Towing more than the braked towing limit

If caught you will be fined, and possibly prosecuted under construction and use.

You will certainly have to unload enough weight at the weigh bridge to be legal before they allow you to carry on.
 
ubersonic said:
Because his opening post was pretty much "I know this is illegal and dangerous but do you think I can get away with it?"
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Almost, my opening post was essentially "I'm confident the car can manage it, but understand it's illegal - how likely am I to get caught?"

That is not something I'm trying to hide - I was quite open about it I thought, so what people think they are mocking, I'm not sure.

I didn't know whether it was one of these things that was never checked or enforced.

The car easily has the weight and power to tow what I need to tow, and there are plenty of reports from other owners towing just as much without any issue at all.

A 1350kg V6 Audi A3 can tow 1800kg ffs!

As the answer is that this is checked and enforced, I will not be risking it.

Thanks.
 
is it not based on weight and power, maybe structural integrity and possible dynamics under certain loads etc...
 
An HGV tractor circa 7.5ton can pull a lot more than the 36ish tons that would bring it to the 44t limit, the difference here is it is designed to tow much more than its own weight, an be able to brake & corner in a relatively stable manner.

You do have to be very careful in anything other than ideal conditions though.

Cars generally don't take towing much more than their own weight in their stride as they are simply not designed to do so.

The braked towing limit it there for a damn good reason, exceed it at your peril.

I'm pleased to see Mike is not going to try it (in his Clio, MG or whatever), and hope for his sake that he does not.
 
R420LA6X2/4MNA said:
An HGV tractor circa 7.5ton can pull a lot more than the 36ish tons that would bring it to the 44t limit, the difference here is it is designed to tow much more than its own weight, an be able to brake & corner in a relatively stable manner.

You do have to be very careful in anything other than ideal conditions though.

Cars generally don't take towing much more than their own weight in their stride as they are simply not designed to do so.

The braked towing limit it there for a damn good reason, exceed it at your peril.

I'm pleased to see Mike is not going to try it (in his Clio, MG or whatever), and hope for his sake that he does not.
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Totally agree with this, other road users don't really seem to give towing cars much thought, the amount of times I've had people pull infront of me whack on the breaks to slow down for a junction causing me to break too sharply, almost jack-knifed with a circa £200k car on the trailer last week due to one of these idiot's.

I've driven with a trailer in Germany and it's infinite times better than towing here due to the quality of the road surfaces alone IMO.
 
I am certainly no expert, but would have thought it was dangerous full stop to go over the limits.

I am sure your intentions are not horrible, but it only takes once for you to get stopped or something to go wrong.
 
R420LA6X2/4MNA said:
An HGV tractor circa 7.5ton can pull a lot more than the 36ish tons that would bring it to the 44t limit, the difference here is it is designed to tow much more than its own weight, an be able to brake & corner in a relatively stable manner.
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The towing pivot is in front of the rear wheels on a tractor, on a car, the towing pivot is behind the rear wheels making it much more likely to lift them off the ground under braking.
 
Dr Who said:
The towing pivot is in front of the rear wheels on a tractor, on a car, the towing pivot is behind the rear wheels making it much more likely to lift them off the ground under braking.
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Quite.

As I say, the HGV / Tractor is designed to tow weights, unlike cars, as you correctly point out. :)
 
maximum unbraked tow weight is 750kg not the 500 stated earlier in the thread.

I would pay very carfull consideration to your vehicles limits. I sell plant equipment and often sell trailers etc for smaller machines, a customer of mine had one of his workers pulled up who was about 60kg overweight he received 6 points and a £2000 fine.

Also if you passed your test after 1997 you will need to do a test to tow a braked trailer

Regards
Ross
 
Regy53 said:
maximum unbraked tow weight is 750kg not the 500 stated earlier in the thread.

I would pay very carfull consideration to your vehicles limits. I sell plant equipment and often sell trailers etc for smaller machines, a customer of mine had one of his workers pulled up who was about 60kg overweight he received 6 points and a £2000 fine.

Also if you passed your test after 1997 you will need to do a test to tow a braked trailer

Regards
Ross
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I really wish people wouldn't talk silly business on the internet.

For the ZS180
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I do not need to do a test if the gross train weight is under 3.5T.

And you sell trailers?
 
Regy53 said:
I would pay very carfull consideration to your vehicles limits. I sell plant equipment and often sell trailers etc for smaller machines, a customer of mine had one of his workers pulled up who was about 60kg overweight he received 6 points and a £2000 fine.
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£2k for 60kg? :eek: **** me! that sounds harsh!

I've had a few overweights in my time* (never over 200kg), I guess its somewhat different when driving a 44,000kg vehicle with six axles....?

Never once had more than a mild telling off!

* Prior to my days of doing it properly with steady Eddie.... ;)

MikeHiow said:
And you sell trailers?
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He can do what he likes, its down to the operator to use the trailer legally.

MikeHiow said:
I really wish people wouldn't talk silly business on the internet.
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The irony of you saying that......
 
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