Towing Capacity

[Bigplumbs]

After all the help I have received on this Forum I think I know what I am now going to buy. I am off for the sea trial on Tuesday. If I like it I will buy it. It is the Fletcher (1999/2000) 19 GTS (3ltr) sports cruiser on a twin axel trailer.

I have been looking into various towing capacities and it is as they say a minefield and trying to get accurate info is not easy (Including Ford wanting to charge me £1 a minute on their technical help line ).

Firstly I am ok with my licence as I have had it since 1980 so no restrictions there.

My 2009 Mondeo 2 ltr Diesel lists the following

Gross Vehicle Weight 2170 KG
gross Train Weight 3970 KG (Lets call that 4 Tons)

That basically means that I could pull 1800 KG all up of boat.

Fletcher says that the 19GTS Dry is ....... you guessed it 1800kg incl trailer. So adding in some fuel and other stuff a safe allowance would be 2000kg.

So car can pull 1800 KG boat all up is 2000KG. Now I know people allow factors of safety. So will it pull it. Or do I just go and buy an old Disco which will haul 3500 kg.

To collect the boat I am setting off in my Brothers very old (P Reg) Shogun LWB Auto 2.8 on a 600 mile round trip. Now that will use some fuel !

Dennis

[Ianfs]

Is it this one?

19 GTS Sports Cruiser For Sale

Hi Dennis, very exciting eh?

Looks clean and tidy and a short block fitted last year.

Yes your Mondeo will tow 1800kgs. UK Tow- Mondeo Towing weights

Always a difficult one this though. Manufacturers have to submit their recommendations to the DFT for towing capacities which also take into account pulling away on a 12 degree incline. Your Mondeo is about 1550kgs and according to the caravan club the recommended towing weight is 1530kgs. However most caravans are single axle and have more wind load than a boat, consequently a boat on a double axle trailer will tow better than a caravan, in my humble opinion.

Again in my humble opinion, your Mondeo would be fine towing a boat at 1800kgs, except the Fletcher 19GTS, as you quite rightly have worked out would probably be more like 2000kgs with a double axle trailer (4-500kgs) water, fuel and gear, which is then very illegal. OK so you could be tempted, however in an accident, you would have no insurance and a possible prosecution.

I do agree that a cheap Discovery would be the next best thing, but be advised that the can also be expensive to maintain, unless you are a little mechanically minded. They are more of a legacy than anything else, but I have loved mine in the last 4yrs of ownership, however I am not getting any younger and am finding that I am putting her into the garage for silly things like wheel bearings or steering bushes. Most 4 x 4's have good towing capacities though, so it may be possible to buy something a little less troublesome.

For me, but not for everyone's taste a cheap Land Rover 90 or 110 would be reliable and maintain value but not the most comfortable over a long journey. Consider, how often would you use her in a year, 10 times, 15 times?

Hope this helps and as I said very exciting times ahead Dennis.

[Xboatboyx]

The trouble is a lot of cars will tow the boat on a flat bit of road but when you get to a slipway they will struggle as UK slipways tend to be not maintained very well. You will feel much more confident launching and recovering with a 4x4.

[_Ed_]

Personally I'd never dream of towing something that large behind a 'normal' car. Don't forget to check out Jap 4x4s etc, My shogun towed my Fletcher out of an unbelievable slipway the other week, no way normal landrover without locking rear diff would have managed that.

[Bigplumbs]

I am keeping an eye out for any suitable 4 x 4 . Looking at Auto Trader however in my area Shoguns arte quite rare and what there is is quite expensive and most are Auto. I am a traditional sort of guy and don't like auto

Dennis

[Bigplumbs]

Talk about getting the bit between your teeth. I am now off to buy a land Rover Disco

Dennis

[mlines]

Check the boot floor is still there!

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[Ianfs]

It's not so much the boot floor but the chassis's. As well as a myriad of other issues.
However if you get a sorted one, they're great.

[mlines]

Well for all our 4x4 club members the issue was the boot floors everything else seemed to soldier on on the discos

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[Ianfs]

Well for all our 4x4 club members the issue was the boot floors

Nope, not heard anything on the D2 club forum (538,000 posts with 2,800 members) about boot floors being rotten apart from the chassis legs which run underneath going bad where they have to lift out the floor, interesting though and doesn't surprise me one bit.

I'll do a search, maybe there is something there to find........... Oh no, not another problem I have to solve, however thanks for the heads up Martin!!!