Car trailers manufacturers UK
- You must not overload the automobile or caravan
- The weight associated with loaded caravan/trailer must certanly be within the car's towing capability
- The mixed fat associated with loaded automobile and filled caravan/trailer needs to be underneath the maximum 'train' weight the car
With such area available it really is all too very easy to overload – try to maintain the caravan as light as you are able to with all the weightier products low down and near the axle.
To find out simply how much the loaded caravan weighs;
- Make the caravan to a nearby weighbridge, or
- Weigh everything separately and include it to what's referred to as caravan's 'Mass in Running purchase'
Ensemble matching
For protection reasons experts advise that the weight associated with the loaded caravan should be no more than 85% regarding the automobile's kerb fat – a figure you'll find in handbook.
Expert clubs – Caravan Club, Camping & Caravanning Club – have big libraries of technical information and that can allow you to 'outfit match' vehicles with caravans to make sure you end up with a safe combination.
It is important to always check once more in the event that you change your caravan or vehicle in the foreseeable future.
Your driving licence
Your driving licence shows the types of vehicle you might drive including the measurements of caravan/trailer that you're permitted to tow.
Older drivers have reached a bonus right here since the principles changed in 1997.
If you passed your driving test before 1 January 1997 you will likely be entitled to drive an automobile and trailer to a combined Maximum Authorised Mass (MAM) of 8.25 tonnes.
If you passed your driving test after that, if you do not took one more driving test – the 'B+E' vehicle and trailer test – you might only drive a group B3 car in conjunction with;
- A caravan up to 750kg MAM, or
- A caravan over 750kg MAM provided the combined body weight of automobile and caravan is less than 3500kg Gross Train Weight (GTW) and MAM of caravan is lower than the unladen weight regarding the automobile.
The vehicle and trailer (B+E) test
You book the vehicle and truck test just as since the standard practical test but will take it at an LGV test centres as opposed to an ordinary driving test center.
You are taking the test in an unladen category B automobile towing a suitably braked, unladen trailer with a minimum of one tonne MAM.
The vehicle must certanly be fitted with:
- External mirrors on both edges to be used because of the examiner or anyone supervising the test
- A computer device (audible or artistic) showing that truck indicators are running precisely
The truck must have a shut box human anatomy at the least as wide and also as high given that towing vehicle so the view to your back should be by way of exterior mirrors only.
Tow brackets
Tow brackets needs to be tested towards the proper Uk or European standard and make use of installing points recommended because of the car producer.
Cars licensed since 1 August 1998 must simply be fitted with a 'type approved' bracket tested to European Directive 94/20/EC. The bracket have a label, dish, or stamping detailing the nature endorsement number in addition to automobile that it is an approved fitment.
Some vehicles are not ranked for towing by the car manufacturer – no gross train weight are shown on VIN plate – and so are incapable of have a towbar fitted. A good example is the Ford KA without any declared train fat, no mounting things for a tow club.
Check with the car producer if you plan to tow but they are not sure in the event that vehicle works.
Unbraked trailers
When your trailer is unbraked, the utmost you may possibly tow (combined weight of truck and load) is 750 kg or half the kerbside body weight for the towing car, whichever is the reduced.
Trailer width
Until recently UNITED KINGDOM regulations on trailer width were different to the rest of Europe – the maximum width allowed right here ended up being 2.3m when compared with 2.55m over the station.