Tow weights - caravan

[Garby]

Hi Everyone
This is a great site, with great information and advice.

ok here goes, I’ve camped and had many large motorhomes over the years and I’m still learning as we go along. We decided to downsize to a T6 lwb not so long ago, I really don’t think there is a perfect scenario out there to suit all our needs for camping , even owning some lovely motor homes there have always been many drawbacks, likewise with a T6 and the space you need to make things comfy.

We have now decided to tow a light weight caravan with the T6, I’m presuming with looking at weights the T6 will pull ok, we currently tow a trailer which has everything in included the kitchen sink, and use a quality Fiamma awning attached to the FIamma 45s attached wind out, ( selling the FIamma on here soon) this will free up the van to drive away on days out and then use the caravan when coming back, futhermore the children / grankiddie can use the caravan if they want to come on holiday, we can use the T6.

The caravan we are looking at is the new swift basecamp 4, anyone ever towed one with a transporter or something similar, I will want something new but light with a medium footprint , I don’t want a blow up awning for the T6 , so other than sell my lovely T6 I feel the tow solution may work.

please let me know thoughts / positives and negatives , at least then I can take a better view on the way to go

thanks in anticipation
Phil

 

[dubber36]

I think you've got all bases covered there. We used to borrow a friends motorhome and saw everyone else with large motorhomes towing small cars. It struck me that if we were going to tow anything, it would be a caravan behind a car, which is what we went on to do. Home from home comfort in the white box that doesn't have to be packed away when we went out for the day.

You'll have the van for short trips away, then the caravan for more space and a permanent base. Plus have a vehicle that you can all go out in without size issues.

The T6 is an excellent tow vehicle. I've said many times before that a lot of the outfits stability comes from aerodynamics. The van punches a lot of air out of the way of the caravan. Much better than a car or pick up.

Anyone added a caravan to their T6?

Anybody on here tow a caravan, we are mid caravan change at the moment so were going new van,new caravan, that was our 5.1.

www.t6forum.com

 

[JDC]

Had a look around one of them Base camp caravans the other week at Glossop caravans. Look a brilliant bit of kit for the size.

 

[happy chef]

Hi I need advise on a tow bar for my T6 66 plate 204 BHP manual Highline. Firtsly is it strong enough to tow a 8m caravan.Secondly what tow bar would you recomend please

 

[DaveD]

Hi I need advise on a tow bar for my T6 66 plate 204 BHP manual Highline. Firtsly is it strong enough to tow a 8m caravan.Secondly what tow bar would you recomend please

Welcome to the forum.
In reality the length of the caravan isn't as important as its gross weight and nose weight.
A good towbar correctly installed is certainly strong enough to tow a large caravan.
I have a Witter fixed towbar but there are various brands and types (detachable, fixed) and I'm not sure one is better than the next as long as you go for a reputable brand. Make sure your towbar has a hole for the breakaway cable to fix to.
I'm not a caravanner but I tow a 2 tonne trailer regularly, some other members know more about towing caravans than I do.
You can use the search box, top right of your screen, to see what other towbars people are using.

 

[JOG]

Using a Westfalia towbar!

 

[Salty Spuds]

Hi I need advise on a tow bar for my T6 66 plate 204 BHP manual Highline. Firtsly is it strong enough to tow a 8m caravan.Secondly what tow bar would you recomend please

Any type approved towbar will be rated to tow whatever the vehicle is rated to. In your case it’ll probably be 2500kg with a 75kg nose weight.

 

[Weeman]

Hi Everyone
This is a great site, with great information and advice.

ok here goes, I’ve camped and had many large motorhomes over the years and I’m still learning as we go along. We decided to downsize to a T6 lwb not so long ago, I really don’t think there is a perfect scenario out there to suit all our needs for camping , even owning some lovely motor homes there have always been many drawbacks, likewise with a T6 and the space you need to make things comfy.

We have now decided to tow a light weight caravan with the T6, I’m presuming with looking at weights the T6 will pull ok, we currently tow a trailer which has everything in included the kitchen sink, and use a quality Fiamma awning attached to the FIamma 45s attached wind out, ( selling the FIamma on here soon) this will free up the van to drive away on days out and then use the caravan when coming back, futhermore the children / grankiddie can use the caravan if they want to come on holiday, we can use the T6.

The caravan we are looking at is the new swift basecamp 4, anyone ever towed one with a transporter or something similar, I will want something new but light with a medium footprint , I don’t want a blow up awning for the T6 , so other than sell my lovely T6 I feel the tow solution may work.

please let me know thoughts / positives and negatives , at least then I can take a better view on the way to go

thanks in anticipation
Phil

Phil,
I have a Basecamp 2 which I tow with my T6.1 110bhp. It tows fine, I sometimes have to change down to 5th gear on steep hills but you would hardly know the caravan was there. It gives you the best of both worlds.

 

[Insert Coin]

Max nose weight on a T6 is 100kg, irrespective of what the tow bar itself is capable of.

I tow an Adria which is the best part of 1900kg’s and 8m long without any issues at all.

 

[jayc001]

1900kg on a LWB Caravelle 150 DSG. Normally drive it in manual mode and it mostly likes 5th gear at 56mph, 6th only comes into play downhill or if I get it up to 60+. No chance using 7th.

 

[Salty Spuds]

Just done 800 miles in the wilds of Scotland towing a 1900kg twin axle boat trailer. LWB 204 4mot DSG full camper conversion. It’ll bowl along quite nicely at 55-60 in 7th gear on the motorway & return 24mpg.

 

[jayc001]

7th was not a option on my 140 Shuttle too. The twin turbo obviously has the low down torque needed.

I mainly use 5th as it gets better mileage. I get high twenties. 6th actually drops to mid low twenties.

 

[RobertO2023]

Nice to see pics of Transporters towing caravans. Whilst I know many people love their campers I love the extra space of a caravan.
Each to their own etc. Towing my 1800kg caravan is a dream - apart from the decreased MPG !
Although my van is lowered I purposely didn’t go too low so the caravan would be level on the roads.

 

[TJH1985]

I have towed over 1900kg with my SWB 204bhp, it will happily tow it and stay in 7th doing 60 without any issues. Returned 28mpg!

Don't get me wrong it’s not a patch on the 4.4 SDV8 Range Rover I used to tow with but it does the job just fine. You could easily forget you were towing with the Range Rover it was that good.

 

[RobertO2023]

Funny you should mention Range Rover - I had a few TDIs in the past and they are almost certainly one of the best tow vehicle's around. Current 6.1 has been remapped from 204 inc the dsg so I’m definitely spoilt when towing. The triple axle car transporter with the beemer on board comes in at 2240kg plus a fully laden van still tows amazingly well

 

[Crazymind]

That triple axle+ Bmw great combo!
I find easier to drive with a trailer when the weight of the car is closer to the hitch rather than middle.

 

[RobertO2023]

In certain situations you may well be right. I always set the nose weight at 80kg using a load cell for race car set up . If the car was any further forward the nose weight would be off the scale. Also bearing in mind the triple axle trailer is extremely stable at all speeds. Last round trip was 1700 miles mostly on the Autobahns