roofman
Purveyor of fine English buckets and mops
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what i do...worked for over 40 yearsto see if my trailers well overloaded I just look at the tires if there half squashed it is overloaded
- Thread starter John_d1974
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hotponyshoes
Member
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- Somerset. Uk
I got pulled with an empty horse box once,
Midweek afternoon and I was about the only car one the road.
I think they were bored or had a target to hit as even when I told him it was empty he sent me to the weigh bridge.
A bloke there asked me some vague questions about what I did for work and how my day was going, where I was going to etc.
Pretty soon became apparent he was trying to see if I was doing it for work rather than my own use.
Mate of mine built and iva'd a boat trailer end of last year. Had a fair drive to get it tested but simple enough to do and not that expensive either.
If you build your new one long enough ago it will be ok. Not sure what the rules are on giving an old twin axle caravan chassis a major overhaul?
If you replace everything bar the 2 axles and coupling because you are concerned it may be weak then surely you are doing your best to ensure it is road worthy.
As said above, if it does not look like it's likely to fall apart and hurt the children and providing you don't fail the attitude test when pulled I expect you will be fine.
Midweek afternoon and I was about the only car one the road.
I think they were bored or had a target to hit as even when I told him it was empty he sent me to the weigh bridge.
A bloke there asked me some vague questions about what I did for work and how my day was going, where I was going to etc.
Pretty soon became apparent he was trying to see if I was doing it for work rather than my own use.
Mate of mine built and iva'd a boat trailer end of last year. Had a fair drive to get it tested but simple enough to do and not that expensive either.
If you build your new one long enough ago it will be ok. Not sure what the rules are on giving an old twin axle caravan chassis a major overhaul?
If you replace everything bar the 2 axles and coupling because you are concerned it may be weak then surely you are doing your best to ensure it is road worthy.
As said above, if it does not look like it's likely to fall apart and hurt the children and providing you don't fail the attitude test when pulled I expect you will be fine.
Hopefuldave
Intergalactic pot-mender
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I'm guessing you're a youngster... I have C1E on my licence ("grandfather rights", although I look older), Combined weight 8250 kg, the old "three and a half tonner" equivalent?
Dave H. (the other one)
duncans
Member
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is it 7and a half-ton your allowed to drive when you passed your test before a certain date i no they have to take a test to tow a trailer these days not back in the day when i passed
bigegg
Scream Not Working Because Space Make Deaf
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bigegg
Scream Not Working Because Space Make Deaf
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- Leeds, West Yorkshire
It depends.
License wise it's all about plated weights.
In terms of vehicle towing limits, it's done on actual weight.
I.e. if your vehicle weighs 2000kg and can only tow 1500kg, without a trailer license you can only legally tow a trailer with a maximum gross weight of 1500kg, but with a trailer license, you can tow a trailer with any maximum plated weight up to 3500kg, provided it's actual weight doesn't exceed 1500kg.
Robbie260
I fix things that others have broken
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This is one of these subjects that always get quite convoluted about what you can and cannot do.
I recently passed my trailer test in january. So i can now tow up too 3.5 tons behind my dmax or any other vehicle which is rated too tow this amount through its gross train weight. You have too be careful though as this includes the weigh of the passengers, driver, fuel, any cargo in the vehicle including items such as your phone, wallet, cds etc and the weight of the trailer.
A tailer will have a max weight it can handle ie 3.5 tons. Though this is not true as the actual payload capacity is 3.5 tons - the weight of the trailer. So if you have a 3.5 ton trailer and it weighs 700kg then you trailers max payload is 2.8 tons.
So you have a pickup lets say for arguments sake with a gross train weight of 6000kg or 6 tons and a gross vehicle mass of 3.2 tons, the pickup its self weighs 2.2 tons leaving you with a 1 ton pay load including driver fuel etc. You keep 500kg of payload in your pickup at all times lets say, so your pickups total mass is now 2.7 tons. The weight of the trailer you can tow is the gross vehicle mass - total mass. So you can therfore tow a 3.3 ton trailer.
This is where it gets more complicated you can tow any trailer with any payload behind your pick up now providing it dose not exceed 3.3 tons and is secure too the vheicle, the trailer breaks are connected and appropriate licence plates and lights are in place. Ie i could tow a 5 ton rated agricultural tractor tipping trailer behind my d max if i wanted too on the road provided my lights were all hooked up, a licence plate of the towing vehicle was displayed, the breaks were connected and the trailer did not weigh more than 3.3 tons with any cargo it may or may not be carrying.
So back on topic you have a 3.5 ton trailer at your disposal which weighs 700 kg and has a payload of 2.8 tons, but here os the catch you can only tow 3.3 tons so too get the legal maximum you can tow on your trailer as payload you take your 3.3 tons - 700kg and you are left with 2.6 tons of payload on your trailer.
New rules were apparently sneaked in recently about hitch weights of trailers etc so they should be checked out too before you tow anything.
If you dont have grandfather rights or a b+e licence then you are limited too 750kgs as your maximum trailer weight.
Yes you are correct you are limited too a 7000kg gross train weight with your B+E, this is the reason a land rover defender 130 is capable of towing in a legal sense a 3.5 ton trailer fully loaded and have 1 ton of cargo on board the defender, i dont know of any other 3.5 ton vehicle which can leagally do this in the uk . Whether the defender can do it safely is another matter.
I recently passed my trailer test in january. So i can now tow up too 3.5 tons behind my dmax or any other vehicle which is rated too tow this amount through its gross train weight. You have too be careful though as this includes the weigh of the passengers, driver, fuel, any cargo in the vehicle including items such as your phone, wallet, cds etc and the weight of the trailer.
A tailer will have a max weight it can handle ie 3.5 tons. Though this is not true as the actual payload capacity is 3.5 tons - the weight of the trailer. So if you have a 3.5 ton trailer and it weighs 700kg then you trailers max payload is 2.8 tons.
So you have a pickup lets say for arguments sake with a gross train weight of 6000kg or 6 tons and a gross vehicle mass of 3.2 tons, the pickup its self weighs 2.2 tons leaving you with a 1 ton pay load including driver fuel etc. You keep 500kg of payload in your pickup at all times lets say, so your pickups total mass is now 2.7 tons. The weight of the trailer you can tow is the gross vehicle mass - total mass. So you can therfore tow a 3.3 ton trailer.
This is where it gets more complicated you can tow any trailer with any payload behind your pick up now providing it dose not exceed 3.3 tons and is secure too the vheicle, the trailer breaks are connected and appropriate licence plates and lights are in place. Ie i could tow a 5 ton rated agricultural tractor tipping trailer behind my d max if i wanted too on the road provided my lights were all hooked up, a licence plate of the towing vehicle was displayed, the breaks were connected and the trailer did not weigh more than 3.3 tons with any cargo it may or may not be carrying.
So back on topic you have a 3.5 ton trailer at your disposal which weighs 700 kg and has a payload of 2.8 tons, but here os the catch you can only tow 3.3 tons so too get the legal maximum you can tow on your trailer as payload you take your 3.3 tons - 700kg and you are left with 2.6 tons of payload on your trailer.
New rules were apparently sneaked in recently about hitch weights of trailers etc so they should be checked out too before you tow anything.
If you dont have grandfather rights or a b+e licence then you are limited too 750kgs as your maximum trailer weight.
Yes you are correct you are limited too a 7000kg gross train weight with your B+E, this is the reason a land rover defender 130 is capable of towing in a legal sense a 3.5 ton trailer fully loaded and have 1 ton of cargo on board the defender, i dont know of any other 3.5 ton vehicle which can leagally do this in the uk . Whether the defender can do it safely is another matter.
willie.macleod
Member
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You are allowed to tow a larger trailer if the combined car and trailer MAM is less than 3500Kg. So you end up in a situation where a Defender driver can only tow a 750Kg trailer but a family estate car can tow over a ton. Before I got my "e" entitlement I got a new plate for my Brian James trailer amended it to suit my 307, I think it was around 1300Kg I replated it to. Basically allowed me a tow a twin axle tipper and gave me around 500Kg payload. Brian James were brilliant and charged a nominal fee for the downplating, said they did it all the time.
chrisg3103
Forum Supporter
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Was having this discussion only the other week trying to get someone to understand it's based on theoretical weight for a B license.
So took a picture of my tow cars vin plate. Turns out the ideal tow car for a B license is a 2007 ford focus c-max, 2.0L diesel. Can legally tow a 1500kg plated trailer with 10kg to spare, if in doubt look at your vin plates, what the cops will do.
Regarding uprating the trailer as said a few times no brakes automatically limits you to 750kg mam.
With brakes and no plate they go by the rating of your suspension units, how they know that I have no idea, failing that I think its load rating of the tires
Pigeon_Droppings2
Member
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Now I know why my xc70 Volvo can only tow 750kg unbraked...it's the trailer limit. Cheers ...I was comparing with a mate who has a tiny car rated at 650kg...now it all makes sense 
I was using some example figures to highlight the difference in license limits, not the legally possible maximum figures...
There's only a limited number of trailer suspension manufacturers, so they'll have charts of dimensions/weight limits available.
It's one area where VOSA inspectors are likely to go by experience and making a visual judgement, before considering doing any kid of detailed checks.
If it generally looks OK, they're not likely to do anything.
If it looks overloaded, or somebody is trying to say that a spindly 4 bolt braked suspension unit is capable of carrying 1 tonne when it's blatantly obvious it's only likely to carry 500kg, they're going to check further.
