Tow Cars + A Frames or Smart trailers ?

it's only a thought at the moment but MrsCC is thinking of updating her Clio and is toying with the idea of a new Fiat 500 which could possibly have a dual use as an occasional tow car. I'm not sure however about the legalities of towing and we are concerned that by using an A-Frame that unnecessary miles would be clocked up... we saw a small tow car on a trailer recently at Ferry meadows and thought that might be another option, so if we went for a drive on trailer (like a smart trailer) does this affect our weight allowance / limit on the MH?

CC

Hi CC,

Up to you Mate …..but I always found it a pain in the rear end ( )

The trailer will put about 1 CWT in old money on the tow-bar if it is loaded correctly.

Your “Gross Train Weight” allowance should be fine

Hope this helps,

Brian

Hi there,

Personally I would go with the "trailer" option.

Three reasons:

1. It doesn't add any mileage to the car.

2. The trailer can be used for other things when the car is removed.

3. I understand (think I saw it on this Forum somewhere) that the powers that be are looking closely at either the "A" Frame or "lifted front wheels" systems with a view to banning one of them.

Hope this helps.

Best regards,

Suggest that you do some serious research on the Fiat500.
I am led to believe the mpg is horrendous!!





PB

Don't say that PB...

I've been encouraging MrsCC to get one as I think they are a cracking little car, and like I say it would give us the option to use it as an occasional tow car... these owners comments suggest around 40+ mpg (depends on model I suppose) and £35 a year road tax

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One of the things that struck me about having a trailer - having been on site next to someone with one earlier in the year - is the amount of space it all takes up.

When you're on site, you have to find somewhere for a van, a small car and a not very small trailer. And the same at home when you're not using it. Ok if you have a mansion and grounds, but the average house doesn't have any where to put a not very small trailer...

I Know what you mean Mojo... at Ferry Meadows recently the owner of his small tow car left his parked on the trailer, not sure if he manually manhandled the trailer to the side of his motorhome or if if he has a built in mover system like many of the caravans. Storage at home doesn't really need to be an issue for us as we have a double length garage and enough parking for around 4 vehicles on the driveway, but I take your point

CC

hi
a-frame cant be used unless in a breakdown recovery situation , anything towed over 750kg needs to be on a braked trailer ,as im led to believe

Hi CC
I have had a new Fiat 500 1.2 lounge since January and it been a cracking small car with now 4300 miles on the clock computer say,s
51.5 mpg average never zeroed trip B so seems pretty good to me. First year road rent £0 second year will be £35 only prob so far has been a new rear screen fitted under warranty as heated screen had one broken element.
John

ade700 wrote:hi
a-frame cant be used unless in a breakdown recovery situation , anything towed over 750kg needs to be on a braked trailer ,as im led to believe

We have towed both a smart car and then a ford ka both on a frames complete with braking system fitted by Chri Cox A Frames, we towed all over europe including Germany, France, croatia, Austria, Switzerland & Portugaland never had a problem, we even had a letter in all differnt languages explaining that with the braked a frame fitted the car was actually classed as a trailer, we were stopped by police in germany to measure the length as we had a twin axle a class with the ka behind so was close to the maximum length allowed and they never questioned the a frame.

With rgard to clocking up the mileage try and get a car with a digital odometer like the smart as they only clock up when the ignition is on.

If you decide to go the trailer route Brian James here in Daventry does a smart trailer which folds up when on site so takes up less room, he also builds custom trailers with covers etc so well worth a look.

Cheers Glyn

Hi again

Heres a link to the caratow website where you can download the letter in several languages explaining the system is legal, they also have some towcars for sale allready fitted with A frames.

[url=http://www.caratow.com/download.php[/url]

Cheers Glyn