Hobby Caravans

[Julie_5040500]

Hi

a friend of mine as just purchased a 2004 Hobby Caravan, I thought I had heard something about the width of some of these vans being illegal for towing on our roads. Is this right and is it certain models, is it likely that a 2004 model would be one of these?

 

[Lutz]

Like most other Continental manufacturers, Hobby produce caravans in 2 widths, 2.3m and 2.5m. It's the 2.5m variants which are not legal to tow in the UK with a regular car (unless just visiting the country with a foreign-registered car). As some models are produced in both widths, you'd have to check on a case-by-case basis.

 

[Bazz1]

Hi Julie tell your friend to keep it secure, some other travelling people like to borrow them from time to time, not normally returning them, or there doors etc. Some freinds of our group have always had Hobby's and the last two have either been stolen or had the door pinched, work it out. Last year a C.C+C member was refused access to a camp site in Scotland where they had been going for several years, the only thing that was in there wat was the fact that they bought an Hobby C/Van. This was the Campsite owners choice. Bazz.

 

[Icemaker]

a caravanning friend of mine bought a hobby from a dealer in lancashire and purchased a mitsubishi L200 which he was told was suitable due to it being a commercial vehicle, he was very ill adviced as the man from the ministry told him on the weigh bridge that the towing vehicle needs to be 7.5 tonnes or above and he would needed an operators licence also for the vehicle. as it turned out he needent have worried too much as the hobby got stolen the third night it was in storage. of course the width problem will not effect the slimmer hobby vans but the theft problem certainly will.

 

[mcghee]

The law is actually that you need a towcar with a mgvw of 3.5tonnes to tow a 'van more than 2.3mtrs wide. Incidentally I've heard a rumour (from those in the know) that this is about to change in favour of the 2.5mtr wide continental 'vans.

 

[AnnM1]

Heaven help us on the narrow country roads if this is the case!!! Caravan meets monster - who will give way first?

 

[Lutz]

I think you'll find that most people who do a lot of touring will stay with the 2.3 metre width, Ann. At least, that's my experience here on the Continent where 2.5 metres are allowed. Owners will soon realise that 2.5 metres are no fun to tow on narrow roads and these caravans only make sense when going directly from A to B on the best possible roads and then staying on one site for the longest possible time without moving around too much, i.e. a process of natural selection.

 

[mcghee]

I'm sure you're right, a lot of people will stick with 2.3m 'vans, but the difference is only 4" either side of the 'van. It's not really a great deal, and when towing you don't really notice it. There aren't many places you could take a 2.3m 'van that you couldn't take a 2.5m 'van, except through a 2.4m gate..

 

[Lutz]

As the roadside kerb is fixed, the nearside of the caravan will be in about the same spot no matter how wide it is. Consequently, when driving, the increased width will not be noticeable as 4" each side but as 8" on the offside and that is quite significant.

 

[mcghee]

I have no desire to argue over what is a fairly trivial matter. You are right, on the road a 2.5m 'van will be nearer the centre of the road. All I'm saying is 8" is about one human hand span, not a huge amount, and not a problem unless you travel the narrowest roads, which I think most wouldn't do in a standard bodied 'van.

 

[AnnM1]

Craig - Sometimes it is necessary to travel down country roads in order to get to a site. The problem is that lorries also use these roads and the two units don't mix.

 

[greenplum_5088396]

Anything in the Hobby range up to and including the 540 is 2.3m wide and can be towed with a "normal" car Anything above that is 2.5m wide and can only be towed with a vehicle in excess of 3500 max gross weight (that means 3501kg and above which rules out most "normal" transits etc)