Anyone know what the recommended towing weight is of....

Forum: 

a LWB 4trak? I know the towing capacity is 3500kg, but what is the recommended towing weight?

Thanks in advance

Sal

There can't be a recommended

There can't be a recommended towing weight...the weight of whatever you tow is the weight of whatever you tow..it might be a light trailer or a heavy caravan..it all depends on what it is.
Therefore as long as the weight of whatever you are going to tow with your fourtrack does not exceed the towing capacity of 3500kg
you are in luck...cos it wil tow anything in between 0 and 3500 kg
Smile

I dont think It would be advisable to tow at full capacity often and for extended periods as this will obviously make the engine work harder.But they can take a lot of punishment..these lumps are legedary..bomb proof.

The caravan club has a little formula for advising members..they advise not towing anything more than 85% of the kerb weight of the vehicle (car). However it is perfectly legal to tow up to 100% of the kerb weight of the towing vehicle.

towing

I've always wondered, if its only legal to tow up to the kerb weight of the car, what is the point of having the 3500kg towing limit, if it would be illegal on-road?!

Nat

I think you can leagally tow

I think you can leagally tow a load greater than that of the kerb weight but its not recommended by the caravan club.

I have seen fourtracks towing fairly heavy plant i.e. mid sized diggers and the like...which must have weighed more than the fourtrack itself.But you then have potential instability problems...dont fancy it meself.

towing

you can only tow 3.5 tone with a braked trailer try not to tow over
2 ton without as you will just nacker your brakes

Towing weight/noseweight....

Hi all,

In a fit of insanity we recently bought a Bessacar caravan, fully loaded it weighs some 1700kgs, the caravan club say that I can't tow it safely with my 4trak because it's not heavy enough!!! and the noseweight of the van is excessive (it's a twin axle wheel van).

Looking in my handbook it appears that the 4trak weighs 2235kgs so the 85% rule is easily bettered, however I cannot find any noseweight recommendations, can anyone help, otherwise I'm going to have to buy a Landbruiser.....

Thanks in advance Nick

N Mills

Towing regs as per Gov website.

Hi.

Take a look at these links, they may help. Data on trailers and towing. As I read it, trailer not to be more than 85% of towing truck, re caravans, but then says consult handbook ????

Nose weight ??. this I take to be the weight placed on the ball hitch,thus the weight transfered to the back axle, seen a product advertised somewhere which did this for you, some form of compression scale which fitted into the caravans tow hitch.

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/vehicles/vssafety/requirementsfortrailers

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/DriverLicensing/CaravansTrailersCommercialVehicles/DG_10013073

Found elsewhere.

The 85% rule
The restriction for newer drivers not to tow a caravan whose maximum weight exceeds 100 percent of the car’s unladen weight has nothing to do with the 85 percent rule, which advises the best ratio for stability of the outfit. For the 85 percent ratio, it is best to use the EU kerbweight figure (see below), as it is more realistic, but using the UK one is not a problem as it will give an even safer result. It is vital that you get these figures right if you are a post-1997 licence-holder – being unauthorised to drive your outfit could lead to prosecution and may well invalidate your insurance. Note also that you must not tow a weight exceeding that recommended by the manufacturer of your towing vehicle.

KERBWEIGHT
There are two different definitions of the kerbweight. According to the UK Construction and Use Regulations 1986, kerbweight is the "weight of the vehicle as it leaves the manufacturer with full fuel, adequate lubricants and water, standard tools and equipment but no driver, occupants or load". According to EU Directive 95/48, it is "the weight of the vehicle as it leaves the manufacturer, with fuel tank 90 percent full, all necessary fluids for normal operation, a nominal driver weight of 68kg and 7kg of luggage". By and large, this means that EU kerbweights are around 70kg more than UK figures. Most new cars will use the EU definition.

UNLADEN WEIGHT
Unladen weight is not the same as the kerbweight, which you will normally find in the car handbook. Unladen weight is the car's weight minus any fuel, water and tools, and driver. This figure is a hard figure to come by in documentation.
In practice, for a medium-sized car, the unladen weight will probably be about 130kg less than the published kerbweight for most cars.
The effect of this on, say, a Ford Mondeo 2.0-litre diesel hatchback with a kerbweight of 1423kg means that the post-1997 car driver with a Category B licence can only legally tow a caravan of just under 1300kg maximum weight with this car, because the maximum allowable weight of the caravan may not exceed 100 percent of the unladen weight of the car.
Enforcement authorities on a roadside check may well not be able to determine the correct figures for your combination, so it may help you stay in their good books if you can prove to them that you are driving legally. You may want to use a weighbridge to get accurate kerbweight figures for your vehicle, but having your driving licence with you is a also good idea, as is a note in the car handbook showing the relevant figures.

Edward (ews) '92 Fourtrak 2.8 TDX

Weighty Issues

Your Fourtrak is legally allowed to tow weights of up to 3500Kgs, with a maximum nose weight of 150 Kgs.
Much confusion exists around towing weights as these are general and apply mainly to cars, particularly the recommendation about the 85% rule from the Caravan Club.
4X4's are not cars, and as such are classed differently and the legislation at the time of their introduction still applies.
In simple terms, you are allowed to tow any trailer up to 750Kgs without brakes, or anything from 750Kgs - 3500Kgs with brakes.