The
law can be quite confusing for first time towers. If you passed your
driving test after 1997, there's some stuff you need to know, and
there is a lot of misunderstanding., so read on...
The
first thing you need to know, is that the total weight of your
“train” (your car plus your trailer/caravan including the car
passengers and luggage – and the dog) must never exceed 3.5 tonnes.
Unless of course you have a 3.5 tonne licence. If you have a large
caravan that takes the weight of your train over 3.5 tonnes, you can
obtain a C1 licence (which takes your legal limit up to 7.5 tonnes)
for about £700.
The
next thing you need to know, is that the weight of the
caravan/trailer must be less than the unladen weight of the car.
It is strongly recommended to ensure your caravan/trailer remains
less than 80% of the car. This is for stability reasons, especially
in windy conditions and braking power. Our Fiat Croma weighs 1.52
tonnes, so we would limit the weight of our caravan/trailer to 1.2
tonnes, transporting heavy items in the car.
With
our few bits and bobs on board, the caravan weighs in at 775kg (0.8
tonnes). The weight of the car now comes in at 1.72 tonnes, which
includes 2 adults and our luggage, two dogs and their luggage and
an 80% full fuel tank. With our train weighing in at 2.5
tonnes (1 whole tonne less than our legal limit), the caravan is just
48% of the weight of the car meaning lively performance 0-50mph of 12
seconds, excellent stability and the ability to tackle steep hills of
up to 24% gradient. Now, all you need to do is take notice of the
signs giving you the hills gradient that you've always ignored!
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