vehicle (4x4)recommendations to enable towing on car license please

BlueWicked

fluff-free
Jan 13, 2008
2,358
1
0
in the real world...
ok, lets not go into the legalities of weights here... it's been covered to death, and all the research I did is in the sticky at the top of the page.


hubby has been towing me about as he has towing test and i dont. :rolleyes:

currently, I couldnt tow a single ifor403 as we tow with renaulttrafic, 2.7tonnes gross vehicle weight.

To enable me to be able to tow on my car license without sitting a test I would need to find a vehicle that was suitable to tow the 403 and not over 3.5tonnes combined gross weights.


Suzuki Grand Vitara......... anyone got any comments?
Gross weight 2070kg
kerb weight 1665kg
towing capacity 2000kg
 
ok, lets not go into the legalities of weights here... it's been covered to death, and all the research I did is in the sticky at the top of the page.


hubby has been towing me about as he has towing test and i dont. :rolleyes:

currently, I couldnt tow a single ifor403 as we tow with renaulttrafic, 2.7tonnes gross vehicle weight.

To enable me to be able to tow on my car license without sitting a test I would need to find a vehicle that was suitable to tow the 403 and not over 3.5tonnes combined gross weights.


Suzuki Grand Vitara......... anyone got any comments?
Gross weight 2070kg
kerb weight 1665kg
towing capacity 2000kg

I've been looking myself, so thanks for starting this thread.

Suzuki Grand Vitara- no idea about towing but I test drove one and hated it. It felt like a "fake" 4X4 if that makes sense and felt so unsecure round corners. Just felt like it was going to fall over all the time.
 
the suzukis arnt built for towing full stop there im affraid,

if you need to remain under 3.5ton then id suggest the fourtracks or discoveries.

fourtracks go for ever, but arnt full of mod cons,

the discoveries are good pullers, and you anc pick them up at good prices.

we have a discovery, our trailer un loaded is 750kg, think our limit is around the 3.5ton loaded.
 
I'm in the same situation, I seem to remember I looked into the grand vitara and i dont think it had enough power for the towing I was going to do. I ended up buying a 2003 short wheel base shogun which weights 1980kg. I did have to buy a lighter trailer (a bateson deuville) rather than a big ifor to keep my weight down and I'm cutting a bit fine on the weight but I can legally tow with 1 horse in and the shogun manages it very easily. If you didnt want to go for a newish car I'm guessing the older pajeros and shoguns are pretty much the same.

I seem to remenber that when i looked into it all to keep within the weights the only other real option was a fourtrak.
 
fourtraks are beefy tow vehicles hence why farmers like them! i think it's kerb weight is 1650kg. can't find GVW...
 
a hyundai tucson has a max towing weight of 1400-1600kg dependant on model. GVW ranges from 2050kg to 2190kg, again model dependant.
 
To enable me to be able to tow on my car license without sitting a test I would need to find a vehicle that was suitable to tow the 403 and not over 3.5tonnes combined gross weights.
Hey BW

Just looking for some clarification which might help others too. I was always of the opinion that it was combined 3.5 weight

But after speaking to DVLA and police I was advised towing anything which had a weight over 750kg needed a tow licence ?
 
what does the fourtrack weigh ? (GVW)

general weight og the car alone, is around 1600kg. to be honest, id be looking at the discoveries. your pick one up cheaper, the fourtraks, are pretty pricey, if you manage to find one with fsh, and NOT been used as a farmers car.

weve found the discovery all round the better car.
 
Hey BW

Just looking for some clarification which might help others too. I was always of the opinion that it was combined 3.5 weight

But after speaking to DVLA and police I was advised towing anything which had a weight over 750kg needed a tow licence ?

i thought this too, i think it actually depends on when you past your test.
 
general weight og the car alone, is around 1600kg. to be honest, id be looking at the discoveries. your pick one up cheaper, the fourtraks, are pretty pricey, if you manage to find one with fsh, and NOT been used as a farmers car.

weve found the discovery all round the better car.

isnt the disco a whole lot heavier though?
 
Hey BW

Just looking for some clarification which might help others too. I was always of the opinion that it was combined 3.5 weight

But after speaking to DVLA and police I was advised towing anything which had a weight over 750kg needed a tow licence ?


see for yourself - cant understand why
they told you that? Looks like they cant read their own website:rolleyes:

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

Category B vehicles may be coupled with a trailer up to 750kgs MAM (allowing a combined weight up to 4.25 tonnes MAM) or a trailer over 750kgs MAM provided the MAM of the trailer does not exceed the unladen weight of the towing vehicle, and the combination does not exceed 3.5 tonnes MAM.
 
I read that as well Bluewicked, also if you go throughthe dvla stuff somewhere deep in there it says the same thing. I think they said that most people would be able to tow a caravan without doing the b+e test. The MAM weight of a car would have to be 1900 or below if you want the combined MAM of vehicle and trailer to be =>3500. Good luck in your search
 
yes having a look they are around 2000kg but your towing weight is normally around 3.5 kg which is plenty for what you need, it can go up 4000kg if the trailer has hydrolic brakes.

ref the actual towing, i think horse trailer laws are slightley different from normal trailers, i may be wrong there though!
 
Why not just sit the test? it's not hard and if you plan to tow then you should be able to do so before you hit the road. The cost of a new car, tax and insurance will surely be more than the test ( mine was £160 including lessons ) and adding you to your OH's car insurance.

You can then tow with a suitible car and not risk the lives of yourselves or others by using a car that is on it max limit. sorry to be a pain but it gets on my wick when people tow without experiance or the right type of car for the job.
 
newrider.com