 110 for towing, so its a piece of piss for me. can be towing 3 ton and you forget its even there sometimes!!

i assume the trailer your using is a twin axle unit? wouldnt even consider using a single.(infact dont even think its legal to?)

remember 60mph max on motorway
and 50mph max in national speed limits areas

im assuming you passed your driving test before 1st jan 1997, cos if you passed after that you can only tow max laden/gross weight of 3/4 ton! and you need to take a test to upgrade your licence!

make sure the car is strapped down, i think 2 strap/fixings are the minimum. i always use 5 - a strap on each wheel and on on a towing eye to be safe.
sounds stupid but im talking from experience, my fatherinlaws Aston Martin fell off of our trailer before we even left the drive! and one of my mates i know through work stuff got fined Ł7000 for an "insecure load", he had no straps and didnt attach the emergency brake cable on to the car!

one last thing make sure the car is ballenced on the trailer, to far foward will be hard on the car. too far back and you wont be able to go over 40mph cos it will snake like a bugger and you will risk loosing the lot!!

hope you learnt something, hope the journey goes smoothly.

 

you need to put all the weight to the front to stop it swaying from side to side at any decent speed.

your car will be covered but few if any insurance covers the trailer or whats on the trailer.

 

did you pass your test before 97?

 

weight wise you will probably be illegal in a 406,best check first.

 

I passed in 2000 .

Looks like i won`t be driving...

 

Car licences obtained before 1 January 1997
If you passed a car test before 1 January 1997 you keep your existing entitlement to tow trailers until your licence expires. This means you're generally entitled to drive a vehicle and trailer combination up to 8.25 tonnes maximum authorised mass (MAM). You also have entitlement to drive a minibus with a trailer over 750 kgs MAM.
Car licences obtained on or after 1 January 1997
If you passed a car test on or after 1 January 1997 you're limited to vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes maximum authorised mass towing a trailer up to 750 kgs, or a vehicle and trailer combination up to 3.5 tonnes MAM providing the MAM of the trailer doesn't exceed the unladen mass of the towing vehicle. You'll need to pass an additional driving test in B+E if you wish to tow a caravan or trailer combination which exceeds these weight limits.

 

I`m a bit confused now, does that mean i`m ok or is it too heavy?

 

Basicly you can tow upto 750 kg, cossie - engine i would imagine will be around 1100kg

 

Mmmm, so i might be ok. Its basically a rolling shell so i hope so...

 

cossie minus engine is around 1100kg i meant

 

 

your nowhere near ok,your trailer will weigh at least 400kgs before you even put a car on it!!!!

 

oi, i said it first

seriously tho, this is still a bit of a grey area. you could always risk it ans plead you know nothing, but probably not worthit using the 406. think thats why i got away with it for so long, because i have a landrover, it dont look suss. i sold and towed my mk1 escort to a chap in fife scotland (im in essex!!) on the A1 my front propshaft exploded which inturn broke my transerbox (not the g/box luckily- theyre Ł1500 exchange!!! )
I was stuck on the motorway hardshoulder in a 2.5 ton truck with a 1 ton 24' ifor williams trailer and a mk1 escort on the back, with no licence for a tailer!!! had to get a recovery lorry to put truck on back then hitch up trailer to lorry. he did drop the car of tho then left me in edinburugh!!! Ł500 for like 60miles, was 3am mind you!!!

yes thats my argument as to why this rule is stupid. most trailers weigh 1/2 - 3/4 unladen!!! and what use is that. in my opioion they should ban those stupid little trailers. you know the ones they are about 2' square and have 6" wheels on them usually towed buy a toyota! you see them in homebase/b&q trying to strap a door on top or a fence panel .

seriously tho. surley you must have a mate to help you out, could you not get someone insured on your 406? tho i guess they have to be a MATE, trusting them to tow that lot home safley! dad maby?

long shot but the other option could be looking into hireing a small flat bed transit? im not sur of the gross weight restrictions think its 3.4 ton or maby 7 on a normal car licence? this topic was covered quite recently on here.

anyway hope you sort it out, good luck

 

you aint allowed to tow no more than 750 kg with a car we got stoped with a short wheel base trannie with 1100 kg on back inc trailer and we told it was to heavy and had to get a mate out is 4x4 to get trailer then the checked me tanl for red lol