Hi All

I'm still looking for a van to carry my single seater and tow my caravan. I'm watching loads on eBay but I want to know about power and torque outputs and towing/load capacities. Are there any sites out there showing this kind of information?

I'm looking at this for example (90BHP?)

Wyn

Wont a towbar interfere with the tail lift?

Cheers

Mark

The biggest problem you will face is meeting the regs re gross train weight. That transit has a gross train weight of 5500kg assuming its a 190 with the 15" wheels ( thats the weight of the van, the car in side, the caravan and all the stuuf in both the van and caravan including passengers. Be carefull your within the limits.

i would think a normal van would be better than a box van, usually more power and cheaper to boot. Is it because of ride height issues you need a tail lift? Because ramps and a winch would work fine with most vans. Just extend ramps up over the wheel arches.

90bhp will feel soggy pulling a car and a caravan, but maybe adequate.

wouldn't think the tail lift is really up to lifting a car, and too short (they're only about 4ft long i think) what about a small transit (LWB minibus?) to turn into a small camper, and an enclosed cat trailer?

although if you've already got a caravan, you don't want another... just an idea though.
i'm just thinking, if you want one to take a car, you'd be looking at a 7.5ton

[Edited on 7/10/07 by blakep82]

Thanks guys

I was wondering whether you can have a tow hitch and tail lift! The car is very light so the tow hitch should be OK although I'd need to fit extensions.

The weights would be - car 330kg, spares 70kg, caravan 1440kg, so hopefully well within the limit.

It has to be a box van as the car is 6' wide!

I don't want a camper as the caravan is nearly new and it would cost me £30k for a camper of the same standard! Plus it woldn't suit our normal holidays, and I've just sold my trailer!

Wyn

When I was racing (imps) I converted an Iveco van to part camper.
I decked the back out so that I had a sleeping area with tool storage underneath the floor. Putting an awning on the side of the van is a low weight solution to more space for sleeping/cooking etc.
The car was trailered.

The SlimJim tail lift on our works transit will only lift 500kg - but it really struggles when you start approaching that. If we load anything above 450kg, two of us usually end up lifting the tail too to give the motor a hand.

Thanks Guys

I could get away with a van with a minimum width of 5'6" by using skinny wheels (probably wood!) for transit.

Would any of the normal panel vans, eg Transit, Sprinter be wide enough?

Wyn

what about one of these

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Race-car-transporter-camper-coach_W0QQitemZ250173006666QQihZ015QQcategoryZ14256QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

im a little pissed for accurate measurments, but my sprinter appears to be 5'7" wide inside. Cant get to the back doors to measure there though.

Thanks Joel - the car is closer to 5'7" today! I've got a mate with a Sprinter (which he may be selling!) so I'll go and have a good measure of that soon!

Wyn