I'm surprised to see 'hitch limit unknown.' Bailey's for years have used the Al-Ko chassis which has a standard maximum hitch load of 100Kg.
WoodlandsCamper said:Before any more speculation and advice it would be useful for the OP to measure the nose weight of his van in the trim it was for the journey, and to let us know the figure.
Raywood said:The combination may be legal assuming the Op has the correct licence but the towing ratio is simply too high for a newcomer and I would say not good enough even if you are experienced.
jontygee said:My dealer has kindly offered to help with me with loading, noseweight etc so I will take up his offer before I next try to tow this .
colin-yorkshire said:Raywood said:The combination may be legal assuming the Op has the correct licence but the towing ratio is simply too high for a newcomer and I would say not good enough even if you are experienced.
sorry Ray it's not, the weight ratio is fine, and well within limits, the OP, is not a novice having towed for 7 years and prior to buying this van, towed one of similar weight without issue, however changing a van if it has a different layout from the one before can have huge influence on the way it is trimmed. and loaded, I believe this is the problem.
as the saying goes "there are caravanners and then there are people who use caravans" one should not confuse one with the other. or assume everyone is the latter.
hi Ray, that is the trouble with "on paper" ratios, and one of the reasons I am totally against the 85% rule [recommendation] as so often quoted and adhered to as some sort of magic formula for towing, it is not, it assumes the complete worse scenario, empty car and fully loaded van, and uses this as a basis of making a guess of the compatabillity in the form of a percentage figure, now we are all caravanners [or was] no-one goes away in the van with it full while the car is empty, as soon as you add weight to the car and remove some from the van the ratio drops significantly a combo that is around 90% will be nearer 75% when loaded and trimmed, true the more experience you get the better a tow becomes, but even at 100% [as recommended] should not be cause for concern.Raywood said:colin-yorkshire said:Raywood said:The combination may be legal assuming the Op has the correct licence but the towing ratio is simply too high for a newcomer and I would say not good enough even if you are experienced.
sorry Ray it's not, the weight ratio is fine, and well within limits, the OP, is not a novice having towed for 7 years and prior to buying this van, towed one of similar weight without issue, however changing a van if it has a different layout from the one before can have huge influence on the way it is trimmed. and loaded, I believe this is the problem.
as the saying goes "there are caravanners and then there are people who use caravans" one should not confuse one with the other. or assume everyone is the latter.
Colin, The towing ratio is far too close to 100% for my liking and it is not a combination I would consider. I might look at a Superb though to replace our Mazda but our Quasar has a MTPLM of 1350 which is far better from my point of view.