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Towing with a transit connect
macc man - 14/2/12 at 03:58 PM

As above, has anybody used a Connect as a tow vehicle. The official Ford line is that it is unsuitable for towing, but tow bars are readily available to fit. I have a small box trailer to tow, but idealy I would also like to tow my kit car. Anyone any experience?. Many thanks.

loggyboy - 14/2/12 at 04:09 PM

Its not about if it can, its about if you are allowed to. Get caught over the weight limit for whats its classified as being able to do then youl face a fine and have to arrange a suitable vehicle to complete you journey!

chris mason - 14/2/12 at 05:07 PM

quote:
Originally posted by macc man
As above, has anybody used a Connect as a tow vehicle. The official Ford line is that it is unsuitable for towing, but tow bars are readily available to fit. I have a small box trailer to tow, but idealy I would also like to tow my kit car. Anyone any experience?. Many thanks.


Not sure where your official Ford line come from, but i've owned 2 transit connects in the past, a 2003 model for 4 years and 2007 model for 1 year, both were bought from new and spec'd by me, they both had factory fitted towbars.

The towing limits are poor for the connect though, iirc 800kg max braked trailer weight having said that they were almost the same for the SWB transit too

So long as the van isn't anywhere near it's load capacity you'll be ok towing the kitcar on a light weight trailer.

owelly - 14/2/12 at 06:05 PM

I had a towbar on mine and you had to be a bit carefull if the van was empty and the trailer full!

macc man - 14/2/12 at 07:53 PM

Thanks for the heads up, I would be using a very light trailer mostly but saw an oppertunity to tow the kit. Might be best to err on the safe side. Thanks.

motorcycle_mayhem - 14/2/12 at 08:16 PM

I wouldn't....

Still a lot of confusion over what VOSA numbers will come up if (when) you get pulled in. Some Say that the MAM weight on the trailer must be within the max tow weight of the vehicle, Some Say that any payload capacity not used can be hung on the towbar (up to the max tow weight), Some say that at long as the GTW isn't exceeded you can hang anything, load anything, whatever. Your insurance company will rejoice if you're in a crash and there's any query over any weights...

I've been VOSA'd, frequently. Going up the M5, nice looking trailer behind a really not-so-nice 190 MK5 Transit. I've stolen it (the trailer) of course, so the bored, box-ticking motorcycling policeman comes up alongside and pulls me off to the VOSA station (Taunton). Weights measured, van inspected, drugs searched for, etc., etc. It's a serious business, you're stuck at the station if they find fault. Last time I was there I got caught up in a Unite day of (in)action, so it took 3 hours.

Transit MK5 190 (by the way) 3.5T gross, 5.5T GTW, max tow weight 2T.