Maximum weight

[Peaky]

Steve,

I'm guessing that your GTW is just above 5,000Kg. This should comfortably include your trailer, rally car & truck with camper. What you do need to check though is the chassis plate on the trailer. If the gross load of the trailer chassis plate + gross load on the vin plate on the truck is more than the GTW on the trucks vin plate. Then you will not legally be able to tow that trailer.
ie
Truck GVW 3300Kg
Truck GTW 5300Kg
Trailer GW 2200Kg

Combined Truck & Trailer becomes 5500Kg & is therefore overloaded in theory by 200Kg despite only actually weighing 1900Kg in your case & being 100Kg under the GTW.

The authorities will use the documented weights on the 2 vin plates rather than what you actually weigh.
The fact of the matter is that it's an absolute minefield & probably nobody can really give you a definitive answer.
The best person to speak regarding towing with a demountable is Nolan from {censored promotion}, as he has done this on more than one occasion through numerous countries.

Hope this makes some sort of sense

[sabconsulting]

Interestingly the gross train weight on my Ford is marked as 6070kg, which is the maximum authorised mass plus the gross towing weight. But I know that on some vehicles it is not just the sum of the two weights - so I guess it is wise to check the weight plate for each individual vehicle.

Having said this, I'm not particularly comfortable with the idea of towing a 3 ton trailer behind my truck with the camper on - that would be putting a lot of load on it, and I'd have to be pretty certain about the brakes on the trailer since the brakes on my truck aren't particularly good when fully laden - I guess having rear drum brakes doesn't help either.

Steve.

[Bookend]

Thanks guys

I'll check both plates and see how it stacks up and maybe have a short towing session and see how it goes.

[Bookend]

Having checked the GTW which is 5820kg this includes the full towing capacity at 2800 kg so should be ok legally.

I will give it a go to see how safe if feels and take things from there before I volunteer to ferry the car about all over the place.

If I re plate the vehicle will I get an increase in GTW. I plan on doing this anyway just need to decide which truck to do.

[Bookend]

Confused now I've just checked my 2015 Hilux and the GTW is 600kg less than the 2010 which has the same engine and transmission

Looks like the 2010 one is stopping as I was going to get rid.

[Bookend]

Sorry a scrap that there is a second sticker with the UK data and it's the same.

The lower rating is for SA where it was built

[sabconsulting]

Your truck is an automatic isn't it Steve?

Mine is a manual which meant heavily laden I was putting a lot of strain on the clutch (clearly wouldn't be an issue with an auto box). That was why I modified the 4x4 system to allow me to override the front freewheeling hubs so I could run low ratio 4x2 for manoeuvring. The lower gearing took the strain out of the clutch.

Steve.

[Bookend]

Yes it is an auto.

Much nicer to drive when towing just makes you a bit Lazy

[Toshbins]

Or if you want to get really 'top gun'

[Gary W]

This isn't going to make me any friends, but having dragged trailers well over 300,000km over the past 35 years (much of which with a demountable) I've had many scary moments, and this post scares me.

When it come to towing, what you could do and what you should are not the same thing. If you've had to pump the tyres and airbags to the max just to be able to drive the thing without scaring yourself (not unusual with a double cab and weighty camper) it doesn't matter what your plate or logbook says - you should definitely not be going anywhere near a trailer.

If on the other hand you've only got maybe a bar and a bit in the air bags and plenty of spare capacity on the tyres, and everything feels safe and comfortable with at highway speeds, then that's a different thing. In my experience a loaded truck usually tows better than an unloaded one so you'll probably find the rig will handle the manufacturers GTW nicely. We tow a 2600kg yacht with a Hilux Extra Cab and one of our demountables and it tows it beautifully.

For what it's worth, I really don't think the GTW should be upgraded when a truck is replated, but those are dangerous waters... There's stiff competition amongst the manufacturers to offer the highest towing capacity in the class and if they felt the truck could handle the extra you can be sure they'd advertise as much. Sometimes it might be restricted by something as simple as the handbrake's ability to hold it on a hill, but sometimes it might be much more that. I can tell you from bitter experience that coming down a mountain pass with no brakes because the fluid has boiled is one of the most terrifying things you can ever experience.

With newer trucks and ESP etc it's a whole new ball game and the above is even more important. It's no longer a case of taking it easy and being careful. Now computers take control of our trucks in an emergency situation and those computers have to know what they are dealing with, everything needs to be within limits. This is not just gobbledy goop either. If we put a camper body on an Amarok for example VW supply different ESP software that compensates for the higher centre of gravity.

I'm 100% certain there's nothing there that we all don't all know already. For safety's sake I think it just needed saying though, incase we might try to convince ourselves otherwise

Best wishes

Gary