The Caravan Owners Club

[suet]

Hello,

We are on the verge of buying the above (empty weight 1075kg, MIRO 1167kg, mtplm 1350kg). (There's a deal on it hence why we're going a bit above our spec).

The only way we can tow it, is to tow it unladen - apart from one gas bottle. We are only planning on going to sites with plumbing/hook-ups. Can anyone see any problems with this?

I don't know what the nose weight of this caravan would be unladen, but the nose weight of our car is 60kg.

Because we'll only be 25kg (or less with a gas bottle) under our max tow weight, we'll have limited means to adjust the caravans nose weight (unless moving the table to the rear of the caravan might help?).

Kerb weight of our car is 1324kg, max tow weight is 1100kg - plate under bonnet says 1100, 1100, 1923, 3023.

Obviously, if we're not putting stuff in the caravan it will need to go in the car or in a roof box. The car is a Peugeot 307 SW 1.6 and so has a fair sized boot although we'd probably put some on the roof to spread the load between the axles.

We're not planning on buying a battery and it's a UK spec van.

Any advice/comments would be appreciated!

Thanks

[beejay]

Hi
The mptlm of 1364kg exceeds the max towing weight of 1100kg by 250kg.
However, if you can keep the load in the car to 660kg you will not exceed the GTW of 3023kg. but only the manufacturers recommended tow limit. Unfortunately when the car requires a type approved towbar this will have the car makers tow limit on it making it illegal if exceeded. If you get stopped you are in trouble. Makers tow limits are often based on the ability to restart on a 1 in 8 hill but these days may also take into account the design capacity of the bodywork. Personally, my advice is DON'T do it, it is not worth the risk... buy a smaller van or bigger car. Incidentally, it is the plated weight of the van that will be taken into consideration not the actual weight so not loading the van to max is a no no.

[suet]

Thanks Beejay,

I just assumed they'd take the weight we were carrying (ie unloaded). Glad I asked!

[mickymorris]

Hi Suet, if you visit http://www.caravantrekker.nl/en/ you may find it useful. Basically yo select the model of caravan you are considering along with your tow car and it will come up with your compatability including weights speeds etc. It seems pretty accurate.

Cheers.........Micky

PS. not sure if I found this site elsewhere or on this forum some time ago. Don't want to step on anyones toes!!

[suet]

Thanks Micky,

I hadn't found that website before and it looks very good altho' it doesn't have our exact car. I took the closest to ours and put in the Hobby we're now thinking of getting (400KB/SB - mtplm 1100kg). It came back saying the Hobby was 97kg too heavy (and scored 3.5 red stars overall) although the ratio of of car kerbweight to loaded caravan weight was 80%. I think maybe I'll try the paying towsure (?) website and see what it says.

Sue

[suet]

Whoops I meant Towsafe

[suet]

Don't bother with Towsafe if you've want to do a match on a Hobby. I couldn't find the one I wanted. The closest they had was a year 2000 one which had an mtplm of 1200kg. I've asked for my registration fee to be refunded!

[beejay]

Hi
Re my earlier comments. Firstly, a correction...the towbar plate does NOT show max towing weight but states "refer to manufacturer's handbook". This because although the same towbar will fit several versions of the same model of car they may not all have the same towing capacity i.e. diesel/petrol/large engines etc. Secondly, your caravan choice is a 24% overload i.e. 1364kg v 1100kg. Even the MIRO it is 67kg over and you will probably find it is a bit higher than the published figure although Hobbys appear pretty accurate on these weights. Beejay

[suet]

Thanks Beejay.

We're going for an mtplm 1100kg Hobby 400 KB/SB now so I think we'll be OK.

Sue

[owen]

Good decision Sue . Picked up our 400SB from Joeressen's last month and we are delighted with it.
Hobbyland Hexel (Dortmund) has some good offers at the moment.

[suet]

Yes I just got a quote from them for the KB, but I think we'll be going for the SB. What do you reckon to the small 'bathroom'. Is it awkward using the foldaway sink? It looks like you have to lean over the loo to use it.

Thanks

Sue

[owen]

Yes I have to agree the toilet compartment/washroom on the 400Sb is very small and not all that practical to use. However having looked around at a number of compact vans we found that there wasn't one which offered the perfect layout. In the end we went for the SB as it was the best compromise, after all how much time do you spend in the washroom ? We always try to stay on sites which offer decent facilities so the size of the washroom wasn't a prority, it's adequate for our needs but not perfect.

Good luck with getting the Hobby,
let us know how you get on.

Roland and Allison.