MTPLM

[Allister_5068071]

Hello.

Being new to caravanning I have a question about the MTPLM limit found on caravans. We

have a Rav4 D4-D turbo diesel. With a kerb weight of 1490kg this gives

us a MTPLM limit of 1266kg on a caravan. We are interested in a new

Elddis Avante 505 which has a MIRO of 1118kg and a MTPLM of 1350kg.

The unladen weight is well within the cars 85% limit but if fully

laden its to heavy. If the van was packed using lightweight equipment

up to the cars 85% limit are we legal or not. After speaking to a few

dealers of which one or two were quite adamant that whether the

caravan was laden or not you cannot legally tow a caravan which has a

MTPLM which is greater than the 85% limit of the car. I would be grateful for any advise.

Thank you for your help.

Allister

 

[Dusty1]

As has been recently discussed on this forum the 85% limit is only advisory.

 

[Scarletsfan]

The 85% is only a guideline. Check your car's specification for a maximum towing weight, this is the legal limit you cannot exceed. However if you are an inexperienced tower, the closer you get to the car's kerbweight, the less stable the unit could be.

 

[Lutz]

The maximum permissible towload of the Rav4 D4-D is 1500kg and that's the legal limit.

 

[Steve L]

There is no reason why you can't go to the 1500kg max tow capacity of your car. Obviously you'll have to be carefull when towing and I guess you'd alredy figured that.

The way you load the van is paramount (heavey items like awning over the axle and on the floor of the van, also the hitch weight dictates how well your van will tow. I have found over the twenty years that I've been towing, that 70kgs seems to give optimum stability for most vans. You will need to find out what Toyota give as the hitch weight for your RAV 4 and what your caravan manufacturer states for the van, and go with the lower figure as the max hitch weight.

I tow a twenty foot twin axle van behind my 2Ltr Laguna estate and this is right upto the 1350kg tow limit of the car, but doesn't give me any trouble so long as I have 75Kgs on the hitch (max hitch weight for the car), anything below 60Kgs does make the unit twitchy.

Purely from a drivers view point, I find the twin axle a much better tow and would be reluctant to go to a single axle again. I used to get a lot of wollowing from the single axle vans. The twin axle inherently tows straighter and offers less rolling resistance due to less weight per wheel offering friction to movement. My father in law has a 17foot single axle van which is 200Kgs lighter than mine but much harder to push by hand.