What a pratt

[Deleted account DD]

I know Ive often spoken up in the face of cop bashing on here but sometimes I do have to just cough regarding some of the pratts employed as cops, in this case as a traffic cop

To cut a long story short

On a police forum one traffic cop has come in on a chat about towing weights.

He reckons Ive got it wrong and 3.5tonnes towing weight I quote for mine is actually the gross train weight ie weight of vehicle and trailer.

A quick bit of maths shows that if you take off the laden weight of my car the max tow I can pull according to him is 850kg





Once I'd finished laughing I thought id better say

a/ i cant defend them all

b/ apologies in advance if you get stopped by him towing with your 4x4

[macabethiel]

Three and a half tons sounds like a lot of towing weight to me what you got a Scammel 4 x 4 ?

[larson]

police forum?? can i have a link... prity please

[macabethiel]

Now Road Traffic Law was not my area of expertise it was Crime & P.A.C.E. Act but it used to be that you could tow 85 % of the unladen or was it laden weight of your towing vehicle.

For you to legally tow 3.5 Tons be they metric or imperial that would mean your motor would need to weigh in at 4.12 Tons ?

That would be a train weight of 7.62 Tons all sounds a bit heavy to me or are you allowed more if you are 4WD ?

Never towed for years and when I did it was 75 % not 85 % but when you towed anywhere near 75 % the tail didn't half wagg!!

Am I missing something ?

[Deleted account DD]

Originally Posted by macabethiel

Am I missing something ?

possibly

The 85% & 100% were guidelines. No statutory support.

Your vehicle has (in simple terms I understand cos I am NOT a black rat) a maximum tow rating. On cars it usually comes in at or about is max weight, for 4x4 and vans its often higher.

My cars max laden is over 2t , its tow limit is 3.5t and its gross train weight comes in at heading to 6t.

Sorry I cant be more precise and check the bang on figures on the plate but the cars not on the drive

[macabethiel]

I dont see how you can legally tow more than 85 % of the towing vehicles kerb weight.

I will go on the Government website and look up the RTA & Con & Use Regs for a definitive answer because knowing the EU factor there will be a limit I freel sure ?

[macabethiel]

Does this help or apply ?




http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/repositor...20Feb%2008.pdf

[tezzer]

Originally Posted by macabethiel

I dont see how you can legally tow more than 85 % of the towing vehicles kerb weight.

I will go on the Government website and look up the RTA & Con & Use Regs for a definitive answer because knowing the EU factor there will be a limit I freel sure ?

85% is only a guide line that the caravan club and other clubs use as a safety margin and is NOT law, i have been towing over 30 yrs and there are plenty of prats out there, i saw a guy pulling a twin axled swift conqurer with an escort diesel, but the big 4x4's can tow upto 3.5 ton, as far as i know.

[The Patrolman]

I once herd of a guy with a twin axeled trailer who wanted to take two wheels off and tow it with an underated vehicle

[Deleted account DD]

Originally Posted by macabethiel

Does this help or apply ?




http://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/repositor...20Feb%2008.pdf

If you look on the bottom left side of the leaflet where it mentions braked trailers.

It recomends the trailer doesnt exceed 85% but it clearly stated top limit is design or 3500kg (ie 3.5t)

I'll admit I had no idea the max for "small trailers" is 3.5t. Maybe thats why the common figure amongst a lot of 4x4s is just that , by design

All good stuff