Bailey Approach Towing Capacity (1 Viewer)

[Neil S]

If I tow a car trailer which has a max plated weight of 2,500kg (unladen 500kg) but only load it with a small car weighing 1170kg which would take it up 1670kg which is within the towing capacity of my motorhome would this be legal ? or do DVSA (VOSA )go by the trailers plated weight .
The GTW of my motorhome is 5,500kg

 

[tonka]

My understanding is they go by plated weight..
After all you cant go drive a 12 tonne plated rv but only load it to 7.5 if thats what your license states...

 

[timetochill]

Interesting that just collected our 740 and may tow with it not towed before with MH but liking the idea how you finding the Bailey well pleased with ours at the moment

 

[Larrynwin]

Two issues, licence first, If your licence is C1+E then you can have GVW 7500KG +750kg trailer giving 8250GTW.
However , if the GVW of your motorhome is less than 7500kg then your trailer can make up to the 8250 GTW eg Motorhome 4500kg then you can tow a trailer up to 3750 kg gvw
If your licence is B+E then the maximum GVW is 3500kg with a GTW of 11000kg.

As far as the motorhome is concerned , provided the trailers total kerb weight including its load does not exceed the maximum towing weight recommended by Bailey then you are ok.

 

[Neil S]

Two issues, licence first, If your licence is C1+E then you can have GVW 7500KG +750kg trailer giving 8250GTW.
However , if the GVW of your motorhome is less than 7500kg then your trailer can make up to the 8250 GTW eg Motorhome 4500kg then you can tow a trailer up to 3750 kg gvw
If your licence is B+E then the maximum GVW is 3500kg with a GTW of 11000kg.

As far as the motorhome is concerned , provided the trailers total kerb weight including its load does not exceed the maximum towing weight recommended by Bailey then you are ok.

Ok thank for the information , as far driving licence entitlements I have the C+E (LGV1) which still current for another two years so I should be ok

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[tonka]

As mentioned check restrictions on the tow weight from Bailey or on your certificate of conformity..
My Autotrail plated at 4250kg can only tow 1050kg.! this is due to the use of chassis extenders to make the original base longer...

 

[mpdcymru]

Two issues, licence first, If your licence is C1+E then you can have GVW 7500KG +750kg trailer giving 8250GTW.
However , if the GVW of your motorhome is less than 7500kg then your trailer can make up to the 8250 GTW eg Motorhome 4500kg then you can tow a trailer up to 3750 kg gvw
If your licence is B+E then the maximum GVW is 3500kg with a GTW of 11000kg.

As far as the motorhome is concerned , provided the trailers total kerb weight including its load does not exceed the maximum towing weight recommended by Bailey then you are ok.

Hope the line about the B+E entitlement is a misprint - not sure any B licence gives the entitlement to drive anything (gross or train) up to 11,000kgs.

 

[Neil S]

As mentioned check restrictions on the tow weight from Bailey or on your certificate of conformity..
My Autotrail plated at 4250kg can only tow 1050kg.! this is due to the use of chassis extenders to make the original base longer...

Ok I will double check but I'm pretty sure its Gross Train Weight is 5500kg , MTPLM is 3500kg , Towing capacity 2000kg and towball noseweight limit is 100kg

 

[tonka]

Ok I will double check but I'm pretty sure its Gross Train Weight is 5500kg , MTPLM is 3500kg , Towing capacity 2000kg and towball noseweight limit is 100kg

You may well be ok with a Bailey, not sure on the construction but if it's an Alko or all in one chassis then it will take a lot more strain than the bolt on chassis extensions that are fitted to the Autotrail.. Always worth checking

 

[Larrynwin]

Hope the line about the B+E entitlement is a misprint - not sure any B licence gives the entitlement to drive anything (gross or train) up to 11,000kgs.

B+E allows 3500kg GVW towing above 750kgs , the upper limit on B+E appears to be 8250kg.
Car licences held before 1 January 1997
Drivers who passed a car test before 1 January 1997 (within the UK) may retain their earlier existing entitlement to tow trailers, unless their licence has been restricted. This means they are generally entitled to drive a vehicle and trailer combination that falls within B+E entitlement and up to 8,250kgs MAM for holders of C1+E. They also have entitlement to drive a minibus with a trailer over 750kgs MAM.

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[Neil S]

You may well be ok with a Bailey, not sure on the construction but if it's an Alko or all in one chassis then it will take a lot more strain than the bolt on chassis extensions that are fitted to the Autotrail.. Always worth checking

yes its an Alko Chassis definitely , hence the higher towing limit although I have to say I think it will struggle with the 130bhp engine if asked to tow 1.6 tons .
Am going to hire a Brian James car trailer and load SWMBO's Skoda fabia to see how it performs before shelling out 2k for a new trailer

 

[Gellyneck]

As mentioned check restrictions on the tow weight from Bailey or on your certificate of conformity..
My Autotrail plated at 4250kg can only tow 1050kg.! this is due to the use of chassis extenders to make the original base longer...

We're also restricted to 1050kg on our 13 Autotrail despite being told by the manufacturer that it was 1250kg! Disturbing to say the least!

The 14 onwards Autotrail is now this increased limit. Their calculation is now based on an Al-Ko AMC chassis limit of 5500kg GTW minus the GVW of 4250kg.

Bailey do advise a maximum of 2000kg towing limit for their motorhomes based on a GTW of 5500kg minus a GVW of 3500kg.

 

[Voyger1010]

Gross Train Weight is 5500kg

Your right. 5500kg on my Bailey 750 as well, I used to tow a Honda 300cc scooter on the trailer, behind mine, but unfortunately my better half can no longer get her leg over ! (the scooter) so it had to go. I would have loved to have my sports car (1130Kg) on a trailer behind the Motorhome, but on calculating the weight with the trailer, meant I would have only had 20kg to spare with the van fully loaded (3850kg+1130Kg+500kg). So I decided to go with a un-braked trailer which can carry 750kg and put on it a Microcar which comes in at 397Kg.
So total weight is now only 700Kg, all up with ramps etc., behind the motorhome, got to say it tows beautifully.
The car doesn't go very fast approx. 60mph tops with two of us in it, but we only want to be able to get to around locally and go to the local shops for the groceries and of course the beer and wine.
Hope this is helps

 

[tjay]

used to pull a Brian James trailer with my Mk3 Mx5 at 1140 kgs, trailer was 425kgs. Our Approach 740 3500ks + trailer and car =5065 Kgs left 435 kgs payload.
On our trip to Germany at a steady 56mph returned 26.8 mpg and was 99.9% in top gear with only dropping to 5th on a very long climb !!

 

[pappajohn]

Hope the line about the B+E entitlement is a misprint - not sure any B licence gives the entitlement to drive anything (gross or train) up to 11,000kgs.

Its correct.
VWAlan is the man to ask.

His pickup was rated at 7500kg with a train weight of 11000kg but was downplated to 3500kg as it doesnt need to carry a load.....only the nose weight of his 5th wheel trailer.

Downplating does not affect the original train weight so, technically, he can tow a trailer weighing 7500kg on a B+E licence.

As he often points out, at age 70 swap for a 5th wheel and forget the C1+e licence.

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[Larrynwin]

Its correct.
VWAlan is the man to ask.

His pickup was rated at 7500kg with a train weight of 11000kg but was downplated to 3500kg as it doesnt need to carry a load.....only the nose weight of his 5th wheel trailer.

Downplating does not affect the original train weight so, technically, he can tow a trailer weighing 7500kg on a B+E licence.

As he often points out, at age 70 swap for a 5th wheel and forget the C1+e licence.

Thanks John , thought it was .

 

[Neil S]

used to pull a Brian James trailer with my Mk3 Mx5 at 1140 kgs, trailer was 425kgs. Our Approach 740 3500ks + trailer and car =5065 Kgs left 435 kgs payload.
On our trip to Germany at a steady 56mph returned 26.8 mpg and was 99.9% in top gear with only dropping to 5th on a very long climb !!

Thanks for the update , from what your saying your Approach performed ok with just over 1.5 tons in tow .
I see you have an elddis motorhome

 

[Gellyneck]

but unfortunately my better half can no longer get her leg over ! (the scooter) so it had to go.

Very harsh! The wife had to go 'cause she couldn't \ wouldn't get the leg over!

 

[Gellyneck]

Hey Foggy, just a thought.
Thought you had given up tugging?
Will you be back with the old chums soon?

 

[Voyger1010]

Very harsh! The wife had to go 'cause she couldn't \ wouldn't get the leg over!

Now look, I have had her for over 47 years as my better half (you get less for murder) but when she couldn't get on the bike, I knew the time had come! Not harsh, just practical.

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[tjay]

Thanks for the update , from what your saying your Approach performed ok with just over 1.5 tons in tow .
I see you have an elddis motorhome

We try to change our van after 2 years use. As we are retired we do use it a lot we do approx. 8-10 thousand miles per year, not like a lot of folk who by them to sit on their drive or in storage !!
Went to the NEC last year and we both like the layout of the Elddis 175, its ideal for tiuring with anf it has the same cab/engine (updated front) that the Bailey has too !!
I had no problems with it when towing .

 

[Neil S]

Hey Foggy, just a thought.
Thought you had given up tugging?
Will you be back with the old chums soon?

ha ha I'll not be returning to caravanning for a while but never say never

 

[mpdcymru]

On the driving licence front you need to be careful to look at any restriction codes on your licence, The relevant one here will be code 107 which means that the holder is restricted to a maximum authorised mass of 8.250 kgs. A C1+E licence does indeed bring an entitlement to drive a vehicle and trailer combination of up to 11,000 kgs but, unless the holder has actually passed a test on that combination, it will generally come with the 107 restriction

 

[timetochill]

Good information thanks to all have read about towing on other threads but only when we decided may be a good option ( for health reasons) did we take more interest this maybe why some threads run and run or are brought up often! Keeps me informed and interested