This whole area of trailering is very interesting.....

In the UK it seems to be a little different

Vehicle selection is measured by vehicle kerbweight (manufacturer specified vehicle weight with driver only and minimum fluid levels

In My case for a Mercedes ML270CDI = 2175Kg

The recomended weight allowed to be towed is 85% of this figure i.e. 1848kg up to 100% is allowed but not reccomended.

BUT

The vehicles Stated maximum Towable weight is 3365Kg. (Braked)
Yet
The Maximum permissible Gross vehicle weight for towing is 3000Kg
The maximum permissible Gross vehicle weight is 2870kg

The maximum front Axle load is 1350Kg
The Maximum rear axle load is 1600Kg
The maximum rear axle load with trailer is 1750Kg

The Maximum drawbar (Tongue) noseweight is 135kg

Now then... all that is very straight forwards :confused:

Trying to piece together any of the above figures is well..... double dutch!

Also consider, the ML 270 is considered a pretty good tow vehicle i.e. comparing well with Discovery / Range / Landrovers / Landcruisers / Shoguns.....

Yet all of these vehicles would be on the limit to tow your load. The biggest in the UK are around 3500Kg (thats ignoring any of the above rules)

I am glad you mentioned the "weight equalising hitch" - I have not heard of that before. It is really interesting to see how other countries deal with these issues.. Is yours like the attached picture?

Still although the "weight equalising hitch" spreads the weight over the two axels, it still does not overcome the overall distributuion of weight.

In the UK, the essence is that the load must NEVER be greater than the Tow vehicle Kerbweight. 100% being both weighing the same.

In your scenario, you have a load of 2875kg and a vehicle Kerbweight of say 2800kg? (I cannot tell as you did not give this figure - great picture byt the way - what is your SUV and also how much does your trailer weigh?). this means your load is on about 100% weight of the tow vehicle.

We also have a maximum length of 23 feet ( not including trailer )

In the UK ( and probably most of Europe) to tow such a load you would require a commerical vehicle.....

I have always found this whole area in the UK very confusing...

Dave

No such rules here. My Grand Cherokee has a GTW of 3100kg (with a load equalizing hitch necessary for tongue weights in excess of 170kg) yet the jeep only posts a curb weight of 1900kg.

I've pulled 42' Scarab behind a 3/4 ton pickup truck. No length/weight limits were exceeded, but you don't want to have to do a lot of stops. :eek:

Hi Dave,

Z202 is right, in may parts of the world, vehicles are rated to tow more that the weight of the tow vehicle on both land and sea. The best example of this is with our Aussie friends, I believe they’re called “Road Trains"! Click here to see some of the most amazing tow feats you'll not see anywhere else...

While you're there, look towards the bottom of the page and you'll find this:

The longest road train ever assembled was 1,018.2 m (3,340 ft) long and consisted of 79 trailers with a combined weight of 1,072.3 tonnes (2.364 million lb).
It was pulled a distance of 8 km (4.9 miles) by a Kenworth C501T truck driven by Australia's Steven Matthews, near Kalgoorlie, WA, Australia, on October

I suspect the trailer load weight far exceeded the tow vehicles weight. :eek_animated:

Geez, Z202, a 42' Scarab + 3/4ton pickup? You were a semi, you just didn't know it.. did you have the "This vehicle makes wide right turns" sticker on the back or did you just do left turns?:rolling_laugh:

I guess in the UK, the average private vehicle is smaller in size, hence the lower tow capacity coupled with stricter highway rules than other places in the world.

As you can see from many examples, towing trailers weighing more than your tow vehicle is perfectly safe as long as you stay within the manufactures recommended limits and observe the rules.

As for your question about our SUV, it's a 1999 Ford Expedition 4x4 Eddy Bauer edition with factory load leveling suspension and tow package plus a few custom and performance upgrades as well and just over 160000km... She's been towing since the day we bought her, she's comfortable and roomy, seats 8 and combined with the Talari, gets about "5.07kmpl" to 5.91kmpl (tail wind) on flat ground, that’s about 5543kg rolling down the highway. Sometimes I off-road her too, the suspension gives me about a 101mm lift in 4 wheel low over the “parked” height.

Here is some weight data for our SUV:

The vehicles Stated Maximum Towable weight is 3557Kg. (Braked) (This is for the 4x4, 2x4 capacity is increased to 3758kg)
The maximum permissible Gross vehicle weight is 3265kg
The curb weight is approximately 2494.7kg (no passengers)
The maximum front Axle load is 1587Kg
The Maximum rear axle load is 1872Kg
The maximum rear axle load with trailer is still 1872Kg
The Maximum drawbar (Tongue) noseweight is 226.8kg (453.5kg w/ eq hitch)
The Maximum GCWR is 6123kg
Our boat trailer is about 807.3kg

With our current setup, we do not need to use an EQ hitch setup. I hope this gives you a little better perspective about the size and/or capacity of our SUV's and trucks over here, I guess in the UK, some of them could be considered commercial vehicles. :yes_grin:

One last thing- on your ML270CID (I assume it’s a diesel) you stated the following:

The Maximum permissible Gross vehicle weight for towing is 3000Kg (increase of 130kg over non tow)
The maximum permissible Gross vehicle weight is 2870kg

The Maximum rear axle load is 1600Kg
The maximum rear axle load with trailer is 1750Kg (increase of 150kg over non tow)

I am confused, you mean to tell me that they allow you to exceed the maximum limits as long as you’re towing? I thought Max meant that’s it, no more, right?

Stumped,
WetWilly

I lived in Kalgoorlie ( a gold mining town of about 30,000 people in the middle of Western Australia) for a couple of years. My job was to visit various mining camps all around WA flogging lubricants. I regularly encountered these beasts on the roads. When you see one coming you pull over as far off the road as you can and wait for them to pass. Plenty of the "Grey Nomads" have had their caravans blown over by the enormous amount of air that is pushed out in front of these things. (dont know what you Yanks call caravans - they are a bit like a small trailer home you tow behind your car). They wont slow down for you, no way, can you imagine how long it would take to make an emergency stop!! I have seen one guy reverse his road train around a corner, absolutely amazing feat, what a fantastic driver.
We have trucks towing 2 trailers on our city highways ALL the time, my wife hates having to pass them in our car, us blokes just simply dont show our fear.:eek_animated:
I am glad we dont live in Kalgoorlie any more, it was a 4 1/2 hours drive to the closest beach!