Tow Car Weight

[sue_5076840]

Okay so I am new to this tuggin' lark, been looking at a van of 1850kg's So what weight does the Tow Car have to be ,we want a 4 x 4 to do an LPG conversion on the vehicle, any help would be appreciated.

many thanks

Sue

 

[waffler]

To comply with the 85% rule divide your van maximum weight by 85 and multiply by 100 to give you the kerb weight of the car you need.

 

[Lutz]

The 85% is only a recommendation, not a rule. Far more important is whether the manufacturer's maximum permissible towload will cover your needs.

 

[ProfJohnL]

The 85% is only a recommendation, not a rule. Far more important is whether the manufacturer's maximum permissible towload will cover your needs.

Thanks Lutz,

You got it in before me this time.

 

[DavidW1]

Sue

That's a bigun - from my experience you are going to need a large LWB 4x4 to get a safe pull and to make reasonable progress uphill. A Disco, Shogun, Landcruiser or Trooper would all do the job and have a kerbweight of around 2.25 tonne and a tow limit of over 3 tonne. The kerbweight is probably the more important figure as 1850kg trying to push you downhill on a motorway can get scary if you are not anchored in a big lump of motor.

Plenty of advice on this site about the merits of LPG - just to add my 3 penneth, if you don't need the room go for an internal tank; underslung make it more expensive and complex and in the case of a shogun reduce the petrol volume drastically.

Again from experience, if you are only going to use the beast as a towcar, consider a stonkin great diesel and make it Auto with cruise control, the only way to fly really - you will still get 20mpg and in Europe diesel is cheap as chips. Obviously if the car is an everyday driver then LPG makes sense.

Welcome to vanning and have lots of fun.

David

 

[Keith_5077510]

Sue

That's a bigun - from my experience you are going to need a large LWB 4x4 to get a safe pull and to make reasonable progress uphill. A Disco, Shogun, Landcruiser or Trooper would all do the job and have a kerbweight of around 2.25 tonne and a tow limit of over 3 tonne. The kerbweight is probably the more important figure as 1850kg trying to push you downhill on a motorway can get scary if you are not anchored in a big lump of motor.

Plenty of advice on this site about the merits of LPG - just to add my 3 penneth, if you don't need the room go for an internal tank; underslung make it more expensive and complex and in the case of a shogun reduce the petrol volume drastically.

Again from experience, if you are only going to use the beast as a towcar, consider a stonkin great diesel and make it Auto with cruise control, the only way to fly really - you will still get 20mpg and in Europe diesel is cheap as chips. Obviously if the car is an everyday driver then LPG makes sense.

Welcome to vanning and have lots of fun.

David

Diesel in Europe is not "cheap as chips" any more. This summer it was roughly 108 Euros (75p)/litre in most countries (France, Italy, Austria, Germany, Belgium) with only minor variations in each - although it is a bit cheaper in supermarkets in France (as in England).