Towing Questions

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destiny11

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I have a LWB Mitsubishi Pajero. At the moment I tow an Ifor Williams 510. I have been looking at the Equi trek Show Trekka's. I would need the 'L' model.

Now, this trailer weighs 1400kgs. The kerb weight of my Pajero is 2100kgs and the max towing weight is 3000kgs.

Now, I know that a good rule of thumb is not to tow more than 85% of your cars kerb weight, therefore that gives me 1785kgs that I can tow safely.

So, I can put 385kgs of horse safely in the trailer? I have two big horses!!
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What I am asking is, how can anyone tow these fabulous looking trailers safely? I thought my Pajero was one of the bigger 4 x 4's
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, or I am I working it out all wrong?

Well done for getting this far
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85% is the 'general rule' but not necessarily the final word in the matter.

if your pajero is plated to tow 3t then thats what it is legally allowed to tow.

I would definately only tow that kind of % ratio with a stabiliser and you need to be sure of the nose weight of the trailer to ensure the trailer is as stable as possible.

Be extra vigilant with things like cross winds on bridges and gaps in hedge lines. also passing trucks needs extra care

apart from that as long as you are sensible with the way you drive you'll be fine.

I've towed with my 2.2t hilux a car on a trailer totally over 2t many times and apart from being a bit slow it's fine
 
I know that legally I can tow 3000kgs but I always thought that it would not be safe. The 85% rule seems to be quoted in a lot of places as the safe weight to tow
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sorry but it is not the general rule, its the law.... if you cause an accident or need to claim then you may find insurers will not pay out and you are prosicuted by the police. Is it worth the risk to tow with an unsuitable tow vehicle.
 
safe is a matter of opinion.

would you trust a doddery old couple in there mondeo with a massive 25 foot caravan who can barely see over the steering wheel? chances are no so to my mind the 85% rule is there to apply to the general population.

Those of us who tow more regularily are perfectly capable of towing over 100% providing you are careful. Yes it is considerably more unsafe than 85% but then 70% is safer than 85.

Just take it easy and you'll be fine.
 
sorry anya01 but that is utter B******s.

The law is that as long as you dont exceed the manufacturers limits then it is perfectly legal

''A good rule of thumb, for safety and stability, when towing a caravan, is the 85% figure recommended for caravans by the Caravan Club. This suggests that you should not tow a caravan that weighs more than 85% of the towing vehicle's kerb weight. (as long as 85% does not exceed the vehicle manufacturer's recommended towing limit. (The kerb weight is defined as the weight of the vehicle plus a full tank of petrol and 75kg (for the driver and luggage).)

Police Forces use the manufacturer's recommended towing limit as their guide. Under no circumstances should the vehicle's gross train weight be exceeded. You should also refer to limitations on overall length, details can be found in this guide that deal with trailer dimensions.''

taken from here

http://www.ntta.co.uk/law/preparing/preparing.htm
 
echo the others. wish people would get their facts right before posting.

85% is most definitely not the law, just what's recommended.

I would be very wary of towing more than 100% though - again, not the law but i dont think i'd feel happy towing something that weighed more than the tow car. i tow with a 3.0L TD Hilux Surf which weighs about 2.1tonnes empty. I have an Ifor 505 which weighs just under a tonne empty so leaves me about 1.1tonnes for the horses which is plenty.
 
Thanks
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If you read my OP I am aware of the law. My point is that with your 505 and my 510 we can safely tow our horses.
But with the Equi trek I feel that it is a lot of weight
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open your bonnet and look at your VIN plate, there will be a load of numbers, which is the VIN (vehicle identification number) under that there will be the gross vehicle weight GWT in kgs, this is what you car weighs, next there is the towing capacity on my car it is 3500kg, so technically i can tow a 3 and a half tonne braked trailer.....under that there will be GTW printed this is the gross train weight, this is what you must NOT exceeed, this is the combined weight of car, occupants, trailer horses etc etc, for example, my fourtrack has a GTW of 5500kg so, the car weighs 2000kg, the trailer just under 1000kgs, two horses at 1000kgs, leaves me 1500kgs within the law.....hope this helps..
 
The 85% limit has no bearing what so ever on modern, twin axle, braked trailers. It was advised by the caravan club many years ago now because caravans are generally single axle, badly balanced and used to have poor if not totally useless brakes. Weight to side area ratio is again completely different when comparing caravan to horse trailers.
So put a light, high sided, badly balanced (fore/aft) caravan on a single axle then tow at speed in a cross wind and you will soon find out why the 85% rule was advised.
BUT WE DONT TOW CARAVANS!!!!!!!!
 
The equitreks are modern and they are designed to be towed by large 4x4's, they are stable & well balanced for this purpose. Is yours a triple axle? While this increases the weight, it also increased the stability of the trailer, they have top spec shocks and brakes and you shouldn't have any probs as long as you are careful.
 
Echo all the above - the two cars that are generally regarded as far as I know as being the most capable of towing the biggest weights - landrovers and 4traks - certainly don't weight more than 3.5t! But ae designed and capable of towing that. We are looking for an equitrek at the moment and the two cars that will be towing it wil be my Nissan Navara (the older shape) which is plated to tow 3t, and my freind's landy defender, tows 3.5t. So if we put the smaller horses on (my 420kg arab and her 500kg ISH) I will be fine, if we take out any of the big ones (eg a friend's 650kg ISH!) I will probably let the landy take it just to be on safe side!
I've been looking more at second hand equitreks, ideally the 4 or 5 star, and they start at about 1750 empty - so assuming the extras/water don't weigh in at more than 250kg, I will be ok....but again longer trips or bigger horses and we will take the landy!
 
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