Surf...towing a Surf?

[robinbooth]

Would a 2.4 be OK towing a trailer with another Surf on it?
I don't expect to be breaking any speed records, but it seems that a Surf + trailer exceeds the maximum towing weight.
Also, this is going to be a 350mile trip - if that makes any difference?

Cheers,

Rob.

[Keith]

Towing

There really is no answer. As you are probably aware the recomended towing weight is 85% of the tow car kerbweight with 100% permitted for experienced drivers. Obviously you will be towing 100% plus the weight of the trailer - too much to be towed safely.

Will the Surf actually tow that weight without damaging itself? I would imagine that it will puff up the hills but getting down into first it will crawl and keep going collecting a line of traffic behind.

More importantly will it be OK going down hill? Is the trailer in good nick with top class brakes? If so it should be ok. Caravans are built so as to distribute the weight properly and provide a noseweight of about 7% of the caravan's weight. If you stick two tons of Surf on a trailer how is the weight distributed. With the the lump at the front I can imagine that the noseweight would be really worrying and the biggest risk to the surf itself. Would the towbar be built to take the weight? There are issues with vehicles like the Surf which have a proper chassis. It is thought that they can be too rigid and cause couplings to break. Because of this you can buy shocklinks which soften the link between vehicle and tow head.

I think that at the end of the day I would advise against the trip unless you were very sure of the answers to these points.

Keith

[robinbooth]

Thanks for that Keith.....
I'm not going to risk anything happening so I'll either get it transported or get it driven.

Cheers,

Rob.