Can I tow a caravan if MTPLM is higher than my max towing braked weight as long as caravan isn’t full?

Jul 8, 2022
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So I’m new to towing and am looking at getting a caravan, I drive a 1.6 Peugeot 3008 and it’s kerbweight is 1496kg, and the max braked towing weight is 1090kg.

The caravan I’m looking at has a MIRO of 960kg and a MTPLM weight of 1200kg, as long as I drive the caravan pretty much empty and under the 1090kg limit am I okay to tow it?

Thanks
 
Nov 16, 2015
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Without looking at the legale stuff, - I would say yes, as long as you do not exceed your max train weight , GTW, of your car (towing vechile ).
Your thread might end up being a long one.
And bye the way , welcome to the forum. Don't get put off if the thread diverts.
Hutch.
 
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So I’m new to towing and am looking at getting a caravan, I drive a 1.6 Peugeot 3008 and it’s kerbweight is 1496kg, and the max braked towing weight is 1090kg.

The caravan I’m looking at has a MIRO of 960kg and a MTPLM weight of 1200kg, as long as I drive the caravan pretty much empty and under the 1090kg limit am I okay to tow it?

Thanks
Yes that’s fine, but make sure you don’t exceed the cars specified limits of Gross Vehicle Weight and the front and rear axle weights. The noseweight of the caravan will act to increase the cars GVW and axle load.
You should be aware that a battery is not in the MIRO, but a single 6kg steel gas cylinder is. If the caravan has any additions like mover or solar panel if they were fitted as after market changes they aren’t included in MIRO. They are part of the payload.
 
Jul 8, 2022
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Yes that’s fine, but make sure you don’t exceed the cars specified limits of Gross Vehicle Weight and the front and rear axle weights. The noseweight of the caravan will act to increase the cars GVW and axle load.
You should be aware that a battery is not in the MIRO, but a single 6kg steel gas cylinder is. If the caravan has any additions like mover or solar panel if they were fitted as after market changes they aren’t included in MIRO. They are part of the payload.

So if my GVW is 2030kg then what would that mean? Sorry I have no idea where to start, would you say my car could even tow a caravan and if so what weight would you suggest I look for?
Thanks!
 
Nov 6, 2005
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As others have posted, yes it's legal - BUT - it's often said by caravanners that it's almost impossible to stay within the meagre payloads of most caravans and it's unwise to assume that you can keep the loaded weight down to your required figure - when you have loaded the caravan, take it to a public weighbridge to get a true figure.
 
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So if my GVW is 2030kg then what would that mean? Sorry I have no idea where to start, would you say my car could even tow a caravan and if so what weight would you suggest I look for?
Thanks!

This article should help explain the do’s and donts. Also look at the Caravan And Motorhome Club website they have lots of technical help sheets.

 
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Just to add my two penn'orth, if your towing weight is critical I suggest you get your empty caravan weighed at a local weighbridge so you know exactly what leeway you have.
The MTPLM of your caravan does not include a leisure battery or motor mover if fitted. So again if fitted, these two items will already have eaten into your payload.
The MTPLM of my caravan is 150kg. I have recently removed the spare wheel carrier which carried the spare wheel under the caravan. The spare now lives under the bed in storage and travels in the back of my car when towing. This has clawed back around 38kg of my caravan's payload. I've also got a lightweight refillable gas bottle. A single gas bottle is included in the caravan's MTPLM.
It is quite easy to overload your caravan and if you are stopped by the police or DVSA there is no defence to being overweight. DVSA usually allow 5% overweight allowance, however above this your caravan risks being prohibited from further movement and you can expect a hefty fine. Your insurance might even be invalidated too. Scary stuff.

Something else to consider as well is nose weight. It is important that you know the nose weight of your caravan and the hitch weight limit of your car.
If the nose weight is too light the caravan can become unstable and too heavy may exceed the cars hitch weight limit.
 
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Remember that the MIRO is an average figure and the actual MIRO of the caravan could be higher than what is stated. With a MIRO of 960 and adding a battery at about 25kg does not give you much scope. Take into consideration that you will need an aquaroll and wastemaster which is approximately another 10kg. Then you have cutlery, crockery, pots and pans.
If you only use fully serviced pitches with water and waste water connections then no need for aquaroll and wastemaster, but the pitches will be more expensive.
 
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So if my GVW is 2030kg then what would that mean? Sorry I have no idea where to start, would you say my car could even tow a caravan and if so what weight would you suggest I look for?
Thanks!

GVW=Gross Vehicle Weight. This is the maximum legal weight of your fully loaded vehicle including fuel, luggage and passengers.

You need to know your vehicle's GTW= Gross Train Weight.
This is the total weight of your car and fully loaded caravan.
So, if you take the GVW of your car and the MTPLM of your caravan and add them together they should not exceed the GTW.
This information should be on a sticker on your vehicle or in its handbook.

Take a look here: https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-weights-explained
 

Sam Vimes

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I find it really confusing about what's included in the MIRO and I think it may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. For instance my Elddis states that MIRO includes one gas bottle plus all the other standard bits.

It does not include the battery nor does it include any factory or retailer fitted options such as a microwave, radio and motor mover to name just a few.

Checking at a public weigh station is a good idea but I'd have to drive about 150 miles one way to do so. How would I get there without being overloaded in the first place. :)
 
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I find it really confusing about what's included in the MIRO and I think it may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. For instance my Elddis states that MIRO includes one gas bottle plus all the other standard bits.

It does not include the battery nor does it include any factory or retailer fitted options such as a microwave, radio and motor mover to name just a few.

Checking at a public weigh station is a good idea but I'd have to drive about 150 miles one way to do so. How would I get there without being overloaded in the first place. :)

Sam
it is confusing that’s why the old MRO was better as that was a complete empty caravan ex works.. Some makes especially the bigger caravans allow two 6 kg gas bottles. My Sprites MIRO included one 6kg steel gas bottle, which could weigh in excess of 14 kg when full. The step, the EHU lead, water hose/pump, makers handbook and documentation.. No fluids anywhere. The handbook did not include the information……why not I ask myself? So I contacted Swift technical who came back promptly.
 
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Sam
it is confusing that’s why the old MRO was better as that was a complete empty caravan ex works.. Some makes especially the bigger caravans allow two 6 kg gas bottles. My Sprites MIRO included one 6kg steel gas bottle, which could weigh in excess of 14 kg when full. The step, the EHU lead, water hose/pump, makers handbook and documentation.. No fluids anywhere. The handbook did not include the information……why not I ask myself? So I contacted Swift technical who came back promptly.

Our handbook does not refer to gas bottle , but only to maximum weight of gas that can be carried which is 20kg and includes weight of bottles. I guess it depends how the manufacturer phrases it in the hand book.
 
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Our handbook does not refer to gas bottle , but only to maximum weight of gas that can be carried which is 20kg and includes weight of bottles. I guess it depends how the manufacturer phrases it in the hand book.
Yours is a bit clearer then on gas, as mine referred to a 6 kg gas bottle which some could find confusing not and realising that 6 kg of gas requires something to retain it on one place😂
 
May 7, 2012
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You are allowed to tow up to the manufacturers towing limit. It does not matter if the trailer has an MTPLM above the towing limit, it is the towing limit that is the legal maximum.
Having said that I doubt your proposal is practical, as the difference between the unladen weight and your towing limit is probably not big enough in the real world and relies on the quoted MIRO being correct, in many cases it is in fact higher. That MIRO is based on an early example produced by the maker and others can vary quite substantially. so unless you can weigh the caravan before purchase it is risky, you also have to make sure the car has the capacity to carry what you cannot load in the caravan. This is particularly relevant with French cars, as many will show a maximum weight for the car plus the towing level as a figure higher than the two added together. You do need to check this.
The idea to me has some sense, as you are unlikely to load both parts of the combination to their maximum and it does allow some flexibility, but you need to be aware of this.
 
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Sam Vimes

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This is what my manual states about the gas bottles..

A mass of 10kgs per gas cylinder, the cylinder number is equal to the number of connections provided at the regulator.

 
Mar 14, 2005
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Whatever is quoted as being the MIRO one must clear in one's mind that the figure is generic and does not apply to your particular caravan (or car for that matter) in particular. It's only a rough guide. Caravan manufacturers still have a certain amount of freedom in interpreting what goes into the MIRO and what doesn't. If it's important to have an accurate figure there is no alternative to putting the vehicle on a weighbridge.

By the way, gross train weight is not the sum of the GVW of the towing vehicle and the MTPLM of the caravan, but the sum of all axle loads.
 
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Diego, I did say it would be a long winded thread, but I had hoped that people would not confuse you, but they have started to do that.
 
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I would hope we have not confused the issue. The subject is complex but I would hope we have clarified the position.
As Lutz and I say, in your position it it is wise to weigh the caravan to see exactly what the particular one weighs.
 
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Hello Diego

You clearly realise you are trying to do something that is marginal, and whilst it might be possible there are a number of concerns.

Firstly you tell us the 1.6 Peugeot 3008 has a max braked towing weight (MBTW) of 1090kg. The concern here is some manufacturers legally allow a bigger MBTW limit, but only if the tow vehicle is not fully loaded. Peugeot have done this on some models, and if yours is one it can change the legality of your proposal.

To clear this up we need to know both the Gross Vehicle weight and Gross Train Weight limits from the cars data plate.
 
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Thanks everyone!

So looking at all my manuals and the stickers and things in my car, here are the values I have.

GVW - 2030
GTW - 2920
Max Braked Towing Capacity from V5 - 1090

So if I take the GVW from the GTW then it basically says I can tow 890kg from the sticker in my car, however the max braked towing capacity is higher. Which value do I use for looking for a caravan that my car can safely tow? Thanks!!
 
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Thanks everyone!

So looking at all my manuals and the stickers and things in my car, here are the values I have.

GVW - 2030
GTW - 2920
Max Braked Towing Capacity from V5 - 1090

So if I take the GVW from the GTW then it basically says I can tow 890kg from the sticker in my car, however the max braked towing capacity is higher. Which value do I use for looking for a caravan that my car can safely tow? Thanks!!
It means that if you want to tow 1090kg the car can only be loaded to 1830kg or else you would exceed the GTW. If you want to load the car up to its GVW you can only tow 890kg.
 
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Thank you for the information Diego.

Lutz has given the situation. Essentially the combined weight of the coupled car and caravan must not exceed the cars GTW.
 
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May 7, 2012
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Looking at those weights I think the answer is simply the proposed caravan is not going to work for you. As I said earlier French cars can be a problem in that the towing limit plus the cars maximum weight may in fact exceed the gross train weight. At the figures shown there are very few caravans that the car can tow with you safely within its weight limits and before going for a caravan a different car is probably needed.
 
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Not sure if it helps, and we don’t know what your budget, touring needs or preferences are, but if you Google ‘lightweight caravans’ you will find several sites that discuss the options (including PC of course!) .
 

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