When we first decided to upgrade to a caravan, I though it would be a simple matter of buying a caravan, hooking up and away we go. Nothing in fact could be further from the truth! I soon discovered a world of weights, limits and restrictions, which take a bit of time to get your head around, but this is what I discovered:
The Car
There are 4 figures you need to know about your car:
- Kerb Weight
- Maximum Nose Weight
- Maximum Tow Weight
- Gross Train Weight
1) Kerb Weight
This figure is used to compare the weight of your tow car to the weight of the caravan. For your average tower, this match needs to ideally be at 85% or less, where the caravan’s MTPLM (Maximum Technically Permissible Load Mass) is equal to or less than 85% of the car’s Kerb Weight.
Example:
So the Santa Fe has a kerb weight of 1991kg. 85% of 1991 equals 1692. Therefore, the MTPLM of any caravan I choose to tow, should not be greater than 1692kg.
Of course this is just for guidance, the Santa Fe can indeed tow up to 2200kg, but with the weight of the caravan far exceeding the kerb weight of the car, you will probably find that the tail could easily start to wag the dog, so to speak, resulting in snaking and general instability. All to be avoided for a more relaxed trip, so this guidance is worth adhering to in my opinion.
2) Maximum Nose Weight
This refers to the maximum load that can be placed upon the tow bar itself. In the case of the Santa Fe, this is 88kg for the manual diesel version. Petrol and automatics tend to have a different, often lower nose limit than a manual diesel, so check before you commit to your tow car!
Again there is guidance that the nose of your caravan should be between 5-7% of the MTPLM. This can result in some rather large caravan nose weights, far in excess of the maximum nose weight of most cars, indeed the Al-Ko chassis can only take 100kg. So the aim here is to get a car with a good nose weight of at least 75kg and then try and achieve 5-7% of the MTPLM whilst not exceeding the limit imposed by the car’s nose weight or the 100kg limit of the Al-Ko chassis.
3) Maximum Tow Weight
This is quite simply the maximum weight you are allowed to pull. Therefore this figure, should be greater than the MTPLM of the caravan you intend to tow.
4) Gross Train Weight
This is the maximum combined weight of both the car and caravan full laden. So your payload in the both the car and the caravan needs to checked, so that it does not exceed this figure.
The best way to check this is to keep a spreadsheet of all the payload items you intend putting in the car and the caravan. On each trip you can then check what weight is going into both the car and caravan and that the MAM (Maximum Authorised Mass) of the vehicle or the MTPLM of the caravan aren’t exceeded. Now check the figures combined with both the car kerb weight (don’t forget passengers) and the caravan’s MRO (Mass in Running Order). This figure should not exceed the Gross Train Weight. For the first time after doing your calculations, use a public weighbridge to check everything is as you planned.
The Caravan
There are 2 figures to know when buying your caravan:
- MTPLM (Maximum Technically Permissible Load Mass)
- MRO/MIRO (Mass in Running Order)
1) MTPLM
The MTPLM is the maximum weight that the caravan can be including user payload, pretty much the MAM equivalent of the car. All of your camping accessories: clothing, food, awning, BBQ, chairs, bikes etc. are all accountable for under user payload. This user payload combined with the MRO must not exceed the MTPLM.
Plate upgrades are available on certain caravans, this has the added advantage of giving you a larger user payload, as long as the new higher MTPLM doesn’t cause any problems with the tow car as discussed above.
2) MRO/MIRO
The MRO is the weight of the caravan equipped to the manufacturer’s standard specification, inclusive of an allowance for a gas cylinder, electric cable and fresh water supply.
Example:
A caravan has an MTPLM of 1500kg and a MRO of 1350kg. By subtracting the MRO from the MTPLM we have our ‘user payload’ figure, in this case 150kg. So that means the combined weight of all of your camping accessories that you are going to store in the caravan whilst in transit must not exceed 150kg.
Your Driving License
There is plenty of confusion as to what you are able to tow with your standard license and what you can’t. After a lot of research, I believe the following sums it up:
License Obtained Before 1st Jan 1997
You are allowed to:
• Drive a car with a MAM not in excess of 3500kg
• Tow any trailer where the Gross Train Weight is not in excess of 8250kg
As can be seen, the trailer weight allowance is rather big! This does not mean you can tow a monster caravan however. Where the trailer is a caravan, use the 85% rule as detailed above.
License Obtained Since 1st Jan 1997
You are allowed to:
• Drive a car with a MAM not in excess of 3500kg
• Tow a trailer whose MAM is greater than 750kg, but not in excess of the car’s Kerb Weight and where the Gross Train Weight is not in excess of 3500kg
• Tow a trailer whose MAM is less tha 750kg and where the Gross Train Weight is no in excess of 4250kg.
Here we can see that there is more restriction on the license, due to category E being absent now. Smaller caravans may still be fall within these limits, but generally you will want to be looking at sitting the towing test (B+E) in order to avoid restricting your chosen outfit.
Loading Up
Car
Keeping a lot of weight in the car compared to the caravan is a good option. However, be careful not to overload the rear axle, it has a limit. And with passengers, a boot full of camping accessories and a caravan bearing down on it, it’s easy to overload.
Caravan
Heavy items should be placed over the axle of the caravan, on the floor. Do not overload the front or rear of the caravan, this can lead to instability problems. Also, avoid over-loading the lockers, this can lead to a high centre of gravity, again causing instability problems. If the nose weight needs altering, use small movements of the floor axle load to compensate either way.