Unbraked and Braked Trailer? - 600-700kg tow
- Thread starter lambic
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G0JSM
Well-Known Member
I drive a Jeep grand Cherokee. So its a heavy car and when I have transporter on with Hilux on kitted with sprayer (40 foot booms) I'm at max weight allowed, without brakes on the trailer it would not stop. Any trailed weight will push the car on and 750kg is three quarters of a ton mark my words if the load moves as you brake you will feel it push. Get a braked trailer much safer and more convenient when parking it up. a little bit of advice though if you park the trailer up for any length of time chock the wheels rather than leave the handbrake on as brakes can seize or bind on and be a pain to release. Get someone to show you how to reverse the trailer and find somewhere to practice it will save you having to unhitch and push it backwards. The shorter the drawbar length from tow hitch to trailer wheels the harder it is to back up. I probably do 5/6k a year towing
it would be good practice and practice is what you probably need (no offence meant please when you get your trailer have a good play with it where you have time and space to feel what is going on especially if you brake on a bend or not in a straight line) you have to develop a feel for what is going on if things start to go south it will be quick and you will feel it before you see it .I would get a braked trailer and learn to maintain it rather than just park it in the corner trailers are like most machines they are better in regular use rather than stood idle good luck
Heym SR20
Well-Known Member
Can't speak for a small trailer but a 2.5tonne 4 wheeled boat trailed for a small yacht about three years ago from Nicholson Trailers. It was purpose built using new Indespension Axels, draw bar etc. It cost c£2500, and to be honest I had searched long and hard and 2nd hand would have cost not much less and would have needed several £ hundred on brining it up to speck.
countrryboy
Well-Known Member
Ifors generally hold there value pretty well, esp when u look after them mines does mibee 20K miles a year and could be getting on for 10 yrs old and i'll probably still get 50+% wot i paid for it and its not in brilliant nick, been used a lot on small roads all year round.
Evn with an aluminmum floor i'd put something down below ur quad wheels as it will wear throu when u do enough miles, 2 strips of cow matting does quite well and i just pull it out f i need the flat bed again
Definately don't leave it with hand brake on as mentioned above and remeber to take trailer hand brake off when u drive somewhere!!!
Surprisingly easy to do. I forgot fairly recently as i hardly ever put it on so brakes are done.
Been driving it since with no brakes and not an issue, as long as ur driving at sensible speeds and only having small loads in.
The problem we had with unbraked trailers was not so much the pushing on, but lack of a solid axle when doing high mileages
Ur 750kg towing limit will include the trailer too so really on towing 1/2 a t in wieght
Just wondering on the legal side and slightly of topic, but a car has to be capable of pulling the fully laden wieght on a trailer (ie u can't tow an empty 3.5T trailer legally with a car)
So does the drivers licence also have to be allowed to tow the loaded trailer? Ie could a younger driver with no trailer test on licence tow an empty trailer that can hold more than 750kg
Evn with an aluminmum floor i'd put something down below ur quad wheels as it will wear throu when u do enough miles, 2 strips of cow matting does quite well and i just pull it out f i need the flat bed again
Definately don't leave it with hand brake on as mentioned above and remeber to take trailer hand brake off when u drive somewhere!!!
Surprisingly easy to do. I forgot fairly recently as i hardly ever put it on so brakes are done.
Been driving it since with no brakes and not an issue, as long as ur driving at sensible speeds and only having small loads in.
The problem we had with unbraked trailers was not so much the pushing on, but lack of a solid axle when doing high mileages
Ur 750kg towing limit will include the trailer too so really on towing 1/2 a t in wieght
Just wondering on the legal side and slightly of topic, but a car has to be capable of pulling the fully laden wieght on a trailer (ie u can't tow an empty 3.5T trailer legally with a car)
So does the drivers licence also have to be allowed to tow the loaded trailer? Ie could a younger driver with no trailer test on licence tow an empty trailer that can hold more than 750kg
My instructor said that was the case
If that is the law, then the law is an ass as they say...
However I don't think it is the law...As far as I can see the law is based logically on the actual combined weight of the car, the trailer and their loads.
I have just gone through the:-
https://www.gov.uk/towing-with-car/what-you-can-tow
site and cannot find anything that states anything about the potential carrying capacity of the trailer.
It is the actual weight of the vehicle that counts and that is...
The definition of MAM...
Maximum authorised mass
Maximum authorised mass (MAM) means the weight of a vehicle or trailer including the maximum load that can be carried safely when it’s being used on the road.
This is also known as gross vehicle weight (GVW) or permissible maximum weight.
It will be listed in the owner’s manual and is normally shown on a plate or sticker fitted to the vehicle.
The plate or sticker may also show a gross train weight (GTW), also sometimes called gross combination weight (GCW). This is the total weight of the tractor unit plus trailer plus load.
From that I understand if you were put on a weigh bridge and were under the GTW you are okay. Whether or not the trailer was capable of carrying a load that would put you over.
Your second query re. the younger driver should be covered by:-
Licences issued from 1 January 1997
If you passed your car driving test on or after 1 January 1997 you can:
- drive a car or van up to 3,500kg maximum authorised mass (MAM) towing a trailer of up to 750kg MAM
- tow a trailer over 750kg MAM as long as the combined MAM of the trailer and towing vehicle is no more than 3,500kg
You have to pass the car and trailer driving test if you want to tow anything heavier.
Licences issued before 1 January 1997
If you passed your car test before 1 January 1997 you’re usually allowed to drive a vehicle and trailer combination up to 8,250kg MAM. View your driving licence information to check.
You’re also allowed to drive a minibus with a trailer over 750kg MAM.
Alan
p.s. If the law was concerned with the potential for being over MAM rather than actually being over MAM then we would all be guilty of driving cars that can potentially go too fast and break the National Speed Limit.
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countrryboy
Well-Known Member
It was a farmer who told me after being stopped coming back from the market, the traffic cops where stopping farmers and that was 1 of the checks they were doing, althou to be fair were only informing them not prosectueing them.
I've heard it a few times since too.
Seemingly if u need a long/big trailier for moving light things about u can get an extra plate for it at the lower wieght to suit ur cars towing wieght but then obviously someone in theory could then be done if they overloaded it to its 'factory' load assuming there vehicle could tow it.
All a load of nonsense really.
I think it is 1 of those rules u'd really have had to annoy/ catch on a bad day the traffic cop, similar to empty window washer or unsecured car battery
So for the 2nd question it should be ok for someone to tow a trailer that wieghs 750kg empty if that was capable of towing a heavier wieght?
I've heard it a few times since too.
Seemingly if u need a long/big trailier for moving light things about u can get an extra plate for it at the lower wieght to suit ur cars towing wieght but then obviously someone in theory could then be done if they overloaded it to its 'factory' load assuming there vehicle could tow it.
All a load of nonsense really.
I think it is 1 of those rules u'd really have had to annoy/ catch on a bad day the traffic cop, similar to empty window washer or unsecured car battery
So for the 2nd question it should be ok for someone to tow a trailer that wieghs 750kg empty if that was capable of towing a heavier wieght?
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C.J
Well-Known Member
[h=4]My vehicle has a maximum towing weight of 1500kg and my trailer has a maximum gross weight of 2000kg. Can I still tow this trailer?[/h]Yes, as long as the unladen weight of the trailer you are towing combined with the trailer load does not exceed 1500kg, then you can tow this trailer with your vehicle.
There is no legal requirement to downrate the plate on your trailer.
Drivers must also possess the appropriate driving licence with B+E category for towing this particular trailer combination as well as adhering to tachograph rules, if applicable.
Copied from Ifor Williams
There is no legal requirement to downrate the plate on your trailer.
Drivers must also possess the appropriate driving licence with B+E category for towing this particular trailer combination as well as adhering to tachograph rules, if applicable.
Copied from Ifor Williams
countrryboy
Well-Known Member
Cheers CJ it appears i've been talking sh*te then that makes a change 
Must admit it was a fair while ago i was told about it wether or not it has changed? Or mibee just an urban/rural myth, but even the ifor dealer was going to source downgraded plates for me as trailer's gross was heavier than the jimny's limit, althou i never bothered
I'm sure at the time Hilux's towing limit was a good bit lower than other 4x4's so many of the stock trailers gross wieght was over the Hilux's limit
that makes a change Must admit it was a fair while ago i was told about it wether or not it has changed? Or mibee just an urban/rural myth, but even the ifor dealer was going to source downgraded plates for me as trailer's gross was heavier than the jimny's limit, althou i never bothered
I'm sure at the time Hilux's towing limit was a good bit lower than other 4x4's so many of the stock trailers gross wieght was over the Hilux's limit
C.J
Well-Known Member
The myth is spread by VOSA.There used to be a document ,on the Ifor website ,that you could keep in your vehicle, to show vosa/police should you be stopped.Its ridiculous that a trailers plate can be altered to suit the towing vehicle - either it can take the weight or not.Its up the driver to make sure the gross vehicle weight and the gross train weight is not exceeded.
C.J
Well-Known Member
http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/attachments/arb-trucks/86081d1328647625-good-news-vosa-vosa-letter.pdf Found a link to the letter from Vosa to Ifor Williams.
I am relieved to see that the last paragraph of that letter is virtually word for word what I had always understood, and what I quoted from the .gov website above.
My trailer is plated for 2600kg max axle weight and my Volvo is plated for only a 1850kg towing capacity. If it was down to the potential capacity of the trailer I would have been on the road illegally for the last 30 years with an empty trailer even though I was only towing 600kg of braked trailer.
Alan
