markk

iTrader: (2)

GTW still applies to your model of van and must not be exceeded.

DazC

iTrader: (1)

Fooking hell!!! It's a baby Transit!! I never thought they made them that small!!!

I'd sell it and get a bigger one to be honest. Less hassle than having it replated and swapping axles I would have thought...

david

I can see the point they are making but surely if the tow vehicle is upto the job power wise, the trailer is safely loaded & braked and the driver is competent enough to drive then there isnt any real danger to anyone ?

markk

iTrader: (2)

if the manufacturer didnt design the brakes to cope with more than 3500kgs of weight then its not safe at over 3500kgs of weight , or that the springs cant take the loadings of more that the DGW , thats why its not safe.

david

Lets just say it was a 4x4 saff with uprated standard height springs,assistors too and decent pads No issues stopping from speed as the trailer is well braked (same trailer as yours Mark) and the car not bottoming out I dont personally see a problem with it.


How unsafe do you reckon it is ?

Not argueing here, just want to know your opinion mate

markk

iTrader: (2)

from the law perpective , its illegal, from my own experiance, its dangerous.

heres an instance, years ago i borrowed a van and trailer, i was climbing a rather large hill, no problem there, but when i came to the top i had to go back down again, oh fook , hot day, major steep down hill for approx 1/2 mile, you try stopping in a hurry, simple thing is you aint gonna stop. i know luckily there was no one in front but i had no brakes what so ever.

the other thing is wind, when the wind is blowing hard, the pivotal forces will practically turn you over if the vehicle behind you has as much action on the forces as the vehicle in front - whos in control ? i know where id rather be.

i dont like to preach but ive been there and done that, and also recovered the mess of incorrect axle loadings, caravans, trailers the lot. hence why i like to be in control.

plus who likes a fine ( fookin taxing bastard goverment tw@ts ) as i we dont pay them enough every fookin month

mk3cosworth

ive spent alot of time and money on my tranny and its got more extras than most cars and changing the axles isnt hard, infact ive just changed the rear one last week cos the diff was whining
ill have a think on it

DazC

iTrader: (1)

If you have put a lot of effort into your one then keep it and swap the axles! They are not a hard job by a long way to swap.

Oh, and I agree with Markk!!

david

Fair enough mate, cant knock experience

I do a lot of miles with my mondeo TD towing and it is pish really, gets you there and back but far from ideal, never been pulled though so is it a recent clampdown or just down South ?

What car would be legal for towing a saff around with apart from buying my boss's landy off of him ?

Oh and dont start me on paying more money to the goverment

blacky.

we werent down south its was only the other side of doncaster & from what they were saying no car should be towing an other car on a trailer i supose we were lucky we had a transit even though we were over weight if we had been in a car we would have probably go locked up

markk

iTrader: (2)

tbh i dont think there is a particular 'car' that is legal to tow a sapphire and a suitable trailer, like i said, car 1350 kgs (ish) trailer (liteweight even) 700kgs makes the extra on any vehicle 2050kgs, there isnt any cars i can think of that can tow that much weight on top of there own weight.

just look at the tranny weights above, cars have no chance.

a friend of mine used to use his mondeo to tow his car, that was just legal, and that was a very light nova on a brand new trailer that was just big enough for the nova. probably 1200kgs all up(car and trailer)

david

Time for another car then I reckon but I just bought another mondeo last week

Do you not think its a bit fucked up as ive towed with transits etc and had no problems myself

Cant beat the Disco TD5 though, cruising at just under a ton with the saff on the trailer and hardly notice its there

AndyGranger

Out of interest where did you get pulled?
Was it in Nottingham?
Was the driver a woman??

blacky.

it was on the A1 just south west of doncaster
we were traveling back from Nottingham
& the driver of what????

AndyGranger

The driver of the vosa patrol car

paul16v

It wasa police patrol car that pulled us in

AndyGranger

Just wondered mate
The nottingham vosa patrol car has a ex man now turned woman driving it

paul16v

I wouldnt have been able to keep me face straight

Iain Mac

Seems to be a general clampdown on vans at the mo. We got a Transit 260 busted for overweight with three guys, their tools, and two boxes of nails in it.

blacky.

it must have been the 2 box's of nails that pushed it over lol

Mr RS500

iTrader: (6)

Bloody hell
I will have to check mine , I have a new shape medium wheel base high roof tranny , and a tilt bed trailor , I think my tranny is a big load model tho as its 5 stud wheels and its higher of the groung than most trannys

I underatand laws , but a tranny is the best towing vehicle in the world ,

So you can buy a rang rover , tow a trailor with no brakes and have never towed before and be ok , But you might ( like me ) have thousands of miles towing behind you , have a modern big van with a modern trailor ( with brakes ) and get pulled ,

Laws in this country stink ,,as said the only enforce laws in britain that they can get money out of you from ,

tracktoy

got a tdi range rover classic if anybody wants one

Phil

iTrader: (1)

Fook i've towed a 1 ton car on a 700kg trailer with my Laguna diesel

mk3cosworth

think i might just sell the van and my bmw estate and get a new shape transit
paul (north yorkshire rs spare) you dont want to buy that x-reg bmw estate i came to yours in do you, lol
wish we seen that lady man thing, lol we defo wold have been locked up

peteh

iTrader: (3)

was gona say, i towed my cos with my dads vectra

DazC

iTrader: (1)

Paul, your van was a 3500 Gross vehicle weight IIRC from the time I saw you drive past me at National Day 05 so in theory, your train weight limit would be 5 and 3/4 tonnes. Best bet is to get loaded up as you would be normally, and go and put it all on a weigh bridge.

kennyA

Interesting topic.

I tow my Escos (1100kg) using a B James tilt bed trailor. At the mo I use my Audi A6 quattro, however I was going to get a VW T4 or T5. Anyone had any experience with them?

cheers.

tracktoy

i looked at an ex AA vw transporter-
built for towing with air suspension on the back and is racked out with tool boxes inside- ideal for track days
not sure what the towing limit is though

but ended up getting another 4x4

somewhere

a tacho must be fitted but you dont have to use it if what your carrying is not for hire or reward. in other words your own gear and not being paid for it.

Tony Ryan

This has always been a problem for trackdayers and racers, in fact on several occasions police cars have been outside Lydden hill Circuit pulling any car thats towing a trailer, on one occasion they pulled Rod Birley over and made someone else tow his car back home and that was being towed by his high top transit at the time . Ive always used a Diesel range Rover until recently , got a Vito now so im breaking the law as well , time to get anohter bloody Rangie !!

Rossco

Where is my dad gonna stand, he is having a Iveco box van converted into a car transporter and has just bought a tilting Ifor Williams trailer, is this gonna be legal Mark?

markk

iTrader: (2)

just have a lok on the vin plate or the actual ministry plate if it has one, some of them iveco vans are 6 tonne GVW, so if he strips the body, fits a transporter body, he could theoretically still carry 3 tonnes if its that size of vehicle.

if its an old small iveco, hes fooked, i used to use a recovery iveco, that had a hydraulic tiltbed, but at anything over 900kgs was overloaded, it had to be sold as it would not comply with the recovery regs.


the train weight also depends on the model of iveco

Jayen4

Hmmm,Sounds like the police and the Vosa lot are off on one of their ''Lets nick everybody,on a technicality'' trips !!

That's why I've just bought a Renault B110 crew cab,to make into a transporter. 'Tout,Tout' LOL !! It has a gvw of 5.5 tons and a gtw of 9 tons !! Do you think that's big enough for 'em ??

Little Story: A lot of years ago,my dad had a 16 ton Ford D series and he called home one day and when he wanted to go,to deliver his load,the starter motor was fooked...... So I got my little Ford Anglia out (it had a 1500 engine in it),hooked it up to the front of the truck (all 16 tons of it) and tow started the truck with it !! There was a bit of wheelspin,but it did it,LOL !!

Can't gross more than 3.5 tons,with you're tranny ----Pah ! ,what you all need ,is a little old Anglia !!

bortaf

Got rid of me trailer and towing dolly and got a recovery cos of all this towing limit malarky, strangely my old E reg transit recovery had been uprated to to 3995 GVW just by adding 3 extra rear leaf springs? hasn't even got vented discs for god sake
took the cert off so i can MOT it as class 7 (cheaper)
Mind you it' weighs in empty at 2500 with me and 1/2 tank of diesel so legaly i can only carry a cortina if i take the wheels off it and leave em behind

DazC

iTrader: (1)

You could have towed the wheels behind in a little trailer!

blacky.

thats what we are on about you cant just tow things as the vehicals have set train weights if your over your over even if its in a small trailer

DazC

iTrader: (1)

No mate I was replying to bortaf. Botaf was on about his 3995 GVW Transit being over weight carrying his car with the wheels on. If he had a trailer to put the wheels in then he would still be within the GTW, logically and educationally guessing that the van will have a GTW of 6 tonne. As long as his trailer and wheels combo didn't weigh over 2 tonne of course!

bortaf

never thought of that one, the post office is sooo slow

paul16v

Problem solved we went to manchester today and he bought a 190 lwb semi-high transit, well within the GTW now

James

someone i know of was involved in a crash with that same setup as above.

laguna travelling down a hill with a trailer+car on the back, lost control of the trailer going down a steep hill which sent the trailer sideways into the way of oncomming traffic which was where my mate was travelling in his iveco van, sliced open the side of the van, fooking lucky it wasn't a school bus thats all i can say!