towing MAM

[Nightshade]

Chaps,

I may have to tow at the weekend, but unsure if I'm legal with the stupid licence thing. Does anyone know the MAM of a 406 estate (1.9td)?
I understand it's 1389 unladen, but that i'll need to check the MAM weight of the full train and that the caravan doesn't exceed 1389kg........... I think!!

[trem1]

when did you pass your test ?? its a minefield this issue

[Nightshade]

2005 - I fall into the silly category, so I'll need to check the MAM of the car and caravan. I only have a 'B' licence

[trem1]

as i understand it you have to have a gross train weight of less the 3500 kgs, and the trailer must be less weight than the towcar (recommended 85%), the trailer must have brakes if over 750kgs but not if under that.
Does anyone agree with this info or does your understanding differ ??

have a look here

http://www.towcar.info/basic_index.php

just find your car and guess which caravan most suits the weight of the trailer you want to tow

[Bailes1992]

Right the trailer cannot weigh more than the unlaiden weight of the car and overall the car + trailer cannot weigh more than 3500kgs.

Say you had a car with an Unlaiden weight of 1,750kgs then you could tow a 1,750kgs trailer providing the car was unlaiden.

[boombang]

You have it virtually right -

Right the trailer cannot weigh more than the unlaiden weight of the car and overall the car + trailer cannot weigh more than 3500kgs.

Say you had a car with an Unlaiden weight of 1,750kgs then you could tow a 1,750kgs trailer providing the car was unlaiden.

If you had a car with unladen weight of 1750kg then the gross would be higher, certainly over 2000kg. Add that to the 1750kg trailer and you go over the 3500kg MAM.

In your case so long as the gross of the caravan is less than your unladen weight you will certainly be legal (if it's under 1389kg it will be under 3500kg MAM as gross for a 406 estate is just under 2000kg).

One thing worth bearing in mind is the pitiful 80kg nose weight allowed for the 406 - still no idea why it's so low!

[Bailes1992]

The rear suspension is too soft for anything heavier.
Both of my 406's have bottomed out with ease!

[boombang]

I tested mine up to 150kg nose weight static and still had some travel left, but does feel at it's best with 80-100kg.

**** EDIT - the max nose weight is 80kg, I choose to run slightly over up to 100kg for increased stability but this is not advised and could damage your vehicle permanently or worse****

My trailer is very short and single axle, so a nightmare to balance my race car on. Got to get round to doing the tow test and sorting a bigger trailer out ASAP.

[scotty73]

80kgs? does that mean i have to limit the amount of strongbow i take away with me tomorrow or just buy more to put at the back of the caravan... you know just to ballance it out like?

[boombang]

So long as you load it well it doesn't matter, Strongbow it right up if you like.

I always now check my nose weight before towing, following a tank slapper on the M1 - had it slightly light through rushing and had a mile downhill section with it swinging wilder and wilder. Thankfully it levelled out and settled, but all 4 lanes of traffic had backed off a 1/4 mile waiting for me to go over.
Now I set an axle stand at same height as my towbar when loaded, place on a set of old scales, and lower the hitch down onto it.

As said before I found that 100kg is best for stability, but if the car is very heavily loaded I'll drop down to 80kg. I also load the 406 carefully. Put as much as I can in the front - generally starter pack, jack and my 150 piece racket/socket sets - jerry cans behind front seats with oil and coolant - then boxes of spares and wheels/tyres in the boot.

Do keep nothing in the car on the trailer though, balance that purely by moving it backwards and forwards to right spot on to balance. If you want to use something in the caravan to balance (Strongbow!!!) then make sure it can't move about. Very small changes in balance can seriously destabilise the setup.

[scotty73]

Thats interesting, i've been towing the same van for 5 years now and always thought i was boarderline with the citroen xsara 1.9td i had... It wasn't until i bought the 406 that i realised it would tow 1100kgs and the caravan was 1100kgs fully laiden ... if vosa had stopped us the day they followed us on route to Devon.

The reason for us buying it was towing and growing kids... oh and a dog twice the size of our old one.

Never tried the nose weight i guess i should, i normally have a boot full then in the van things that may slide at the front (beers, strongbow that kinda thing) then put the awning on the floor at the back i'm not sure this is right but would be interested to find out... Not through a stop check though.