Considering 13' - towable by VW?

[melissab]

Norm, your post says you tow a "Casita 16" but your Trailer info in the sidebar says "Scamp". Can you please clarify which trailer you have?

Thanks!

[Andrew Gibbens]

Originally Posted by honda03842

For some reason in Europe cars are rated for much higher trailer loads.

Because in Europe trailers are towed at lower speeds and with much lower hitch weights.

Most countries limit trailers to 50mph or under special circumstances 60mph - for example, to tow at 60mph in Germany requires dampers to be fitted to the trailer suspension. European vehicles are typically limited to hitch weight percentages as low as 4% of trailer weight - a level that is considered dangerous in North America.

And, a little more contentiously, I suspect European tow-ers are expected to drive with more care and attention than North Americans - they are driving near the limit of their vehicles and are expected to behave accordingly.

If you compare the allowable hitch weights on vehicles in North America and Europe, they are surprisingly similar - which suggests that maybe it isn't total trailer weight that is really the limitation, but trailer hitch weight?

[honda03842]

To clarify,

This winter we took our son's 16 foot Casita 6 months. While in Florida we found we liked the Casita so much we decided to buy one for ourselves. The only we dislike on the Casita is the 5'10" inside height; I'm 6'. We saw a 17' Castita for sale but the 17's tongue weight is too much for us. So we bought a 16 foot Scamp.

We now have two trailers in FL. As soon as the snow clears we'll be heading home with the Casita and coming bck for the Scamp. The upside is that we'll now have two rigs at the PEI fiberglass rally.

As well as the scamp we own a Bounder motorhome, and a much modified Sunline trailer.

Norm

[Herb Sutton]

What is the weight of that Puck in the picture? I have seen one of them in AZ. The European rule of thumb is that the trailer should not exceed 80% of the weight of the tow vehicle.