Ediors own words

[Danny_5134221]

Hot of the press in the January 2007 issue editor David Molton writes in his monthly column about his Volvo XC70 AWD(4x4) that has just covered 15,000 miles.

On the whole he gives it a reasonable write up but he writes, " even so most big 4x4's, such as the Discovery, will make more suitable towcars. Its not the Volvo is a poor tug, but the extra kerbweight of more conventional 4x4's leaves them untroubled by any caravan hitched up behind "

To finish he writes, " is the Volvo a serious alternative to big 4x4's ? Unless you tow a heavy van then yes "

Fair point maybe, but what about the cost, £30,050 new compared to a Sorento for example for less than £17,000 . He writes it is more cheaper than most big 4x4's and every bit as practical. Obviously compared to an X5 it is cheaper but what about the lower end of the market, the bargin basement such as the Kia's. I paid £16,495 for my Sorento and I think it is far more practical than that Volvo anyday of the week.

 

[DavidW1]

Hi Danny,

This young man (the Ed) obviously subscribes to the "there's no substitute for kg's" school of towing. I have to say I aggree with him.

Get over two tonnes of tow tug in front of your van and indeed it will be untroubled. You don't have to spend XC70 money to get there either, as you say a Sorento will do it for under half the cost and if you are a poor old sod like me a 12 year old Jap import Isuzu will too!

 

[Steve L]

I agree with Dave, the ed does seem to the heavey tow tug syndrome.

Any vehicle what ever it's gender (4X4 or 4X2) if loaded correctly will perform within the manufacturers expectations .

A badly loaded trailer will turn even the heavyest tow car into a swaying dithering wreck.

Over the 30 yaers that I've towed trailers, i have towed some darned right awful loads.

I loaded a 25ft long, 8ft wide by 9ft high dog kennel and run onto a boat trailer (the only thing to hand that was long enough) and towed it suitably marked with wide load markers, behind my espace to deliver it to a friends house as I was moving and no longer needed it.

I once loaded a XJ6 Jag backwards onto a car trailer and then also backed it up a set of car ramps setout on the trailer to get the back high enough to clear the back of my tow car (renault 25) and also to get the nose weight to a sensible 75Kgs.

Now the car was well over it's tow capacity and I drove at 40Mph to stand a better chance of stability. there was no need to worry as the car towed without swaying and braking on the trailer was very good as it had hydraulic over run brakes and not the cable and rod type that relied on a car handbrake mechanisum that you used to see in the Indispension days.

While I wouldn't either condone or want to encourage inexperienced towers to go to the extreme, I will say that so log as the trailer is loaded correctly and within the tow cars capacity then a light towcar can be well cpable of towing a heavey trailer. After all we don't use a 50 ton tractor unit to tow an articulated lorry trailer.

Steve L.

 

[philip_374229949]

first timer needing help. Just bought great second hand Hobby 540 and converted to UK spec. I am buying a Mondeo 2 TDCI or may have optionof Citroen C5 estate.

Are these ok to pull. I don't want a big 4x4.

Please help anyone . I know nothing

 

[DavidW1]

Steve, it is obviously a given thet ones van will be correctly loaded,

If we are talking obscure towing stories, I regularly towed aircraft up to about 25 tons, such as Canberra bombers, with a standard 2.5 petrol Landy. I remember on one occasion, towing a Vickers Varsity about 2 miles accross an Airfield - in low ratio of course - we didn't stop at any CL's on the way though and the merest hillock would have seen us going backwards.

Volks recently showed that a Toureg can tow a 747, well so what.

The main point is quite simple i.e. that the heavier the towing vehicle the better as far as towing a van is concerned - a principle that few experienced caravanners would dispute.

 

[DavidW1]

Phillip,

Go to the Caravan Club web and read the stuff on there for beginners - it's free and will tell you everything you need to know.

Not a Hobby expert but even the small ones are heavy I believe -you need to find the MPTLM of your Hobby and would be ill advised to tow it with anything having a kerbweight less than this weight. You will see if you read the basic towing stuff on the CC Web that they recomend an 85% car to van weight ratio for beginners - this is not law but very sensible EXPERT advice.

I hear what you say about using a 4x4 but you may find this is the only choice if your Hobby is circa 1900kg - there aint many cars out there weighing that much except big Mercs or BMW's.

We Josh Steve for his stories about towing his whole street with a Renault Laguna but seriously he has been doing this towing lark for a long time so he does know something about it. He was seen last year with his whole family disembarking before towing up Porlock hill though.

 

[DavidW1]

Phillip,

Go to the Caravan Club web and read the stuff on there for beginners - it's free and will tell you everything you need to know.

Not a Hobby expert but even the small ones are heavy I believe -you need to find the MPTLM of your Hobby and would be ill advised to tow it with anything having a kerbweight less than this weight. You will see if you read the basic towing stuff on the CC Web that they recomend an 85% car to van weight ratio for beginners - this is not law but very sensible EXPERT advice.

I hear what you say about using a 4x4 but you may find this is the only choice if your Hobby is circa 1900kg - there aint many cars out there weighing that much except big Mercs or BMW's.

We Josh Steve for his stories about towing his whole street with a Renault Laguna but seriously he has been doing this towing lark for a long time so he does know something about it. He was seen last year with his whole family disembarking before towing up Porlock hill though.

Sorry I am a dipstick! meant 85% van to car