OT:Van max weights and towing weights

[Mr Sandman]

Hi chaps,

i have a Merc Sprinter van 308D LWB 3.5ton, is there a max u can tow with this van? and does the 3.5ton include a trailer?

ta chaps!

Steve

[Cash]

As far as I can remember, the towing weight depends on whether the trailer is braked or unbraked - but the combined weight of a loaded trailer cannot exceed the laden weight of the vehicle towing it.

Have a look in the van's handbook (if you have one) and that will give you the definitive answer that you're looking for.

I can only answer from memory, as it's quite some time since I hung up my tow bar and trailer. :-)

Cash

[David WE Roberts]

The 3.5 tons will be the max laden weight (Gross Vehicle Weight?) of the vehicle.

There will also be a max train weight which will be the maximum of vehicle + trailer, often (but not always) greater than the max laden weight..

This should be in your vehicle handbook and probably on a plate somewhere on the bodywork (it is on my camper).

So you could have a e.g. max vehicle weight of 3.5 tons and a max train weight of 5 tons.

Remember the trailer will itself have a max laden weight (e.g 2 tons for a largeish braked trailer).

So if the van was loaded fully to 3.5 tons and you had a 2 ton trailer you could only load the trailer up to 1.5 tons. (3.5 + 1.5 = 5). If the van was only loaded up to 3 tons you could load the trailer up to 2 tons (3 + 2 = 5).

Hope this helps.

Dave R

[mark]

This is a minefield with a lot of different regs coming in.I have an Iveco 35 which is 3500 kgs gross.Designed for train weight of 6500 kgs.Law says trailer can only be a certain percentage of the vehicle gross weight so that rules out the 6500 kgs train weight in this country. Goverment has a webpage explaining trailer laws somewhere.

[R]

Check the plate on the door sill (or thereabouts) should give MAM etc etc.

Alternatively

[NT]

Beware of relying on the laws. Some perfectly legal combinations are pretty much undrivable. Trying to push the envelope can in some cases generate experiences you'll have more sense than to repeat.

NT

[Mr Sandman]

I have a Merc Sprinter 308D LWB 3.5ton and an Ifor Williams CT166 car transporter trailer. The trailer is about .75ton and grosses out at 3.5ton.

Steve

[Tim W]

Towing regulations are widely misunderstood and you are already getting unreliable and contradictory advice here just as you would in the pub. If you are concerned to be legal you need to read carefully the DfT info starting here:

in doubt you can make an enquiry at the local police station.

If you have an accident your insurers may try to avoid paying by claiming you were not road legal which can land you as the unsuspecting punter deep in effluent so it could be well worth being certain.

Tim W

[Tim Lamb]

Hence the number of farm livestock trailers parked on their sides as part of perfectly legal towing trains. Severe braking can cause the load to move in an unexpected way.

regards

[Man at B&Q]

Baaaa, oh Humbug!

MBQ

[NT]

There are worse possible outcomes too. Trailers can act oddly in other ways in combination with brakes with the result that braking distance becomes massively elongated. This is nothing to do with limitations of the tow vehicle's braking ability, the behaviour is more complex, involving oscillation in the braking system. You can also get severe stability problems that can make driving impossible at over about

30mph. All this on badly chosen but legal rigs.

NT

[Andy Champ]

A dozen posts and no-one has mentioned your licence. You _might_ need a separate test to get to the vehicle limit with a rig that big, depending on when you passed your test. It's all on the paper part.

If all you have is a paper part you're probably OK!

Andy

[damduck-egg]

Mini diggers seem to cause problems for a lot of people as well,have seen a few laid on their sides some still strapped to a trailer and a couple of instances where digger and trailer have separated.

G.Harman