Viewing 17 posts - 41 through 57 (of 57 total)
  • Question for the caravaners…
  • codybrennan
    Free Member

    I don’t know. The 1.4HDi isn’t the beefiest engine in the world. There’s a fair bit of low-down grunt, and the Pug 5-speed gearbox is tougher than the one used by Ford when they use the same engine, but I’m not sure it would be powerful enough- 75bhp?

    molgrips
    Free Member

    7b5hp is enough for a small van. But that’s not really the figure you want to look at since to get 75bhp you’d have to be redlining it all the time. Being a diesel it’s probably got more sensibly usable power than a 100bhp petrol ie enough.

    I’ve only ever towed with a 140bhp car, and in normal driving I barely use any more throttle than I would solo. Only time I ever use any sizeable chunk of full power is joining motorways, or some of these steep autobahns in the Alpine foothills here. But you see plenty of other vehicles on those crawling at 30mph – most lorries are, so you’ll be fine joining them.

    nbt
    Full Member

    My octavia is 75bhp. As I said it tows a 950kg caravan. I was getting 30mpg towing round scotland

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    takisawa2
    Full Member

    It will tow fine. Just load it low down over the axle, & pay attention to noseweight & tyre pressures.

    poly
    Free Member

    I don’t tow caravans, but I do tow trailers and have down with everything from a Pug 205 1.8D (H reg so a while back!) and a 1.3L Mazda 323 to a 2L Citreon C5 (which was a dream to tow with!).

    I wouldn’t be towing 700 kg with a little 206 unless the trailer was braked (this may be required legally, if not it will be borderline – and stopping will be interesting!). Once you experience the trailer trying to overtake you whilst doing an emergency stop at 50 mph – you’ll never want to tow a borderline trailer again!

    As for the age of the car – I’d certainly want to make sure it was recently services and had breakdown cover (remember to check they cover the trailer too) before doing any real mileage in it.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    I wouldn’t be towing 700 kg with a little 206 unless the trailer was braked

    Caravans always are. Unbraked trailer weight limit will be what, 3-400kg for that car.

    spooky_b329
    Full Member

    I’m trying to work out if this has turned into a troll 🙂

    That caravan is probably around two tonnes, once hooked up to a 206 your exhaust will probably be touching the floor. Its even got an air conditioner on the roof ffs! Then you say you are just planning to use it as a trailer?! You said a 700kg caravan, not a 700kg trailer with 500kg of stuff in it.

    This is a 780kg caravan. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FREEDOM-JETSTREAM-200-CARAVAN-2-BERTH-FIBREGLASS-10-/260774229958?pt=UK_Campers_Caravans_Motorhomes&hash=item3cb75af7c6&clk_rvr_id=235929666602

    Get a trailer, just not one of those crappy Erdes 🙂

    poly
    Free Member

    Caravans always are. Unbraked trailer weight limit will be what, 3-400kg for that car.

    I hadn’t realised that (and in theory any trailer up to 750 kg (gross) doesn’t need brakes) – but I suppose you always want a handbrake on caravan anyway. I haven’t checked but I’d have thought that the unbraked limit for a 206 would be higher than 400kg but probably not 700kg.

    Personally I think I’d sell the Pugeot and trade it in for a van – you can always convert that to camper van if you want the nomadic lifestyle…

    timber
    Full Member

    I’d go with a box trailer if it is to shift gear, no load weight lost to sinks, cookers, cupboards and crappers that you don’t need. Will also allow for a smaller trailer that’ll be more efficient to tow (or more stock carried at full weight limit) and can be secured more easily.
    Small stock trailer? Quite a few small holders around here with family cars towing trailers that’ll take a dozen sheep/couple of pigs/quad bike.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    A van’s no good, cos the OP said he wanted to store stuff in the UK, which would mean leaving the van parked up.

    TheFunkyMonkey
    Free Member

    Nobody has mentioned the clutch yet, its gonna get battered

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Needn’t be an issue. 2000 miles of motorway isn’t going to hurt it that much.

    TheFunkyMonkey
    Free Member

    once you’re moving it won’t make any difference, but starting and stopping will take its toll, even on slight inclines.

    It’s a very small clutch on that, my missis used to have one.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    Well he’s not tourin’ the lakes, is he?

    donsimon
    Free Member

    Not a troll spooky, I live in Spain and need to uproot and relocate in the UK. I’m looking at alternative ways of getting all my things moved from Spain to the UK. Different solutions will provide me with different quantities of stuff I can carry, but I can be ruthless with regard to throwing stuff away, think pictures- do I take the picture and frame or bin the frame and just take the picture? Or even bin the picture too?
    I’m now thinking that a big roof box for clothes and computers, tow bar rack for 3 bikes and various odds and sods inside car.
    Clutch comments were something I was waiting for, 250,000kms and the original clutch…
    The van in the picture looks nice and is listed as 750kg, but looks way too big to be 750kg, unless it’s made from balsa wood.

    missingfrontallobe
    Free Member

    Just for transport & storing stuff, I’d go with a trailer, caravans are too prone to damp ingress over time. A purpose made “U-Haul” type trailer might be better. Storage of caravans in remote/rural locations also runs a risk of rodent infestation
    We limit what we store in our 2010 Swift caravan to reduce risk of damp & attraction to rodents.
    I suppose a compromise may be a caravan shell but with all of the unneccessary kit removed – don’t know what an insurer would make of that though.

    molgrips
    Free Member

    You might consider shipping. I had basically a palette’s worth of stuff shipped to Finland for 800 euros or something – less than the cost of a trailer.

    But not much actually, come to think of it.

    A caravan’s payload will only be 150-180kg anyway, which isn’t much when you’re moving house.

Viewing 17 posts - 41 through 57 (of 57 total)

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