Newbie helpadvice needed.

[Mark_374246426]

Hi,

I'm new to caravanning and could do with some advice I bought a 1991 coachman 520/4 at the end of last year and I'm not sure what the weights are and also if my car is OK to tow it (it seems to tow it ok). On my caravan the weights are as follows 0 1160 KG 1 100 MAX KG 2 941KG my car is a 1998 Audi A4 1.9TDi (110bhp) with a kerb weight of 1240KG and trailer weight with brakes upto 8% gradient 1700 & upto 12% gradient 1500.

My next question is the tyres on my caravan are Michelin MX 175R13 89R Max1300lbs @ 40 psi. I noticed the spare is the same size but has reinforced on the side of it. The person I bought the caravan of told me he replaced the tyres with transit van tyres also looking in the owners handbook it states reinforced tyres do I need to replace these tyres. I would like to make sure that I'm towing my caravan safely for the beginning of the season.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Mark.

 

[rob_jax]

Hi Mark,

Based on the information you supplied, it would seem that you should be OK but you may need to take care.

The three caravan weights should be the MTPLM (maximum allowed weight), the maximum noseweight on the tow coupling (100kg), and the MiRO (empty) weight

From years of accumulated experience, the Caravan Club recommend that you aim for less than their 85% guideline - and always less than 100%. The guideline ratio of car kerbweight to caravan MTPLM - in your case that's 93%

But I think your figure for the Audi is a bit low - I have a feeling that the A4 saloon kerbweight is around 1400kg. So I'd suggest you to check the car data plate - Audi stamp the actual ex-factory kerbweight of each car on the car data plate.

Tyres:

Michelin are good tyres, but you need to check the year of manufacture printed on the tyre walls - it's the 10 or more characters that start out with "DOT" and then end with 4 numbers like "2205"

These last 4 numbers are the week and year the tyres was made, in my example that's week 22 of 2005. And as long as the tyres are newer than 6 years old, and are in good condition with no obvious defects, then you should be OK - otherwise replace.

1300 lbs is 590 kg (and doubled up for two tyres that's just more than your caravan MTPLM) and should be OK. The load rating on the tyre (89R) indicates a maximum of 580 kg (slightly different) but still OK.

Last thing:

You could do worse than buy the Haynes "Caravan Manual / 3rd edition" for around

 

[Mark_374246426]

Hi Mark,

Based on the information you supplied, it would seem that you should be OK but you may need to take care.

The three caravan weights should be the MTPLM (maximum allowed weight), the maximum noseweight on the tow coupling (100kg), and the MiRO (empty) weight

From years of accumulated experience, the Caravan Club recommend that you aim for less than their 85% guideline - and always less than 100%. The guideline ratio of car kerbweight to caravan MTPLM - in your case that's 93%

But I think your figure for the Audi is a bit low - I have a feeling that the A4 saloon kerbweight is around 1400kg. So I'd suggest you to check the car data plate - Audi stamp the actual ex-factory kerbweight of each car on the car data plate.

Tyres:

Michelin are good tyres, but you need to check the year of manufacture printed on the tyre walls - it's the 10 or more characters that start out with "DOT" and then end with 4 numbers like "2205"

These last 4 numbers are the week and year the tyres was made, in my example that's week 22 of 2005. And as long as the tyres are newer than 6 years old, and are in good condition with no obvious defects, then you should be OK - otherwise replace.

1300 lbs is 590 kg (and doubled up for two tyres that's just more than your caravan MTPLM) and should be OK. The load rating on the tyre (89R) indicates a maximum of 580 kg (slightly different) but still OK.

Last thing:

You could do worse than buy the Haynes "Caravan Manual / 3rd edition" for around

 

[Mark_374246426]

Thanks for the advice i'll have a look for the Haynes manual and i'm joining the caravan club.

Thanks.