Towing!

[V8 TVR]

Apologies if my post is on the wrong forum! I plan to tow an old Citroen DS from Spain to the UK. The Citroen would be on a trailer and the tow car would be a MG ZTT diesel. I realise a 4x4 would be much better but would the MG be capable.

I would use motorways and keep the speed down.

[Fort Jefferson]

Make sure it's balanced right on the trailer, and you've got all the paperwork to get it into the country, and it should be fine.

[dirty_dog]

What about towing capacity and driving licences...

[V8 TVR]

The towing capacity of the car is 1600kg and the citroen is 1270kg so I need to check the trailers weight. Could be close.

Can I tow in Europe on a standard licence?

[R0G]

http://www.the75andztclub.co.uk/forum/showthread.p... = is your model on here?
If yes is it the one with the towing capacity of 1600?

B+E licence needed

[R0G]

V8 TVR said:

The towing capacity of the car is 1600kg and the citroen is 1270kg so I need to check the trailers weight. Could be close.

Can I tow in Europe on a standard licence?

B+E licence required anywhere in EU where the GVW of the towing vehicle added to the trailer plated MAM totals more than 3500

That is the total of the plated weights not the total of the actual weights

[V8 TVR]

I need a trailer which weighs no more than 330kg and can carry 1270kg. Is there such a thing and where can I hire it. Does anyone know? Thanks in advance.

[R0G]

V8 TVR said:

I need a trailer which weighs no more than 330kg and can carry 1270kg. Is there such a thing and where can I hire it. Does anyone know? Thanks in advance.

Is that because you have a max 1600 towing limit or because you only have a B licence??

[R0G]

http://www.armitagetrailers.com/Underconstruction....
400 empty + load 1200 = 1600
best I can find so far

Still need to know what licence you have and if only a B licence then what the GVW of the vehicle is?

[V8 TVR]

My car Kerb Weight is 1590kg and I have a standard UK licence. Am I legal to tow a car in Europe?

Secondly, the weight of the car being towed is actually 1215kg and the trailer is 400kg. My car can tow 1600kg so I'm 15kg overweight. Does the extra 15kg make this not feasible?

[R0G]

V8 TVR said:

My car Kerb Weight is 1590kg and I have a standard UK licence. Am I legal to tow a car in Europe?

Secondly, the weight of the car being towed is actually 1215kg and the trailer is 400kg. My car can tow 1600kg so I'm 15kg overweight. Does the extra 15kg make this not feasible?

The EU licence rules are the same as the UK ones

Find the GVW of the towing vehicle either on the weight plate hidden under the bonnet or in a door frame
OR
Find the max permissible mass on the V5 form
Both will give that figure we need

Having the GVW figure will now leave us the max plated weight for a trailer

3500 minus GVW = max plated trailer weight

It goes on plated weights not actual weights

We can then proceed further ....

[R0G]

B licence towing rules across the whole of the EU are that the plated vehicle GVW added to the plated trailer MAM cannot add up to more than 3500

Kerb weight has nothing to do with the licence laws

I am going to guess that the GVW for your vehicle is 2150kg
That would leave a max plated weight for a trailer of 1350kg
If the trailer was 400kg empty then it can be loaded with 950kg

Most hired trailers will have the manufactures plated MAM weight at the time of their construction listed and that can only be changed by the manufacturer not the hirer so hiring a trailer which fits in with B licence towing for your vehicle is going to be virtually impossible

[R0G]

Exceeding the max towing capacity is a good cop out for the insurance companies should an incident occur

[V8 TVR]

The Revenue weight of my car is 2090kg so its not possible to use it in this instance so will have to think of another way of getting the car back to the UK. Thanks for the guidance.

[R0G]

V8 TVR said:

The Revenue weight of my car is 2090kg so its not possible to use it in this instance so will have to think of another way of getting the car back to the UK. Thanks for the guidance.

You need a mate with B+E and a vehicle with a towbar as well as a 2000 towing capacity so that a car transporter trailer can be hired to do that job

[V8 TVR]

I have a B and BE on my licence already, is this what you mean?

[V8 TVR]

Is there a separate category with just E?

[mph1977]

V8 TVR said:

Is there a separate category with just E?

No

if passed a UK car test before 1/1/07 you have BE and C1E (with MTM restricted to 8250) and a restricted D1E

if passed after 1/1/97 and have taken a B+E test then great

if you passed your car test after 1/1/97 but have taken a C1+E / C+E /D1+E or D+E test you also have B+E

[Bobhon]

If you passed your test before Jan 1 1997 then you will have an 'old' B+E licence. Shown on the back of your plastic licence as BE.

You can find a brief guide on your towing entitlements here...

https://www.gov.uk/towing-with-car

Briefly 8.25 Tonnes, enjoy.

If the trailer with the car loade is going to be over its plated weight by a mere 15kg then take something out of the car and put it into the back of your tow car. Spare wheel, jack & tools, rear seat (tools required), etc.

So it looks as if your licence is good to go (please confirm on DVLA link) and you can get the trailer legal within its max weight.

HTH

Bob

[V8 TVR]

I passed my test in '87 so the licence isn't an issue. I'm just getting a bit confused with the maximum tow weight and the GVW that ROG is talking about! Isn't the maximum towing weight the maximum you can tow? But, then do you have to take into account the cars GVW which then implies the maximum towing weight isn't the maximum towing weight?