2014 mondeo estate 1997cc towing capacity limit

[joeblogs]

Can anybody please tell me if a 2011 Bailey unicorn Barcelona 1593kg double wheeler can be towed weight wise and safely by a 2014 1997cc Mondeo diesal estate .
Thanks.

 

[audiorob]

There are lots of variants, but if you consult this site
http://www.uktow.com/towing%20capacity.asp?make=Ford&model1=Mondeo
and select your model it will give you the kerbweight.
Then you should aim for the caravan MTPLM being about 85% of that figure, give or take, but never exceeding it.

 

[Lutz]

The weight plate on the car will tell you the gross train weight and the gross vehicle weight. Subtract the one from the other. That will give you the max. towload which will hopefully be greater than 1593kg.
Whether it is safe to tow depends on how much care and attention you pay.

 

[camel]

Hope they have improved the injectors on the mondeo I had to have a new set at twentythree thousand,, plus I never got on with the clutch they had at the time,

 

[otherclive]

Another matching site is Towcar.info. See how it compares to the one given above. Don’t forget that the cars maximum towing limit isn’t necessarily how good a caravan Towcar it would make. The makers maximum limit relates to the cars ability to make a number of repeated hill starts on a 12% incline with that weight trailer. A large 7m approx aluminium box is subject to many things when being towed. Ie passing coaches, high speed vans, HGVs passing or being passed, wind, road unevenness etc, driver speeding, inattention, incorrect loading. So the 85% guidance makes sense for newcomers. It’s not hard and fast but is a useful starting point.
Could you feedback what the matching sites say for information. And what is the cars kerb-weight. Looking at one matching site there seem a lot of Mondrian variants at that year point. Putting in a few 2 litre diesel options the weight ratio comes out very close to 95-100% which is less than ideal even fir a more experienced caravannner.

 

[Lutz]

Another matching site is Towcar.info. See how it compares to the one given above. Don’t forget that the cars maximum towing limit isn’t necessarily how good a caravan Towcar it would make. The makers maximum limit relates to the cars ability to make a number of repeated hill starts on a 12% incline with that weight trailer. A large 7m approx aluminium box is subject to many things when being towed. Ie passing coaches, high speed vans, HGVs passing or being passed, wind, road unevenness etc, driver speeding, inattention, incorrect loading. So the 85% guidance makes sense for newcomers. It’s not hard and fast but is a useful starting point.
Could you feedback what the matching sites say for information. And what is the cars kerb-weight. Looking at one matching site there seem a lot of Mondrian variants at that year point. Putting in a few 2 litre diesel options the weight ratio comes out very close to 95-100% which is less than ideal even fir a more experienced caravannner.

I'll go along with most of what you wrote, but I would like to point out that the towload limit set by the manufacturer takes a lot more into account than what the regulations require, i.e. a given number of stop/starts on a 12% incline. It will also take vehicle handling, engine cooling and braking performance as well as transmission durability into account.
I would also maintain that 95-100% weight ratio that you mention need not necessarily be considered as a limit for an experienced caravanner. Of course, the heavier the caravan relative to the car, the bigger the demands on the driver, but on condition that adequate care and consideration is given and the presence of technical safety features both in the car and on the caravan, there is no reason why 100% can't be exceeded to a limited extent. Caravanners on the Continent are unaware of any weight ratio recommendation and many use the manufacturers towing limit to the full, even for caravans, and yet one doesn't see roads littered with wrecked caravans there.

 

[Hutch]

Another matching site is Towcar.info. See how it compares to the one given above. Don’t forget that the cars maximum towing limit isn’t necessarily how good a caravan Towcar it would make. The makers maximum limit relates to the cars ability to make a number of repeated hill starts on a 12% incline with that weight trailer. A large 7m approx aluminium box is subject to many things when being towed. Ie passing coaches, high speed vans, HGVs passing or being passed, wind, road unevenness etc, driver speeding, inattention, incorrect loading. So the 85% guidance makes sense for newcomers. It’s not hard and fast but is a useful starting point.
Could you feedback what the matching sites say for information. And what is the cars kerb-weight. Looking at one matching site there seem a lot of Mondrian variants at that year point. Putting in a few 2 litre diesel options the weight ratio comes out very close to 95-100% which is less than ideal even fir a more experienced caravannner.

I'll go along with most of what you wrote, but I would like to point out that the towload limit set by the manufacturer takes a lot more into account than what the regulations require, i.e. a given number of stop/starts on a 12% incline. It will also take vehicle handling, engine cooling and braking performance as well as transmission durability into account.
I would also maintain that 95-100% weight ratio that you mention need not necessarily be considered as a limit for an experienced caravanner. Of course, the heavier the caravan relative to the car, the bigger the demands on the driver, but on condition that adequate care and consideration is given and the presence of technical safety features both in the car and on the caravan, there is no reason why 100% can't be exceeded to a limited extent. Caravanners on the Continent are unaware of any weight ratio recommendation and many use the manufacturers towing limit to the full, even for caravans, and yet one doesn't see roads littered with wrecked caravans there.

We don't see them littered over here normally but hear about it through the media, but, the British Isle' are a smaller area.

 

[JezzerB]

Interesting article on towing;
https://blueskyrecreation.wordpress.com/2017/06/27/85-of-kerb-weight-law-guide-or-myth/

 

[ProfJohnL]

Interesting article on towing;
https://blueskyrecreation.wordpress.com/2017/06/27/85-of-kerb-weight-law-guide-or-myth/

This is almost exactly what I have been suggesting for years! (if you want to search back through all the posts on this forum)

One of the biggest problems has been that the industry advice has been hammered into people so much that they use it as if t is the law and they tend to call it a "rule" which reinforces the illusion. It is of course only advice.

I have always considered it to be wise to keep the trailers weight as small as possible, but how the figure of 85% came about is as clear as mud. I have several contacts in the industry, and none of them will admit to knowing exactly why the advice was introduced (but there is lots of speculation) and how the advice was formulated, who was involved, or the evidence that was used to produce this magical 85% figure.

The advice has become a "holy grail" for some caravanners who ignore the other important factors that affect towing and especially stability, to the extent they are actually more dangerous because of the lengths they will go to get to the magical 85% figure.

I have long believed there should be a better way of producing towing advice that actually uses the details of the vehicles involved rather than a one size fits all system. There are several matching services available both on line or over the phone which do look at more than just weight ratio's, but they are only as good as the information they have in their databases, and we know from several forum contributors that their database's do contain some significant errors. To be balanced some contributors tell us their results can be quite accurate. Most of the UK based ones will also apply the industry advice to their results and you can get conflicting results from different services based on where they are based simply becasue the weight ratio conflicts with the advice.

I'm all for advice and products that improves safety, but I'm against it if it's not corroborated by good research or logical thinking. Having said that, the industry advice has no publicly accessible information about its formulation, but it does err on the good side side of keeping trailer masses small in relation to the tow vehicle, so in teh absence of a better method at the moment I do continue to suggest its use but in combination with consideration of other factors such as proper vehicle maintenance, adoption of correct towing tyre pressures, proper loading strategies including setting nose loads, and of course sensible driving as that probably has the most significant effect on both stability and safety.

 

[JezzerB]

Yes new to this forum so am a bit behind in terms of what has already been discussed-and my 'recent topics' button works erratically, but really enjoying learning from your comments and following it all with great interest. Really appreciate your sound advice while am off unable to work. Your posts are to the point and really informative. Didn't mean to repeat what you were saying -just seems there are few voices out there like yours to give that clear message based on tech and common sense. Thank you.

 

[Hutch]

Yes new to this forum so am a bit behind in terms of what has already been discussed-and my 'recent topics' button works erratically, but really enjoying learning from your comments and following it all with great interest. Really appreciate your sound advice while am off unable to work. Your posts are to the point and really informative. Didn't mean to repeat what you were saying -just seems there are few voices out there like yours to give that clear message based on tech and common sense. Thank you.

Jezzer, welcome to the forum, if you want to be totally confused then look at the bits concerning, nose weights.,
Best regards.
Hutch.

 

[ProfJohnL]

If you want to start a discussion about nose loads, I suggest you open a new thread.

 

[Parksy]

There's nothing confusing about nose weight limits.
These limits are set by vehicle manufacturers and tow hitch manufacturers, adhere to the lower figure.