shogun 2.8 lwb manual

[tonylaura10]

hi we are new to the forum and caravaning.we bought our first caravan last year just to try it and me the wife and kids love it.because of that we have decided to buy a bigger caravan could someone please give me some idea what size caravan i can tow with my shogun
its a 2.8 lwb manual and from what i can gather on the net it weighs 2040 kerb. i pasted my test after late 97

 

[otherclive]

Is it a full Shogun or a grey import? If its a full official import your Owners Manual and tally plates will be in English and should give the details. I've got a 95 Pajero SWB grey import and its all very vague as all signage on the car is in Japanese but 2800kg is quoted for mine which is well above any caravan I'm likely to tow with it!!

 

[Parksy]

Hi Tony
If you passed your driving test after 1st January 1997 then your main issue will be the combined weight of your Shogun and the caravan that you choose, unless you pass a further driving test to gain a B+E driving licence category.

Click Here to read more about what you are allowed to tow but generally speaking the combined weight of your towing vehicle and caravan must not exceed 3500kg, fully loaded.
This means that if your towing vehicle is 2040kg ( you will need to check on a weighbridge with your Shogun fuelled, with the family and their luggage rather than relying on figures quoted on the internet), your caravan cannot exceed 1460kg and that is including gas bottles, battery, bedding, crockery and anything else that you might carry such as an awning and groundsheet.
You need to decide on how many berths you need, what layout you prefer such as end dinette or end washroom etc; and look for something along the lines of a Sprite, Lunar or one of the lighter Baileys such as an Orion.
Realistically you should be looking at caravans which weigh around 1200 kg and you will need to excersise care with how much extra equpment and clothing you carry.

 

[tonylaura10]

thanks Parksy for all the info the thing is with the b +e is that it would not gain me anything as i can only drive upto 3.5 gross so to me that test is a waist of money unless i am wrong

 

[tonylaura10]

hi otherclive thanks for the reply it is a full shogun i have just found the manual for it and it say 2050kg

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Tony,

I fear you could be wrong and I'm sorry to disappoint you but your situation is far poorer than Parksy has indicated. It all down to your licence entitlements, the wording is important.

If you decode your licence you will find that in the B category (which is the one concerning towing trailers and caravans) it states that you are only entitled to drive a vehicle and trailer with a combined MAM not exceeding 3500Kg
The critical point is the "combined MAM" MAM stands for Maximum Authorised Mass and that is not what the vehicle actually weighs but what it can be legally loaded to or its maximum capacity.

I have just done a quick check on a database which tells me the unladen weight of vehicles It lists the Shoguns as starting at about 2050Kg unladen weight, what my database does not tell me is what the shoguns MAM or Gross Vehicle Weight (GVW)is. Somewhere either on the car or in its handbook it will give you its MAM or GVW or possibly GVM. That is the figures you need, and I'm guessing it will be much closer to 3 tonnes

to find the heaviest trailer/caravan you can tow on your licence you need to subtract the cars MAM from the licence limit of 3500Kg

On the basis that your car is likely to have a MAM of about 3000Kg that only leaves 500Kg for the MAM of the caravan.

Modern cars sold in the EU have to have a plate fixed to the car that gives four weight figures. I don't know if the Shogun has this but:-
1. The biggest is the vehicle's Gross Train Weight/Mass
2. (This is the figure you want)second biggest will be the cars Gross Vehicle Weight/Mass or MAM
3 and 4 the remaining two smaller figure are the maximum axle loads.

I don't expect it will be, but if the MAM of the car is 3500 or more then you are not entitled to drive it on your licence.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Tony,
I have found out some more information that should help you

It is difficult to find official; figures for the Mk 1 Shoguns on line, but there were many imports under the Pajero name. There is a website "The Mitsubishi Pajero Owners Club", and our own venerable Parksy is a member, but under a cleverly disguised name, its the maniacal picture that gives him away.

However Searching the forum I found several references to GVW but most of them were rather vague and seemed too low considering the type of vehicle, except two which I think are fairly accurate. The first claims there is a data plate under the bonnet which gives the GVW as 2720Kg. The second reference claims the axle weight limits total 2750Kg. These two sets of figures corroborate each other very closely and leads me to suspect the GVW for 2.8 Pajaro/Shogun is 2720Kg

If this is the case then that leaves you with only 780Kg for the MTPLM of any caravan or trailer. This is a bit better than my original posting but still not very generous.

 

[tonylaura10]

thank you john for all your help the thing is doing the trailer test would not make it any better as i can only go upto 3.5 tons i am going for my class 2 in september so that should sort the problem

 

[Parksy]

Hello Tony,
I have found out some more information that should help you

It is difficult to find official; figures for the Mk 1 Shoguns on line, but there were many imports under the Pajero name. There is a website "The Mitsubishi Pajero Owners Club", and our own venerable Parksy is a member, but under a cleverly disguised name, its the maniacal picture that gives him away.........

Thanks for your usual intelligent and well considered input Prof, it would appear that a further driving test would be the best option for Tony.
I am indeed a member of POC forum but I would never stoop to cleverly disguising my name which remains Parksy or parksy on all internet forums. depending on whether or not I remembered to engage the caps lock upon joining

 

[ProfJohnL]

thank you john for all your help the thing is doing the trailer test would not make it any better as i can only go upto 3.5 tons i am going for my class 2 in september so that should sort the problem

Hello Tony,

I'm not sure you understand the licence categories and the way they work.

look at:-
https://www.gov.uk/driving-licence-categories.

You will see that vehicles are categorised into a number bands denoted by letters and additional sub letters for variations. You cannot assume that if you have a higher weight category that you can drive a vehicle that resides in a lower weight category. You have to have the relevant categories on your licence before you drive it. Check with your licenceing authority.

You suggest your going for cat C which is denoted as driving vehicles of a MAM between 3500 and 7500Kg. Your Shogun is MAM 2720kg so it does not fall into Cat C, it is only a Cat B vehicle.

If you were to obtain your Cat C licence without obtaining B+e you still cannot tow a trailer of more than 780Kg MAM. To tow more than 780Kg MAM with the shogun you must obtain your B+e There's no short cut to this.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Parksy
Welcome home!
It seems that someone on POC forum is using your Avatar, which is why I thought you might just be in disguise.

 

[Parksy]

Ah, I see. Father Jack Hackett seems to be quite popular as an avatar, I lifted the idea from a local community forum

Thanks for the welcome, I'd love to say that it's nice to be back but I really wish that I was still on the beach at Southwold enjoying the sunshine and cooling off in the sea.

 

[tonylaura10]

hi john i am going for my class 2 rigid so that should allow me to pull a bigger caravan

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Tony,

I must refer you to my last post, I'm sorry I wrote that you were looking at class C - my mistake, but the underlying principal remains, Unless the class 2 automatically gives you B+e (and I'm not sure it does,) then you are still limited to 780Kg on the Shogun.

You are only entitled to drive vehicles that conform exactly to the categories you have on your licence, You are not entitled to drive vehicles that fall outside of the categories, even if it seems your categories are superior.

This is not a simple subject, as classes, categories and entitlements have been changed, and even gov't websites are not entirely clear about whats what.
Don't assume but check with your Class 2 instructor or the DVLA.

 

[tonylaura10]

thanks john will do