a big thank you to clive at Atlas trailers

[robert t]

if its true then there must be thousands of illegal van trailer combos in the country.

 

 

So I presume this is illegal

[cordwood]

More pic's of the trailer stevie please.

Was it delivered or did you have to pick it up?

[madmatt]

So I presume this is illegal

 

I'd say the second pic most likely is that looks to me like a thwaites 3 tonne dumper they weight at least 3 ton empty plus the weight of a triax ifor with side is about 900kg so that makes about 4ton gross trailer weight.

[Jonny69]

i better look into this, looks like the trailer will be going on the lorry for now then lol

 

Steve it looks as if you have a gross train of 5500kg and your van can weigh a max of 3500kg...............so you can have a 2000kg trailer on the back. (im not sure which model you have though so these figures may be different, check the plate)

 

Please also note the the GTW means nothing really when it comes to towing a trailer, for instance you can not vary the weight of the truck to increase or decrease the amount you can tow within you 5500kg limit. Some people seem to think that if there truck is empty they can tow more behind it because they will still be under the GTW. Not the case, GVW and GTW (trailer weight) are totally separate figures and neither can be exceeded regardless of any other factors.

 

Renault UK - Renault Vans - Renault Master Panel Van - Specifications

 

Although this is not really the issue, the problem is because the trailer has MPM (maximum permissable mass) of 3500kg you are not supposed to put it behind a vehicle which only has a towing capacity of 2000kg, regardless of how much load is in the trailer.

 

Every pick up in the country, bar some of the American ones or if you have them uprated and re-plated is illegal to tow a 3500kg trailer. Although I will say that no-one cares, everyone does it and I dont personally know anyone that has been done, I know a lot of people with 3.5t trailers behind pick-ups who tow it day in day out.

 

The law is very silly as a Navara/ranger etc on the road is a lot safer than my landy 90.

 

Having said all that, nobody seems to care and everyone does it, hell I cant talk I was towing illegally for nearly three years before I got my trailer test.

 

I was at a nissan dealer not so long ago looking at a Patrol, the salesman tried to tell me that I would be better off with a Quashqai "I am certain that they can tow 3500kg sir, lots of people buy one for their horse boxes". Do they really.......hmmm.

 

Anyway, nice trailer I had a look at them at Saltex this year, I will definitely consider one when I come to change. Shame they dont come in 12ft/6ft6 yet, hint, hint mr atlas

[Jonny69]

So I presume this is illegal

 

Robert, not sure on the digger, can not really tell how big it is.

 

Presuming that is a 3 ton dumper, it will weight about 2000kg empty and the trailer (I've got one and it is great) will weight best part of a 1000kg with the three axles.

 

I would guess the trailer and dumper is legal and would be fine behind a defender, disco, land cruiser, patrol.

 

However not sure what you can legally put behind a tranny.

[skyhuck]

Stevie you could ask Atlas if they would give you a 2tonne plate for it, you would obviously be restricted in how much you could carry.

 

Then if you change your vehicle to one can tow more just put the old plate back on.

[Craig Johnson]

i better look into this, looks like the trailer will be going on the lorry for now then lol

 

that means you will need c+e (over 750kg and/or more than 1 axel)

[Craig Johnson]

So I presume this is illegal

 

might be over weight but you would need a taco to be legal any way

[cousin jack]

think you'll find horse boxes are probably the biggest culprits!

O how dare you sir, how very dare you, casting a slur upon the good name of us horsey types

Edited February 26, 2010 by cousin jack
punctuation

[david]

nice trailer steve. i like the tie down points on the inside. youv just got to decide what your aloud to tow it with