Buzzb Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Hi to one and all Could anyone give me some advice on what type or make of trailer would be suitable for a smart car, I have an auto-trail Cherokee motorhome and the max towing weight is 1040klio's, also the for and against trailers. Wife not keen on having (boohoo) towed by a frame. Any help would be much appreciated as this is our first year in motor homing and camping in general and so far we are loving it. buzzb (lol) (lol) (lol) :$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merle Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Hi Buzzb, I have the same problem except towing limit is 1000kg, it's a bit of a problem finding the right car / trailer combination and keeping under weight. Don't forget to allow for the essential extras....spare wheel, jockey wheel, ties, winch if you want to be really safe, etc. Good luck with the hunt, I gave up and am going the dreaded A frame route Merle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Hi Buzzb, According to Smart-Trailers.co.uk a typical Smart for Two weighs 750kg and one of their trailers 290kg so a total of 1,040kg. And by a strange coincidence that is exactly your limit of 1,040kg :-D Coincidence or what? Otherwise try Googling and see what comes up. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJP Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 You could look at http://www.brianjames.co.uk or http://www.smart-trailers.co.uk/ or http://www.bantamtrailers.co.uk/ All sell a trailer specially for Smart cars. As advised, watch your weight limit. I have a Smart on an A Frame. IMO much safer but that's another can of worms opened elsewhere on this and other forums as you are probably aware. Just avoid Spain and watch out in France if you do go the A Frame route! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tugga Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 We have a smart trailer and smart car. We looked at all the makes and we also looked into hiring a trailer as and when we needed it as we don't use it very much. We were lucky and found ours on ebay at half price, but had to travel 100 miles to pick it up. It does take up a lot of room, but we are lucky enough to have a pad on the side of our garage that the caravan used to stand on that now takes the trailer. It comes with a spare wheel and you have to price in the straps to hold the car on the trailer that can be expensive. Hubby refuses to use the A frame method as he doesn't like the breaking system, so as he does the driving it is his call. You have to allow an extra 30 minutes to get the car on and strapped down and you need room to drive it on too, so if you live somewhere that is full of cars you will have to take that into consideration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meadows Engine Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 I tow a Smart on a Bantam trailer works very well. One point to remember is the trailer nose weight will be 85-100kg on the ball which will be larger still at your back axle dependent upon your rear overhang , could be up to an extra 15-20kg. This weight (say around 110kg total) will come directly off your available payload reducing the amount you can carry in the van. Also for good measure just check your rear axle can take the additional load on it Don't let this put you off, with a trailer you can go any were, with an A frame your options are limited and as some one has already said Spain is a no no John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzzb Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Many thanks for all your help on this, will try to take on board this info, I have no problem with parking motorhome or trailer. My payload is only 415 kls as I have the automatic gearbox version which takes 50 kls off payload. Still got lots to learn but lovin it. many thanks buzzb (lol) (lol) (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyishuk Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Buzzb - 2012-02-13 7:57 PM I have an auto-trail Cherokee motorhome and the max towing weight is 1040klio's, also the for and against trailers. buzzb (lol) (lol) (lol) :$ I might be teaching Granny to suck eggs, but bear in mind if you are not loaded to capacity in the m/home/ Any savings in payload can be transfered to your max towing weight . (As long as you don't exceed your max train weight) Also the most kerb weights for cars are quoted to include a driver, if you dont have a driver in the smart car on the trailer you save 75kgs (lol) (BUT DO check how the kerb weight (GVW >) is calculated/ Also there is quite a useful calculator which gives the calculated axle loads when puting extra loads on is the rear of your m/home. . (See bottom of page on this link) http://www.svtech.co.uk/motorhomes.html Rgds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosbotham Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 tonyishuk - 2012-02-14 7:02 PM I might be teaching Granny to suck eggs, but bear in mind if you are not loaded to capacity in the m/home/ Any savings in payload can be transfered to your max towing weight . (As long as you don't exceed your max train weight) Not quite true, and very material in Buzzb's case, unfortunately. If your motorhome isn't fully loaded, **all things equal** because the max train weight is a constant, there's more left for the trailer. However in the case of Autotrails - and I doubt they're alone - there is a max trailer weight, in terms of what the chassis extensions are engineered to take. So it doesn't matter what you've got onboard the motorhome, the 1040kg limit is fixed. tonyishuk - 2012-02-14 7:02 PM Also the most kerb weights for cars are quoted to include a driver, if you dont have a driver in the smart car on the trailer you save 75kgs (lol) (BUT DO check how the kerb weight (GVW >) is calculated/ Again, an area that has to be treated with caution, as you allude to. There are two commonly used kerbweight methods, DIN and EEC - you need to check which the manufacturer is using (good luck!): DIN - car with all fluid and fuel tank 90% full, but no driver EEC - DIN kerb weight + 75kg (68kg driver and 7kg luggage). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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