What lightweight car can I tow with A Frame (1 Viewer)

themountaintiger

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Ive done my best to search for the answer here on the forum, but im stuck! :helpsos:

Im after a car to tow with an A Frame. Due to my user requirements I could do with a 4 seater car on basis that its often me + misses + Grandson who go away..

Ive seen examples of cars that can be A Framed but when I check their weights the cars are approx 1200kg. My motorhome manual states that Maximum Recommended Trailer Weight for my motorhome is 1050Kg. (Swift Sundance 630g)

Does this mean that:

  1. I cant tow a 1200kg car?
  2. I could tow a 1200kg car albeit not recommended and it wouldnt be a problem
  3. I could tow a 1200kg car albeit not recommended and soon as I hit a hill ill be doing 7mph if Im lucky??
  4. Or something else??
Or is there a 4 seater car which would be under the 1050kg specified?

Any help appreciated or ill be adding a shopping basket to front of a scooter to fit grandson in it :Eeek: Hmm, or get roof rack for 2 seater smart car and strap misses on it!! ::bigsmile:
 

mike mcglynn

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toad suitable ?

:Smile:Hi, mountain tiger I pull a fiat seicento which is about 750 kg on a car a tow a frame which is great as you dont even know its there, when towing ,it is an 1100cc which goes quite well ,what are you thinking of cost wise :thumb:
 
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vwalan

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you may have to do more homework. what you need is the trainweight .it should be on an aluminium plate or some thing like that in the engine bay or a door opening.
yes towing a car will slow you down ,thats life .how fast do want to go.
50 on a normal road is fast enough . once you have the trainweight pick a car with abit less wt.than the tr wt. just for safety.
have a look on the classified on this site. should be good start. cheers alan.

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schojac

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Hi,

setting up a and A frame system is not as straight forward as it would first appear.

There are many different possibilities to be considered.

Gross train weight; as stated check your plate or owners manual.

engine size; anything below 2.8 will be a little short on power.

Cost; minimum, 1K to 1.5K; I was lucky A frame and 2001 Seicento with 39k miles complete £1500

Tow bar, electrics

tax, insurance, MOT - £300 - that's a lot of hired cars if you are not going to use it regularly. Not too bad if it's going to be your main transport other than the MH

Easy to hitch after some practise, but reversing can cause problems; it's not like a trailer.

Some issues when going abroad especially Spain and Italy.

Don't want to sound negative but there are lots to consider. Go the MHfun garage and search for 2006 Autotrail mohican, I have some photos there.

Good luck and hope I have helped.

Jack
 
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pappajohn

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Ive seen examples of cars that can be A Framed but when I check their weights the cars are approx 1200kg. My motorhome manual states that Maximum Recommended Trailer Weight for my motorhome is 1050Kg. (Swift Sundance 630g)

forget your handbook...you need the actual train weight limit which will be on the VIN plate uner the bonnet (usually)



:Smile:Hi, mountain tiger I pull a fiat seicento which is about 750 kg on a car a tow a frame which is great as you dont even know its there, when towing ,it is an 1100cc which goes quite well ,what are you thinking of cost wise :thumb:

the weight of the trailer/toad, for VOSA towing limits, is the actual gross weight, not the unladen weight....whether loaded or not.

my Corsa was 1140kg unladen but 1680kg gross was the required weight

my Ifor Williams trailer was 640kg unladen but 3500kg gross so i couldnt legally pull it behind the corsa even though it was quite capable of towing 640kg

BTW....towing the corsa dropped my fuel (2.8ltr ducato) by 1mpg on average...26mpg solo to 25mpg towing.

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themountaintiger

themountaintiger

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:Smile:Hi, mountain tiger I pull a fiat seicento which is about 750 kg on a car a tow a frame which is great as you dont even know its there, when towing ,it is an 1100cc which goes quite well ,what are you thinking of cost wise :thumb:

I think my initial assumptions on the actual weight of vehicles mentioned may have been incorrect. I had used autotrader to search for vehicles and under their dimensions tab the vehicles were all about 1200kg in weight including the Fiat Seicento.

After Mike's comment about the Fiat, Ive checked on another web site Parkers and see that Ive been looking at the Gross Vehicle Weight figure within Autotrader. Im presuming I need to be looking at the minimum weight (is kerb weight the same thing?)

Cost wise, not sure just yet, idea is probably to have misses exchange or sell her car to change to A Frame car type.. Hers though is probably worth 5k. Might consider one already a framed....
 
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traffic

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I tow a Citroen 2 cv only weighs 640kg,it seats 4,.. runs on air,and certainly turns heads.:ROFLMAO:
 
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pappajohn

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I think my initial assumptions on the actual weight of vehicles mentioned may have been incorrect. I had used autotrader to search for vehicles and under their dimensions tab the vehicles were all about 1200kg in weight including the Fiat Seicento.

After Mike's comment about the Fiat, Ive checked on another web site Parkers and see that Ive been looking at the Gross Vehicle Weight figure within Autotrader. Im presuming I need to be looking at the minimum weight (is kerb weight the same thing?)

Cost wise, not sure just yet, idea is probably to have misses exchange or sell her car to change to A Frame car type.. Hers though is probably worth 5k. Might consider one already a framed....

see post #6 above....you need the gross weight for the car...not the kerb weight.

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vwalan

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dont worry about engine size of towing van unless its really something very small .i have pulled loads behind a vw 1600cc camper. be it for recovery .yes it may be slower but then you are towing not racing. cheers alan.
 
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themountaintiger

themountaintiger

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you may have to do more homework. what you need is the trainweight .it should be on an aluminium plate or some thing like that in the engine bay or a door opening.
yes towing a car will slow you down ,thats life .how fast do want to go.
50 on a normal road is fast enough . once you have the trainweight pick a car with abit less wt.than the tr wt. just for safety.
have a look on the classified on this site. should be good start. cheers alan.

Hi Alan
thanks for info. Im not a speed freek dont worry, Im a 60mpher on the motorways, never towed before so not sure of effect on speed. The trainweight if thats the Gross Train Weight is 6505kg
 
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vwalan

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now you need to take away the gross vehicle wt(camper wt)then you can start to look for car. keep abit spare.

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themountaintiger

themountaintiger

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Hi,

setting up a and A frame system is not as straight forward as it would first appear.

There are many different possibilities to be considered.

Gross train weight; as stated check your plate or owners manual.

engine size; anything below 2.8 will be a little short on power.

Cost; minimum, 1K to 1.5K; I was lucky A frame and 2001 Seicento with 39k miles complete £1500

Tow bar, electrics

tax, insurance, MOT - £300 - that's a lot of hired cars if you are not going to use it regularly. Not too bad if it's going to be your main transport other than the MH

Easy to hitch after some practise, but reversing can cause problems; it's not like a trailer.

Some issues when going abroad especially Spain and Italy.

Don't want to sound negative but there are lots to consider. Go the MHfun garage and search for 2006 Autotrail mohican, I have some photos there.

Good luck and hope I have helped.

Jack

Hi Jack, yes of course your helping. Ive read similar comments on here already, also with someone (could have been you) mentioning about justification of cost. The vehicle to be used will be the main second car so that negates some of that cost. Im currently doing most of my motorhoming in UK so dont think I would use it for abroad.** I think buying one second hand would help with costs to see in the first instance how much use I would get out of it..Im still quite new to motorhoming so sort of finding my way at the moment.


**Might get a scooter for abroad where just me and misses would travel. cant cope with Grandson for full 2 weeks, he runs me ragged....
 
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vwalan

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cause we could use cc recomendations and confuse every body. upset two on uk campsite other week .keep saying 80percent of wt of car .like i said a polo cant pull 80per cent so its not a good guide. i always say use the train wt .
 
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themountaintiger

themountaintiger

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I tow a Citroen 2 cv only weighs 640kg,it seats 4,.. runs on air,and certainly turns heads.:ROFLMAO:

Crikey are they still about. that car certainly hs character..Ill add it to my list of ones to check out. I did fancy getting something quirky, but with the misses using it as her full time car she will have the largest say in the matter. It is lighweight though!!!

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ballina226

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Hi

If the manufacturer of the motorhome places a maximum trailer weight of 1050 kg on it you should not tow a toad greater than this without their (written) approval.

I also tow a Seicento which has a kerbweight of 750 kg and you do not know it is behind you. The Seicento has a maximum weight of 1200 kg but if you tow it empty ie no passengers or luggage your motorhome can to one legally.

Hope this helps
 
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themountaintiger

themountaintiger

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now we're cookin'

deduct the vans gross (laden) weight, on the vin plate, from the train weight and the answer is your towing limit

for a 4000kg van it will be 2505kg....for a 5000kg van it will be 1505kg etc

ok, so my gross train weight is 6550kg my MTPLM is 4005kg so does this mean i can pull 2545kg Gross vehicle weight?
 
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pappajohn

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Hi

If the manufacturer of the motorhome places a maximum trailer weight of 1050 kg on it you should not tow a toad greater than this without their (written) approval.

I also tow a Seicento which has a kerbweight of 750 kg and you do not know it is behind you. The Seicento has a maximum weight of 1200 kg but if you tow it empty ie no passengers or luggage your motorhome can to one legally.

Hope this helps

sorry ballina, but the unladen (kerb) weight has nowt to do with the towing limit.....only the trailers/toads gross (MAM) applies, whether loaded or not.

the base vehicle manufacturer states the train weight...not the motorhome converter, they can only recommend :thumb:

welcome to the fun :thumb:

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themountaintiger

themountaintiger

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correct.....but double check your train figures to be sure it states 6550kg

2545kg is a big jump from the recommended 1050kg, innit !!!!:thumb:
Hi pappajohn

Your right, the figure is actually 6505kg, typing error by me!. It is a big jump 2500kg from recommended 1050kg, but I wont be going daft seeing if I can A Frame a Hummer!!!

Thanks for helping me through the calculation!! Ill look at some appropriate cars now!!

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pappajohn

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dont forget...a big car will eat into your fuel consumption more than a lit'lun.

and a regular automatic is a no-no.

i found the 1.4ltr corsa was the ideal size and economical for everyday use.
 
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ballina226

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sorry ballina, but the unladen (kerb) weight has nowt to do with the towing limit.....only the trailers/toads gross (MAM) applies, whether loaded or not.

the base vehicle manufacturer states the train weight...not the motorhome converter, they can only recommend :thumb:

welcome to the fun :thumb:

I thought my post would cause some comment but having towed a caravan for many years I know the subject of maximum weights of trailers and towing limits set by vehicle manufacturers has had extensive debate.

I worked in the transport industry before retirement and have in the past spoken to VOSA officers about maximum trailer weights in view of this. It is not an offence to tow a trailer with a maximum laiden weight greater than the limit set by the vehicle manufacturer providing the actual weight towed is not greater than the manufacturers limit.

The base vehicle manufacturers do set the train weight but I do know that Swift set a maximum recommended trailer weight of 1350 kg for my Bolero for a reason and that should not be exceeded without consulting them. I understand from the dealer who supplied the vehicle this was related to the towing capacity of the optional towbar.

Regards

Steve

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pappajohn

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agreed steve, the towing limit should be dictated by the towbars limitations but with a trailer limit of over 2.5t a suitable towbar should be fitted...not a cost effective and inferior one.

appologies if it appeared so, but i never intended to pull your first post to pieces.

welcome to the fun...:thumb:
 
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themountaintiger

themountaintiger

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I thought my post would cause some comment but having towed a caravan for many years I know the subject of maximum weights of trailers and towing limits set by vehicle manufacturers has had extensive debate.

I worked in the transport industry before retirement and have in the past spoken to VOSA officers about maximum trailer weights in view of this. It is not an offence to tow a trailer with a maximum laiden weight greater than the limit set by the vehicle manufacturer providing the actual weight towed is not greater than the manufacturers limit.

The base vehicle manufacturers do set the train weight but I do know that Swift set a maximum recommended trailer weight of 1350 kg for my Bolero for a reason and that should not be exceeded without consulting them. I understand from the dealer who supplied the vehicle this was related to the towing capacity of the optional towbar.

Regards

Steve

Hi

If the manufacturer of the motorhome places a maximum trailer weight of 1050 kg on it you should not tow a toad greater than this without their (written) approval.

I also tow a Seicento which has a kerbweight of 750 kg and you do not know it is behind you. The Seicento has a maximum weight of 1200 kg but if you tow it empty ie no passengers or luggage your motorhome can to one legally.

Hi Steve, so are u saying that it is the figure of the 750kg which is important in relation to the 1050kg, or the actual gross weight of the vehicle i.e. Seicento 1200kg? Ahh just read again, and you mean the actual weight so in your example you believe the empty Seicento would be near enough to the 1050Kg...
 
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themountaintiger

themountaintiger

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agreed steve, the towing limit should be dictated by the towbars limitations but with a trailer limit of over 2.5t a suitable towbar should be fitted...not a cost effective and inferior one.

appologies if it appeared so, but i never intended to pull your first post to pieces.

welcome to the fun...:thumb:

Think I need to do some research on towbars next......there are inferior ones.../*?$ More research to be done I think.....
 
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