Singvogel
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Thanks. Can now feel happy about towing as long as I don't fill the trailer over 1 ton of weight.
Just be careful that you know the max gross permissible weight of the trailer, as that's what a VOSA, HATO, or Traffic Police Officer would check.
It's the max allowable weight that matters - not what is in it at any given time.
You couldn't tow an empty 2 tonne trailer with the excuse that empty it's only 640kg for example, or say that you only have a tonne in it so it's underweight.
The max of the trailer should be on a plate riveted to it's chassis. This is why home-built trailers are not liked by the police in other countries as in their experience it should have to be inspected by the authorities before being plated and allowed to be used on the road.
It's also useful to understand the plate/sticker on the tow vehicle.
My TD4 has a plate on the passenger door pillar which gives 4 figures:
2080kg which is the max gross of the vehicle.
4080kg which is the max train weight. (Car plus trailer)
1100kg which is max front axle
1120kg which is max rear axle
Note that you can't add the axles together and get 2220kg for the car on it's own.
Hopefully things should be starting to be clearer than mud now.
S.
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