We answer frequently asked questions
Caravanners often ask about the key question of towing weights. Here, David Motton answers your most common queries
What do I need to know to safely match a car and caravan?
In terms of your tow car, you should check its kerbweight, the maximum download on the towball (which is sometimes also referred to as the maximum noseweight), and the car’s legal towing limit.
Moving onto the caravan, you need its Mass in Running Order (MIRO) and Maximum Technically Permissible Laden Mass (MTPLM).
Some motor manufacturers refer to the kerbweight as the unladen weight or the MIRO. Whichever term is used, you’re looking to find out what the vehicle weighs according to European Directive 95/48/EC, which includes all of the fluids necessary for the car to run and a 90%-full tank of fuel.
Sometimes the figure provided includes a nominal 75kg for the driver, sometimes it does not.
However, given that no vehicle is going to be travelling anywhere without someone behind the wheel, it seems quite reasonable to us to allow for the driver’s weight when you are matching car and caravan – that’s what we do here at Practical Caravan in both our
first-drive reviews and in-depth tow car tests.
You should be able to find figures for how much a vehicle weighs in the sales brochures or its handbook. Alternatively, you can check the registration certificate ( V5C).
If you are in any doubt, you could always take your car along to a public weighbridge, where you can confirm how much the vehicle weighs with no luggage or passengers on board.
The legal towing limit is also given in most brochures and handbooks. There are likely to be two figures provided, one for towing an unbraked trailer, and another for towing a braked trailer – a caravan has brakes, so it’s the braked trailer figure that you need.
Now for the caravan itself.
The MIRO and MTPLM should both be given in any brochure, or you’ll find them on the weight plate on the side of the van.
The MIRO is the caravan equivalent of the kerbweight, while the MTPLM is the most the caravan can weigh when fully loaded.
Most caravanners tow at or close to the MTPLM, so it’s best to use this figure when you are calculating outfit matching.
How can I make sure I am towing legally?
The short answer is that if your caravan weighs less than the vehicle’s legal towing limit, then the car and caravan combination is likely to be legal.
However, you also need to check that your driving licence allows you to tow the combined weight of the car and caravan. To find out what you can and can’t tow, visit www.gov.uk/ towing-rules.
Even if your caravan has an MTPLM below the car’s legal towing limit, it’s worth checking the weights given on your car’s VIN plate. There should be four, and it’s the first two you’ll need to pay close attention to.
The first is the Gross Vehicle Weight, the most that the car is allowed to weigh when loaded. The second is the Gross Train Weight, which is the most the car and any caravan or trailer can weigh combined.
In most cases, the difference between the two should be equal to the legal towing limit given in the handbook and brochure. However, some manufacturers quote a legal towing limit with just the driver on board. So when you load up your car, the effective towing limit drops.
Make sure you don’t exceed the Gross Train Weight to stay on the right side of the law.
Is a legal match also a safe match?
A vehicle’s legal towing limit is determined by its ability to tow a trailer – or in our case, a caravan – uphill, repeatedly. So it’s really a measure of the strength of the engine and the durability of the transmission.
It doesn’t necessarily mean that a car will feel stable and secure towing that much weight at 60mph on the motorway with a gusty wind blowing.
The Camping and Caravanning Club and the Caravan and Motorhome Club recommend an 85% matching ratio for safe, stable towing.
In other words, if your car has a kerbweight of 1500kg, you should avoid towing a caravan weighing more than 1275kg
(1500 multiplied by 0.85).
You’ll often see this referred to as ‘the 85% rule’, but in fact, it’s a guideline or rule of thumb, rather than a legal requirement.
Both of the clubs consider it acceptable for experienced tow car drivers to tow up to 100% of the tow car’s kerbweight, but never more than this.
‘You also need to check that your driving licence allows you to tow the combined weight of the car and caravan’
What about the noseweight?
The noseweight is the weight the towing hitch of the caravan applies to the towball on the car. Vehicles have maximum noseweights, just as they have maximum towing limits.
You should find this in the car’s handbook or by checking a database like Towsafe.
For safe and stable towing, the noseweight should be as high as possible without exceeding the legal maximum. Noseweight gauges make it easy to check the noseweight a caravan applies.
Changing how a caravan is loaded will alter the noseweight, but if the car’s limit is too low, it might not be possible to stay within the maximum download, in which case you’ll need a tow car with a higher noseweight limit, or a lighter caravan.
In summary…
First, check your car can legally tow the caravan you plan to buy. Next, check the matching ratio to give yourself reassurance that the combination will be stable and safe, as well as legal.
And don’t forget to measure the noseweight, to ensure the towball’s limit is not exceeded. What else do I need to know? n If you get a towbar for your car, it needs to be ‘type approved’. This means that it meets current regulations and is designed for your car.
n You must have an adequate view of the road behind you. Fit suitable towing mirrors if your trailer or van is wider than the rear of your car.
n Your trailer must have a working brake system if it weighs more than 750kg when it’s loaded.
n Any brakes must be in good working order. You must use a breakaway cable or secondary coupling in case the trailer becomes detached from your car.
n You must display the same numberplate on your trailer as on your towing car.
n The maximum trailer width for any tow car is 2.55m. The maximum length for a trailer towed by a car weighing up to 3500kg is 7m. This length does not include the A-frame.