Kerb weight and GVW of vehicles - one source? X-Post

I'm looking for a towing vehicle for a large caravan; around 2,000kg MAM.

There are some obvious contenders such as Land/Range Rovers, pick-up trucks and the like but there are also a range of large powerful vehicles such as people carriers and estate cars. BMW X5 and Mercedes M Series look plusher options.

To work out which cars are suitable, I need some key weights.

(1) Maximum towing weight

(2) Maximum train weight

(3) Kerb weight

(4) Gross Vehicle Weight

The starting point (obviously) is that it must be able to tow at least

2,000 kg.

To meet the Caravan Club (and others) recommendation for the MAM of the caravan to be 85% of the kerb weight of the towing vehicle I would need a kerb weight of around 2,350kg.

I've searched on line and looked in a couple of car buying magazines (Parkers and What Car) and although they have dimensions and MPG and the like, they don't seem to have the weights.

I can generally work back from a vehicle to the relevant weights but I would like to be able to put together a list of, say, all vehicles which weigh over 2.2 metric tonnes and can tow over 2 metric tonnes without having to research each individual vehicle to rule it in/out.

Anyone know of a good on line or paper resource?

Cheers

Dave R

Reply to
David
Loading thread data ...

This might be a good place to start

formatting link

Another Dave

Reply to
Another Dave

The information you need is all here

formatting link
- but not in a very convenient format!

Reply to
Roger Mills

Don't forget to check nose-weight limits! They vary a lot. In general, the higher the nose-weight the more stable the outfit. Many European cars have barely adequate nose-weight limits for optimum stability.

Tim

Reply to
Tim+

Did you try that site?

Its UNFIT for purpose. If you know what car you have then it's fine as it will tell the tow weight but if you want to get a selection of vehicles that can tow your load then its useless. Its useless as you have to open each "maker", then select the "vehicle" from that makers list and THEN select the "model" of that vehicle.

Reply to
Peter Hill

Did you try that site?

Its UNFIT for purpose. If you know what car you have then it's fine as it will tell the tow weight but if you want to get a selection of vehicles that can tow your load then its useless. Its useless as you have to open each "maker" (only 48), then select the "vehicle" from that makers list and THEN select the "model" of that vehicle.

Reply to
Peter Hill

Have you asked the caravan club? They seem the obvious ones...

It may also be worth asking in horse groups - they tow. I'd suggest boat ones, but they all seem to be dead.

Andy

Reply to
Vir Campestris

In message , Roger Mills writes

I think it's a nightmare. When I wanted to find an alternative for towing the 3-ton boat I was reduced to trawling the net and gathering bits of info together on several sheets of paper. My additional parameter was wheelbase because of a specific tight manoeuvre for trailer parking.

I did ask in uk.rec.cars.maintenance and got some useful replies.

By the time I had made the list, the Jeep had swallowed all the funds for the change, so I'm stuck with it.

Reply to
Bill

formatting link

Doesn't have tow weights but finds there are 501 vehicles (listed 25 to a page) weighing up to 2600 kg until 2016 from 2010 weighing from 2200 kg

I take it a Bentley Silver Spur won't tow 2 tonnes.

Reply to
Peter Hill

Not much help in choosing a vehicle but something that can be checked when looking at a potential one: GTW normally obtained by subtracting the gross train weight from the gross vehicle weight, sometimes the manufacturers may specify a lower trailer weight.

The second weight on the VIN plate , this is often riveted to the bulkhead or one of the door pillars.

Not often available but sometimes on the V5 as revenue weight. This is the unladen weight with all fluids plus 75kg allowance for driver, subtract this from GVW (MAM) to get the load capacity

First weight on the plate

3rd and 4th weights are the front and rear axle maximum weights, often these will add up to more than the GVW to allow for uneven load distribution.

I'd not worry about this for a heavy trailer, a transit tipper truck weights 2100kg empty and tows 2500kg lawfully and well but I normally want 1.2 tonne in the load bed for stability. Given that the towing vehicle is unlikely to be unladen the trailer should not be wagging the tow vehicle if the nose weight is correct.

I'd want 150BHP at least for a caravan even though it will be limited to 60MPH on a motorway.

I'd download the manufacturer's brochure of any vehicles you fancy and check weights first.

AJH

Reply to
news

errata trailer max weight is gross train weight less gross vehicle weight

Errata I meant 1/2 tonne in bed

Reply to
news

Yes I did! That's why I wrote "not in a very convenient format".

There used to be a much better site at

formatting link
but that seems to have gone the way of all flesh. I was aware that the one I cited was far from ideal, but it was the best I could find.

Since you slated both my and someone else's reply, perhaps you have a better suggestion?

Reply to
Roger Mills

Useful for a quick look up, but sadly doesn't seem to include car/pickups like the Toyota Hilux.

Cheers

Dave R

Reply to
David

Errata :-) - many vehicles have a GVW and a max towing weight which together are significantly higher than the max train weight.

In other words you can load the tow vehicle to the limit, you can load the trailer to the limit, but not both at once!

Notable in some pickup trucks where the GVW is 3500kg, the towing limit is

3500kg, but the maximum train weight is significantly below 7000kg.

I think the caravan club guidelines are driven by the shape of the trailer.

I used to have a 2 tonne twin axle trailer but it was significantly shorter than your average caravan and with, for example, two builders' bags of ballast the weight would be low down and concentrated over the twin axles.

With a caravan which is close to 7 metres long and is also high sided there is a lot more leverage from weight behind the caravan axle(s) and also a lot more surface area to catch the wind (natural or from passing lorries).

So there is far more potential for the tail to wag the dog.

There is a level of safety built in for drivers with limited towing experience as well.

Cheers

Dave R

Reply to
David

I did find the towing car application after posting here.

The interface is a pain in the bum, though, and so far the search results seem to be inconsistent where I think I am putting in the same requirements but keep getting different lists in different orders.

However they apply their own filter to decide suitability and you then have to drill down to the details to find out why they consider the tow car to be suitable, possible, or unsuitable.

Useful for a first list to match the CC requirements, but not so much to find anything they may not approve of.

They also do things like classing a Disco 3 as not suitable because of the bhp per tonne ratio with a 2 tonne caravan. This does seem a little unrealistic considering what Discos are generally used for.

Cheers

Dave R

Reply to
David

So not a mistake, as I said the manufacturer may specify a trailer weight that is lower than the GTW minus GVW

Yes this is especially true of some of the dual purpose vehicles like the Hilux, which actually doesn't like towing anything much over 1.5 tonnes even thought it is rated at 2.8 tonnes.

My point was that you will be hard pushed to find a 2.3 tonne kerb weight tow vehicle and this will include all the dual purpose vehicles, like the Hilux, Navara, Dmax etc. because they have to be under 2 old tons to qualify for the higher speed limits of a car (and class 4 MOT), which of course is immaterial whilst towing as lower limits apply then.

AJH

Reply to
news

Just to be clear, you are saying that a dual purpose vehicle such as a pick up truck (is there anything else?) has to be under 2 old tons (2033kg) but an MPV/SUV doesn't?

This would explain why the Range Rover Sport is at the top of the CC list.

Cheers

Dave R

Reply to
David

The BMW 5GT is a 2 tonner and RWD so ought to make an excellent tow car without going to a 4x4.

I know this as, on some group somewhere, someone was fretting about whether they could tow with one and, when I looked it up, it turned out just as heavy as the tin-tent favourite, the Discovery II.

Reply to
Scott M

Interesting vehicle.

I have a hankering for a 4x4 because of muddy fields. X5 is in the frame. of course.

Also, of course, the coming winter.

formatting link

Cheers

Dave R

Reply to
David

Has there *ever* been a winter when the Excess hasn't trotted out the "heavy snow forecast" headline?

Tim

Reply to
Tim+

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.