Is my tow car man enough?

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karen65

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I've got a turbo diesel long wheelbase XL7 2ltr Suzuki Vitara. I've towed my new Richardson Supreme Trailer empty with it and it seems to go ok, but I want to tow it with my 14 2hh in it and I was wondering if anyone else had a similar set up and if the car coped ok. If I won the lottery then I'd buy a big new landrover or shogun, but sadly funds only ran to the suzuki as it was much cheaper (and the Suzuki dealer said it would tow ok) I would never tow 2 horses with it as it would be over the gross towing weight. Just hoping somone else has had a positive experience with a car like this.
 
Have a look in your handbook to see what the legal towing weight is and then work out how heavy your trailer would be plus your pony. Ideally, the weight you are towing should be 85% of the kerb weight of the car for it to be safe.
 
If its 05 or newer it has a towing limit of 1343 kgs and if its older than 05 plate then towing limit of 1186 kgs according to this website:
http://www.gocaravanning.com/towcars/suzuki.html


Having a look on the richardson website, the basic supreme weighs 1360 kg so no, technically youre already exceeding the towing limit and if you got stopped by the police i believe they would expect you to find another way to get the trailer home.

We have an oldish (R reg!) disco which we tow with which is ace and has never let us down (semi broke down towing my 14.2hh down to uni and carried on for another 30mins with no power steering, or a fan belt!) We were lucky not to need a new engine apparently!
 
There is little that the Vitara can tow really. The Richardson Supreme trailer is a lovely piece of kit but one of the heaviest trailers around & you will be overweight just with the trailer on the back of your car let alone with a further 350-380kg of pony on board.

The vitara has been discussed many times on this forum as a possible towing vehicle & comes up short everytime....sorry
frown.gif
 
General consensus on here is that Vitara and freelander are not really man enough. I don't know about the Vitara, but do know Freelander isn't up to it - sorry, not much help I know.
 
the richardson empty will be pushing your tow limit - you definitely must not put a pony on board - you'd be risking yourself, your pony and all other road users. it would be illegal and dangerous. sorry, but you need a proper tow car or a lighter trailer.
 
No, as the previous posts have said, this isn't an option. The vehicle is too lightweight and the load too heavy even unladen. It isn't about whether the car can move the laden trailer, it probably would do so and on a level road you may think you're doing just fine... until you need to brake because some other idiot has cut you up, or pulled out in front of you, or a child ran across the road... until you're driving down a hill in wet, windy weather and you find the trailer is actually pushing the car and your brakes and steering aren't responding... or it's snaking and you can't straighten it... don't, please don't risk the safety of yourself, your horse and everyone on the road around you.
 
Thank you for all your replies, I wont put my precious neddy in it until I can persuade my hubby we need to change the car. I really appreciate your thoughts on this. I suspected this was the case. I just wish the Richardson dealer and the Suzuki dealer would point this out more proactively, but I guess they will always get a sale from gullibles like me.
 
Or change the trailer Clip1clop1, as if you went for a lighteight trailer at say 800kg unladen then you could put 1 small-ish horse in and be ok? Based on a 14.2hh weighing say 450kg that is.
 
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