quickrack Posted June 28, 2008 Report Posted June 28, 2008 With a car on it. Any special requirements???
lee_capri Posted June 28, 2008 Report Posted June 28, 2008 yeh strap it down well and make sure you have a light board with your number plate that's it that is all the old bill look at if it look's right they will leave you alone mate also remember it will take you a bit longer to stop
FredTransit Posted June 28, 2008 Report Posted June 28, 2008 Passing your test before 1997. After that you will need another test. To be fair though as long as you don't look 15 and the tow car ans trailer look legal you should be OK. Hopefully the old bill would have better things to do than stop you to see if you are qualified.
mossy Posted June 29, 2008 Report Posted June 29, 2008 As Fred said...if you passed AFTER 1997 the you need to have the specific section on your drivers licence showing a van and a trailer. You can only get this by taking your licence to the DVLA after passing the trailer test. ive just had to do it to use the company vehicle and trailer. If you get caught then they can impound the trailer (with contents) and the towing vehicle, with some points and a hefty fine!
mk3cokebottle Posted June 29, 2008 Report Posted June 29, 2008 make sure that the car towing the trailer weigh's more than the load you are pulling if it weighs less you will get tugged , ie; shogun pulling escort on trailer escort towing shogun on trailer
V8ian Posted June 29, 2008 Report Posted June 29, 2008 Make sure the weight of the car on is facing the tow bar and ahead the trailer axle, so engine towards the towcar
stevepeanut Posted July 2, 2008 Report Posted July 2, 2008 my licence has a pic of a car on its own. But in the paper bit it says I can take a trailer as long as my entire weight does not exceed 3.5 tonne. However on my girlfriends license, it has a pic of the trailer next to the car, and she can tow much bigger weights, but she passed a lot earlier than I did.
stevepeanut Posted July 2, 2008 Report Posted July 2, 2008 just had a proper look at this on my paper bit. I passed my test on 31/12/97. It says I have catagory B. A car, on its own, but I can take a trailer up to 750 kilos. Or any combo of car and trailer up to 3.5 tonne. But I think, the law changed again sometime later, if you pass now, you cant take a trailer at all
escortmad79 Posted July 2, 2008 Report Posted July 2, 2008 You passed your test after 97 then, you are able to tow a trailer providing the combined weight of towing vehicle, trailer & load do not exceed 3500kg (3.5 tons)
stevepeanut Posted July 2, 2008 Report Posted July 2, 2008 You passed your test after 97 then, you are able to tow a trailer providing the combined weight of towing vehicle, trailer & load do not exceed 3500kg (3.5 tons) out of interest, if you had something average size like a mk2 escort tow vehicle, and a trailer with another mk2 on. How much would that add up to? Would it be well over the 3.5k limit?
james1700 Posted July 2, 2008 Report Posted July 2, 2008 i tow with a LWB pajero and heavy duty car transporter, i recently took a calibra turbo to the scrappers loaded with scrap and weighed in with driver and passenger at 4100 kilos. so its easy to get a towcar/trailer/car combo under 3.5tons but remember always pick a tow vehicle bigger than you actually need. my truck tows a car very well but i would not trust anything smaller, it may be legal but its not worth the risk james
stevepeanut Posted July 2, 2008 Report Posted July 2, 2008 ok, good old haynes manual can help us here capri 2.8i weighs 1190 kg so 2 capris is 2380kg so as long as your trailer is less than 1120kg then you can quite easlier tow 2 capris and be under the 3500 limit this is interesting to know
sambo Posted July 3, 2008 Report Posted July 3, 2008 Whats you guys' thoughts on a mk1 escort estate ( with a pinto) towing my mk1 escort on a trailer? reckon its dangerous or ok? How about the law? Cheers.
mossy Posted July 3, 2008 Report Posted July 3, 2008 depends how heavy the trailer and mk1 are.... but i'd do it anyway as it would look proper hard!
flyingbanana Posted July 3, 2008 Report Posted July 3, 2008 Whats you guys' thoughts on a mk1 escort estate ( with a pinto) towing my mk1 escort on a trailer? reckon its dangerous or ok? How about the law? Cheers. ive towed a mk1 capri and morris minor with my escort and didnt have a problem.....just tend to get pushed a bit more when braking
Ken B Posted July 4, 2008 Report Posted July 4, 2008 Guys, in all these posts you are forgetting a very crucial thing. The weight you refer to as 3.5 tonnes total is not quite correct , you can tow up to a combined weight of 4.25 tonnes but it means MAM that is the Maximum Authorised Mass or gross vehicle weight. It doesn't mean what the vehicle or trailer weighs. To try and explain: take my Frontera and my BJ trailer to use as examples as I know the weights of them. Unladen My Fronty weighs 1796kg my trailer weighs 525kg. = a total of 2321kg. this is not the weights that they use. Its the maximum load or MAM they can both carry. So in the cases of the above. Fronty MAM is 2450kg and the MAM of my trailer is 1600kg = 4050kg. this is also the reason that technically all trailers should state the maximum gross weight on them somewhere like caravans do. It's a bit like a 7.5 tonne lorry. They dont weigh that much with nothing on it, but it has the capacity to carry 7.5 tonne, so thats why you need the license to drive it. Read this to see if it makes it any clearer: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/Dr ... G_10013073 At the end of the day, and no offence to any of the constabulary, very few of them even understand the trailer laws. So it not them you have to worry about. the guys you have to worry about are the VOSA, and i'm not talking about the Wombles, I'm on about the ones who do the roadside checks on lorries etc.
quickrack Posted July 4, 2008 Author Report Posted July 4, 2008 Whats you guys' thoughts on a mk1 escort estate ( with a pinto) towing my mk1 escort on a trailer? reckon its dangerous or ok? How about the law? Cheers. Ahem!
Ken B Posted July 4, 2008 Report Posted July 4, 2008 I have to say, in all the years I've been driving some 28 of them plus being involved with oval racing for longer, I've seen some right dodgy outfits when it comes to trailers and tow vehicles. But I can honestly say I have only seen one outfit pulled up for being overweight, and know one of one person that got done. However I did see an accident on the M6 once involving a Opel Manta towing an Opel Manta on a home brew trailer. He shot past me and must have been doing at least 80. A little while later on the traffic came to a standstill. Yep you guessed it he had obviously got a waggle on and his trailer had flipped the tow car upside down into the central reservation. So basically you could in theory, and i'm not condoning it, do anything you like and probably get away with it, until the sh** hits the fan.
FredTransit Posted July 4, 2008 Report Posted July 4, 2008 It's a bit like a 7.5 tonne lorry. They dont weigh that much with nothing on it, but it has the capacity to carry 7.5 tonne, so thats why you need the license to drive it. I think that should read it has the capacity to GROSS 7.5T. My transit is rated for 3.5T gross, no transit can carry 3.5T. Well maybe it could but you wouldn't get very far or travel very fast, or keep your licence doing it!
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