Towing with a Dodge Calibre (or any car !)

[Bluebird_ctfc]

Thinking of getting a Caravan after a 20 year break, and had a good browse round a few on Saturday. This Calibre of mine would make a good tow car I reckon. Heavyish, but with a tourqey diesel motor. Kerb weight comes in at 1560Kg - so taking the Caravan club rule of thumb, 85% = 1326Kg - Looking good.

So I look in the specs... The Dodge manual says max permissible weight without brakes 450kg - What??? - I can pull more than that!

But wait the load is increased to 1400kg if its braked. Do Caravans have brakes these days? And then, I search for a towbar. - Witters is rated at 1120Kg - that doesn't help me at all - most decent vans are 1200+

I do know that where a manufacturer states a limit, then that limit is not to be exceeded, so strictly speaking if caravans don't have brakes, the car is useless as a towcar, as I don't see anything rated at 450Kg.

If the manufactures weights and towbar specs dont correspond, how do I work it out, and of course the obvious question, do caravans have brakes? My Sprite 400 didnt!!

 

[Lutz]

Brakes are required legally on all trailers over 750kg anyway so I have yet to come across a caravan without them.

 

[Bluebird_ctfc]

So they have brakes - interesting, how are they applied?

Anyway, thats good news. All I need to do now, is resolve the difference between witters rating and the Dodge reccomendatiosn - either that or buy the Dodge towbar.

 

[Lutz]

Caravans have overrun brakes that act as soon as they are pushing against the towbar.

Sometimes there is a difference between the towing limit that the car manufacturer specifies and that of the towbar. In your case, it sounds as though Witter failed to meet the required durability performance at the 1400kg that Dodge allow. Rather than reinforce the towbar to meet the target (maybe because of the low production volumes this was not economical), they decided to lower the limit. This doesn't mean to say that other towbar manufacturers don't offer a towbar with a higher, 1400kg, limit. You need to shop around.

 

[rosies]

And George , both the sprite 400s I had years ago also had brakes , applied the same as they do now but with rods and not cables . ---- STEVE .

 

[Bluebird_ctfc]

And George , both the sprite 400s I had years ago also had brakes , applied the same as they do now but with rods and not cables . ---- STEVE .

Looks like I should have paid more attention to the Sprite! Towed by a Fiat 127 I may add...

 

[rosies]

Looks like I should have paid more attention to the Sprite! Towed by a Fiat 127 I may add...

Yes they where lightweight , I towed one with a 1100 escort and the other with a VW beetle 1300 , they were the days . 50 mph was the limit but I rarely saw it lol . ---STEVE .