duetto towing car

Hi everyone.Happy New Year
Here to call on your expertise once again
We have a Ford Duetto 1996 which we love and tour mostly in France only once or twice a year in England but now
I have a bad leg and cant walk so far or cycle  as we use to we are thinking of getting a towbar and buying a smart car,the van seems to be fine but are we expecting too much of the old lady.All your views would be much appreciated
                 Thanks Dot and Colin 

Hi there,

I tow "something" (either a boat or a trailer) almost every time we go somewhere for more than a weekend and "Petal" (a 1998 Duetto) hardly knows she has it on the back.

Changing down on hills happens a bit earlier and fuel consumption drops by about 2 mpg on long distance runs.  We towed the trailer through Switzerland and up and down the hills of San Marino last October without any problems.

Two tips:

1.  Because both the boat and trailer are "un-braked" I have to remember that stopping takes a bit longer.

2.  It is VERY easy to forget you have a trailer on the back and snapping the gearbox into reverse is a "No! No!".

In view of these facts I keep a nice big sign on the dashboard that say "TRAILER" to remind me!

Reversing isn't easy!

The van is long and the trailer is short.  This means that correcting an oversteer, after a certain angle is reached, is impossible.

In view of this, I suggest that you practice and practice and then go slow when it's for real.  After that "No problem!"    

Hope this helps.   

Best regards,
 


PS

Before "Petal" I owned three different Transit Vans and towed caravans with all of them.

The Ford Transit van is a favourite for Gypsies and they seem to tow their caravans with ease!!    

Thank you for your reply.

I think that if you tow a smart car on a trailer it will need to be braked (> 750kg). Not sure what the regs are if you use an A frame with smart car on road.

Hi there,

The lightest Smart Car I could find was the Pulse at 750kgs which, as Inspiron points out, will require a braked trailer; which the Duetto is perfectly capable of towing.

With regard to using an "A" Frame I am sure that somewhere on the Forum I have seen a Post that indicates the "A" Frame system may well be banned in some of the EU countries so, apart from the wear and tear on the vehicle, also means that a trailer would possibly be a better option.

Apart from what is or is not "legal" with regard to towed weight and over-run brakes etc, there is also legislation affecting the drivers licence requirements.

For details, please refer to:

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By the time you have waded through that lot maybe an un-braked trailer and a couple of electric bikes or a road-licenced quad bike might seem a better option!     

Check out:

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or

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At much less than 500kg they can be towed on an un-braked trailer and as most of them also have a tow-bar fitted you can use the trailer for shopping when you arrive on site!!   

Hope this helps.  

Best regards,
 

Thank you for taking the trouble to find out all these websites,it seems to be more and more involved.I think I will stay with the bikes and (work through the pain)as my doctor says,but thank you anyway

Hi there,

"Pain is only transient and it will go away eventually; one way or another!" was one of my Mum's sayings.  She was not noted for her sympathetic nature!   

Keep up the cycling.

I recommend Voltarol before you set out, Knee Warmers during he ride and then a couple of Paracetamol afterwards.

Keep it up and I hope to see you at this event in August:

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Or just up the road from you here ….

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…..  where I intend to use the 50 mile run as a "warm up" for Lap the Lough!

I find that it helps to concentrate my mind and keep the pain at bay knowing that I'm cycling for something useful!   

Best regards,
 

Hi there,

So, there we are sat having a cup of coffee when my better half suddenly says "What would you think about getting one of those four-wheel motorbikes?"

I was speechless!

"We've got all the gear from the motor bike so we may as we'll use it."

Then came a few minutes of suspicion when I had to explain exactly why I knew what we might need! i.e. because of this Thread.

As a result, we are negotiating for a Kymco 150RL Road Legal quad-bike.

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It will fit on our existing trailer and will maybe reach a top speed of 40mph with two of us onboard.

Many thanks.  

Best regards,
 

You say 'with 2 people on board', have you actually tried 2 up??

It doesn't mention that it takes 2 & that LOOKS a bit cramped for 2, I like the idea though,& that rack will take a nice 'shopping' back-box.

Dot and Dutto

Are your Duetto's the turbo version? We had a 1999 non-turbo Duetto which we used for 7 years and 80,000 miles and found that at altitudes over 7000ft, it was quite slow and needed at least one gear lower than at UK type altitudes. Towing over the higher passes would have been quite difficult.

Just curious.

modelman wrote:    You say 'with 2 people on board', have you actually tried 2 up??

It doesn't mention that it takes 2 & that LOOKS a bit cramped for 2, I like the idea though,& that rack will take a nice 'shopping' back-box.

Hi there,

Yes, we tried it out and it is a bit cramped (especially after a Pan European motorbike) but we don't ever intend to be wearing our leathers and waterproofs with two up; and when I've lost a few pounds ........       

One element I like is that it fits on the trailer and then when we get on site it can tow the trailer for shopping!   

It's main use will be on French back-roads where "paved" often means they laid Tarmac on it sometime since WW2!!

Best regards,
 

Spospe wrote:Dot and Dutto

Are your Duetto's the turbo version? We had a 1999 non-turbo Duetto which we used for 7 years and 80,000 miles and found that at altitudes over 7000ft, it was quite slow and needed at least one gear lower than at UK type altitudes. Towing over the higher passes would have been quite difficult.

Just curious.

Hi there,

Yes, "Petal" is a Turbo and we dragged the trailer up and over the Alps last October with no problems.

Having said that, our top speed is usually 50mph regardless of where we are or what we are towing so I would hardly notice any change in performance anyway.    

Best regards,
 

that looks a nice bit of kit dutto, can we have a picture of you and helen mounted. that dont sound right, oops ive pressed the send button

hello yes our duetto is turbo but no more than that I   do not know and hubby is out at the moment.We have decided to hold fast for now about towing.We are booked on ferry 17th april for a month in France,we will take our bikes and try and pick some sites that our near towns or villages
We will go south by the eastern route so any hints on good sites will be very welcome

dot wrote:hello yes our duetto is turbo but no more than that I   do not know and hubby is out at the moment.We have decided to hold fast for now about towing.We are booked on ferry 17th april for a month in France,we will take our bikes and try and pick some sites that our near towns or villages
We will go south by the eastern route so any hints on good sites will be very welcome

Dot,

Great aire at Dudelange …

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… and then on to Thermapolis the next morning …

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… for a fantastic start to your holiday.

Hope you enjoy the trip.   

Best regards,
 

Hi there,

On Wednesday we took delivery of "Karra Two", a Quadzilla RS6EFI as per this article:

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We intend to use it for shopping and trips to the beach from our base in France and here at home as an alternative to an OAP's scooter when we get that bit more decrepit.

We will be towing her on a Paxton 8' x 5' caged trailer and the quad's 354Kg will leave about 80kg of spare weight capacity which should be ample for a few boxes of wine on the homeward journey!     

Best regards,