Mondeo estate & twin axles re posted for tj

[Parksy]

I've copied and reposted this for t j because his original post 'timed out':

Does anybody tow a twin axle with a mondeo estate !at our local dealers loking at Ace award nightstar mtplm 1,565kg,,swift challenger 490 mtplm 1,550kg,,was shown a lunar 615 mtplm 1,555kg which is a twin axle.i,ve been towing for 16 years the last 6 rallying,you see loads of mondeos towing these 5berths at those weights but a twin axle,anybody who does i,d like to hear youre views .

 

[Dustydog]

Mmmm.NO.

He's too heavy, he ain't my brother!

Cheers

Alan

 

[tj1]

Thanks parksy had to see to my little one .

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello tj,

The fact that a trailer has a twin or single axle makes no difference to the maximum weight a car can tow. The max limit is specified by the car manufacturer.

As you do not specify which Mondeo estate (i.e. year and engine size) we cannot give specific views. However my data source suggests that all variants above the 1.8i engine have a max tow weight of 1800Kg. - however, your suggested caravans at above 1550Kg, are within this limit, but it they are still heavier than any of the solo cars or more than 100% ratio.

Whilst the outfits would be legal for drivers with B+E categories, it will be illegal for drivers with only cat B licences (limited to combined MAM of less than 3500Kg). It is always best to to keep the towing weight ratio in favour of the car, as this reduces the risk of the driver loosing control.

As for comments regarding compared towing of SA and TA's, you will find that there are polarised views, suffice to say that both types can tow well, but equally both types can have problems, its mainly down to the way the caravans are loaded, driving style and road conditions.

What you are suggesting is possible but not recommended.

 

[marlot]

My Mk3 Mondeo estate (2.0 TDCi Ghia) was as heavy as they come at 1587Kg kerbweight. I towed a 1500Kg MTPLM single axle but it felt a bit nervous at times - and I tended to put the heavy things in the caravan.

 

[Garfield]

Bearing in mind that our Kit that we put in the caravan would be more or less the same weight regardless of van weights we used the unladen weight of the van (MIRO) as being more relevant than MTPLM for judging the weight that the car would actuallly be towing.

With 150kg of kit, our 21' twin axle van tows at 1416kg, well short of its 1600 MTPLM, there were plenty of other 1600kg MTPLM caravans we looked at but rejected as their MIRO was too high.

 

[tj1]

Thanks john sorry should have said the car is a 04 ghia x 2,0 tdci manual,the lunar was in fact 20kg lighter than the ace it just didn,t seem right that the twin axle was lighter than "most " single axle 5 berths we looked at, we dont take much when rallying but she does like her comfort, now looking at the bailey provence series 7 thanks tj

 

[Zafiral]

tj

We have just ordered a S7 bretagne to tow behind our Zafira 1.9 CDTi Elite 150.

If you load it sensibly then as an experienced vanner, you should have no problems.