Towing Limit

[FarmerPug]

A question about towing with a 406

A chap at work has a family member with a crashed MK2 clio 3 door, its 50 miles from where i live but he wants me to take the car back here and fix the damage.

He is willing to pay to hire a car transporter from CP hire, a 4 wheel jobbie with brakes etc, they say it should be ok for a 406 to tow it, I'm just looking to check on here has anyone towed another car with their 406?

[benczuk]

t' internet says the Clio has a kerb weight of just under a ton, so you will be fine to tow it (it and the trailer will weighs less than my caravan and less than the saloon max towing weight of 1500kg)

HOWEVER In the UK you would need a a B+E on your license. If you passed your test after 1997 you only get a B license which allows you to drive a combination up to a max of 3500 KG

Now, the 406 saloon has a max permissible mass of 1790KG (viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1405) and 1790 + car and trailer (at an overestimate of 1500kg combined) = 3290KG which is under the 3500 max BUT I would expect the 4 wheel braked trailers are plated to a max weight of 2000kg and it is that figure that matters which gives you 1790 +2000 = 3790 and thus over 3500 and illegal

All of the above may be completely irrelevant to you though being in the Republic.

[GingerMagic]

I pulled a T4 van about 5 miles with my 406, using a solid bar, easy peasy.
Benczuk is correct, and the only thing to bear in mind is your brakes are trying to stop 3.5tonne.....

[FarmerPug]

I have the trailer licence, did the test last october for it, but i rang up a recovery service they will do it for £100, thats hard to beat since renting the trailer would cost £60 and the journey would have cost £40 in diesel not to mention the wear on the clutch.

[GingerMagic]

Thats a good price, as you say it will save lots of hassle....

[ally406]

My 406 has a gross train weight of 3027Kg and as far as I know they are all the same, my Mk2 Clio weighs 1070Kg. I've had my 406 on a weigh bridge and it weighs 1380Kg (kerb). All told it will be close with a double axle trailer.

[Doggy]

We recovered my daughter's 307 on a 4-wheel trailer with my bro's old 1.9 406 estate, 60-odd miles from St Albans.
It went OK, but didn't feel very stable and downhill braking required a little finesse.