Max towing weights, what is the maximum with a MH. (1 Viewer)

Sep 27, 2017
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which MH's have a towing weight of 2600KG or more.

I have C1E on my licence and D1Eso can drive up to 8250 or whatever the limit is..

My trailer is rated at 2600KG and weighs about 550KG unladen. load will really evey exceed 1000KG so will be almost run under its weight limit.

I realise its a combination of things but having a GTW of 2000KG above GVW would be a start.

TIA.
 
Sep 26, 2013
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Very few will be able to tow 2600kg apart from large RV''s, my Peugeot Boxer can tow 2500kg but I would not like to tow more than the 1500kg I now tow.
 
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I don't think it maters what the trailer will be carrying but what it can carry, in your case 2600kg

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Sep 26, 2013
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I have read somewhere that trailers have the plate removed to hide what they can carry which makes it difficult if stopped. I don't see any reason why you cannot down plate the trailer to match what you can tow, providing that you don't exceed it of course.
 

pappajohn

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As Manic said.....
Your trailer CAN carry up to 2600kg (Inc its own weight) so even running empty it's still seen as 2600kg....VOSA/police use the gross trailer weight, not it's actual 'at the time' weight if it's less.
Most motorhomes have a max of 2000kg towing allowance or less but there's nothing stopping you downplating the trailer to whatever the car and trailer combined weigh.
You WILL need a new trailer VIN plate showing the reduced weight but the manufacturer can usually supply one.
 

funflair

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The trouble is when you find a van that can tow 3000kg then it most likely a heavy van and you are up against the 8250 limit.

IMG_1103.jpg


This is our Niesmann+Bischoff Flair on IVECO chassis.

Martin

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Jul 29, 2013
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We have a Hymer Exsis i698 GVW 4250 kg GTW 6000kg we tow a twin axle car trailer with Panda 4x4 which comes in at 1700 kg so we are just about legal
 
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2657

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Two distinct areas of legislation;

Licence requirements............use the plated weights not the actual weights.

C&U regs.....use the actual weights, if the actual weights are within the plated weights of the towing vehicle and trailer then the combination is legal as regards weights.

"Where the sum of the maximum plated weights of the towing vehicle and of the trailer added together exceed the plated GCW of the towing vehicle, this is not a problem as long as the ‘actual’ weights of the vehicle and trailer (which may not be fully laden at the time) do not exceed the plated GCW."

From https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...towing-a-trailer-with-a-car-or-van-the-basics
 

bigtwin

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I don't think it maters what the trailer will be carrying but what it can carry, in your case 2600kg

That’s not my understanding (gleaned from an ex traffic cop).

You cannot exceed any of the plated weights, individually or in combination.

If you run the MH under the plated GVW, the delta between the MH GVW and your actual weight is available to be towed (provided that you neither exceed the trailer’s limit nor the GTW.

You can only be shown to be overweight, if your vehicle (or combined vehicle plus trailer) is weighed. You will be judged against each of the plated weights. The towed weight will be judged against the trailer’s plated weight and not against MTW minus GVW.

Ian

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pappajohn

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Two distinct areas of legislation;

Licence requirements............use the plated weights not the actual weights.

C&U regs.....use the actual weights, if the actual weights are within the plated weights of the towing vehicle and trailer then the combination is legal as regards weights.

"Where the sum of the maximum plated weights of the towing vehicle and of the trailer added together exceed the plated GCW of the towing vehicle, this is not a problem as long as the ‘actual’ weights of the vehicle and trailer (which may not be fully laden at the time) do not exceed the plated GCW."

From https://www.gov.uk/government/publi...towing-a-trailer-with-a-car-or-van-the-basics
That's the DVLA/VOSA/DVSA running round in circles.
They may as well save some ink and scrap the first example and enforce the second.

Use a 3500kg trailer behind your VW Polo to carry your shopping home from Tesco and its legal because it's within the CGVW.

DVLA......full of shit.
 
Jul 29, 2013
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You can only be shown to be overweight, if your vehicle (or combined vehicle plus trailer) is weighed. You will be judged against each of the plated weights. The towed weight will be judged against the trailer’s plated weight and not against MTW minus GVW.
But there are lots of trailers out there without plates how do they overcome that?
 

bigtwin

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But there are lots of trailers out there without plates how do they overcome that?

I don’t know but I guess not having a plate on it would constitute a separate offence.

My point relates to the misconception that you can only tow MTW minus GVW.

Ian

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Jul 29, 2013
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I don’t know but I guess not having a plate on it would constitute a separate offence.

My point relates to the misconception that you can only tow MTW minus GVW.

Ian
I don’t think you have to have a trailer plated so no offence? My observations are that with the type approval of Towbars and also new trailers that may be an offence on newer trailers but older ones have nothing on.
 

bigtwin

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I don’t think you have to have a trailer plated so no offence? My observations are that with the type approval of Towbars and also new trailers that may be an offence on newer trailers but older ones have nothing on.

Which brings us back to my point that an offence of being over train weight can only be determined by weighing the combination.

Ian
 
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sam496
Sep 27, 2017
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my plate just has the following on it
3500
4350
1850
2120

which I read as
3500KG gvw?
4350KG cvw?
1850KG front axle weight
2120KG rear axle weight

which if correct I can only tow 830KG whereas before I assumed that as my 2600KG gross weight trailer was way under the accepted 80% of the tow vehicle weight then it was ok as I'd never exceed any weights.. mistake one it would seem, however I could downgrade the trailer to a much lower type approved weight (trailer is only used to carry one or two cars ( only ever one at at time but both together would be less than 2000KG).

as the nose weight on the MH would never exceed 75KG and the rest is rolling weight...

oh well start looking for something that can tow the weight, next problem will be the length with the bigger MH's being around 8 metres long and my trailer being just over 8 metres I'm getting close to Artic lengths..

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sam496
Sep 27, 2017
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and thanks for all the answers / opinions its a tricky subject.
 
Sep 26, 2013
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Sounds like you have a van which has an Alko chassis or even a lightweight Alco chassis extension which will explain the low weight that you can tow.
 
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sam496
Sep 27, 2017
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Sounds like you have a van which has an Alko chassis or even a lightweight Alco chassis extension which will explain the low weight that you can tow.

It does not look like an Alko chassis its a Fiat 230 which would appear to have been manufactured for the MH market as a chassis cab. The chassis is quite short and the tow bar is very long and very well braced. At one point someone had a heavy duty scooter rack fitted to the tow bar..

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Sep 26, 2013
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It does not look like an Alko chassis its a Fiat 230 which would appear to have been manufactured for the MH market as a chassis cab. The chassis is quite short and the tow bar is very long and very well braced. At one point someone had a heavy duty scooter rack fitted to the tow bar..
If it's a chassis cab base then I'm surprised that you can tow so little.
 

bigtwin

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....... which if correct I can only tow 830KG

That would be your towing weight limit only if your actual MH weight is 3500Kg.
If you run at, for example, 3000Kg, the you would be able to tow 1330Kg.

Ian
 
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2657

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That's the DVLA/VOSA/DVSA running round in circles.
They may as well save some ink and scrap the first example and enforce the second.

Use a 3500kg trailer behind your VW Polo to carry your shopping home from Tesco and its legal because it's within the CGVW.

DVLA......full of shit.

Why?

It seems perfectly logical to me weights are enforced by actual weights and licences are enforced by the potential weight of the vehicle and trailer, licencing would be virtually impossible to enforce if the vehicle had to be weighed every time.

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2657

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the accepted 80% of the tow vehicle weight

The 80% is an advisory benchmark for the safe towing of caravans and is not a legal requirement.

Every vehicle will have legal limits set by the manufacturer.
 

jonandshell

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Look at RWD Iveco Daily based motorhomes for a good towing capacity.
I know a Defhleff Globetrotter XXL coachbuilt will pull 3 tonnes and has a MTPM of 5000 kg.
 
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sam496
Sep 27, 2017
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Look at RWD Iveco Daily based motorhomes for a good towing capacity.
I know a Defhleff Globetrotter XXL coachbuilt will pull 3 tonnes and has a MTPM of 5000 kg.
Iveco Vans also have a very good towing limit often 3500KG as they are both heavy and powerful, what is MTPM excuse my ignorance, :(

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Aug 6, 2013
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Trailer weight plates are a legal requirement but the plate can be attached by the builder or owner (who can easily be the same person). There is no requirement for a trailer VIN.
 

pappajohn

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It does not look like an Alko chassis its a Fiat 230 which would appear to have been manufactured for the MH market as a chassis cab. The chassis is quite short and the tow bar is very long and very well braced. At one point someone had a heavy duty scooter rack fitted to the tow bar..
AlKO chassis is unpainted galvanised steel from the rear of the cab... fiat chassis cab is painted steel throughout.
ALKO chassis is fitted by the converter, not Fiat.
The cab is supplied without a chassis from the cab backwards or the fiat chassis is removed and replaced with an ALKO by the converter.

This is how they are transported/delivered.

summary_motorhome0_01_Motorhome_Chassis.jpg

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Last edited:

soreeyes

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Trailer weight plates are a legal requirement but the plate can be attached by the builder or owner (who can easily be the same person). There is no requirement for a trailer VIN.


Trailer after 2012 are EU type approved and legally require weights , manufacturer and vin number and type approval number on their plate .

As said maximum plated weights are used for driving licence offence and actuals against plated are used for C&U offences .

Dave
 
Aug 6, 2013
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Trailer after 2012 are EU type approved and legally require weights , manufacturer and vin number and type approval number on their plate .

As said maximum plated weights are used for driving licence offence and actuals against plated are used for C&U offences .

Dave
I stand corrected on the VIN. However what happens if I build my own?
And as far as I'm aware a trailer can still be downplated by the owner simply by re-stamping the plate.
 

pappajohn

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Trailer weight plates are a legal requirement but the plate can be attached by the builder or owner (who can easily be the same person). There is no requirement for a trailer VIN.
Yep, the weight plate law was introduced to discourage home builders.
Unless you have an engineering understanding/background you will have no idea of the structural strength of a trailer or its static and dynamic weight bearing ability...professional builders do know so can safely issue a given weight plate accordingly.

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