Towing 3.5t behind a 90 with 35"tyres

warrior · Feb 19, 2015

I tow all kinds of things behind my 90,

I recently (last weekend) for some 35" tyres I did have 265/75/16 on which were fine towing 2.6 ton ish) dads digger and trailer he talking of getting a 3.5ton trailer to use every day and tow a track car on, not a problem for him in his discovery 4, he is also talking of getting a bigger digger maybe 2.5 ton plus trailer and buckets just shy of 3.5 ton will it kill my 90 to tow that weight with 35" tyres and standard ratio Diffs? I know I'll have to use low range to hill start.

It's a 94 300 tdi 90, and yes I have my b+e

iwantone · Feb 19, 2015

Think you'll be pushing it to be honest. Wouldn't fancy towing 3.5 ton behind a 90 anyway. Just my opinion mind you

warrior · Feb 19, 2015

I know what you mean, it wouldn't be often or very far, If I need to tow far I use my dads discovery 4 at present as its A LOT Nicer to drive thank my 90.

Turboman · Feb 19, 2015

warrior said:
I tow all kinds of things behind my 90,

I recently (last weekend) for some 35" tyres I did have 265/75/16 on which were fine towing 2.6 ton ish) dads digger and trailer he talking of getting a 3.5ton trailer to use every day and tow a track car on, not a problem for him in his discovery 4, he is also talking of getting a bigger digger maybe 2.5 ton plus trailer and buckets just shy of 3.5 ton will it kill my 90 to tow that weight with 35" tyres and standard ratio Diffs? I know I'll have to use low range to hill start.

It's a 94 300 tdi 90, and yes I have my b+e

You can do it, if you can lower the tow hitch down far enough, but it wont be pleasant.

I have towed on mud tyres in the past, not as big as that, steering was pretty heavy, and the whole thing was wobbly and unsure in the road. Not really dangerous, I never went above 45 mph, I was towing cattle on the local roads.

I wasn't sure about pressures either, with standard tyres you are supposed to pump up the rears to 40 psi, but I don't know if that is a good idea with big tyres, the massive tyres on farm kit run very low pressures. Think I went with about 34 rears, 28 fronts.

Low range hill starts and then change into high 2 on the move are sadly a common feature of towing cattle on Cornish roads!

warrior · Feb 19, 2015

I was towing 2.7 ton on insa special tracks, I have notice my simex feel a lot more stable?

I have a drop plate on that used to have an extension plate on and it was to low so I removed it but might need to put it back on.

A mate of mine have been towing 3.5t behind his td5 off roader with 37" tyres and 2" lift. It's been remapped with 4.11 Diffs and he had to use low range for any kind of hill start.

I followed him 50 miles to a pay and play when he was towing a patrol and it was fine but he hd hd rear springs as he often tows with it

300tdistu · Feb 20, 2015

I think you will have trouble with 35" tyres.
Also consider the train weight bigger heavier tyres, roll cage, winch and everything eles, vosa are all over trailer's and recovery trucks

warrior · Feb 20, 2015

300tdistu said:
I think you will have trouble with 35" tyres.
Also consider the train weight bigger heavier tyres, roll cage, winch and everything eles, vosa are all over trailer's and recovery trucks

Ill call and get it weighed next tine I'm out, the simex are lighter than the special tracks tho

TD5power · Feb 20, 2015

Ive towed 3.5 tonnes behind my dads td5 90 loads, he has 2 inch lift on the rear with standard front and 33" dynapros, setting off is fun as it just spins in the wet and hills are a real butt clencher, the biggest issue you will gave on 35s is that if the trailer pushes and causes the 90 to bounce or sway due to the large sidewalls

Turboman · Feb 20, 2015

warrior said:
I was towing 2.7 ton on insa special tracks, I have notice my simex feel a lot more stable?

I have a drop plate on that used to have an extension plate on and it was to low so I removed it but might need to put it back on.

A mate of mine have been towing 3.5t behind his td5 off roader with 37" tyres and 2" lift. It's been remapped with 4.11 Diffs and he had to use low range for any kind of hill start.

I followed him 50 miles to a pay and play when he was towing a patrol and it was fine but he hd hd rear springs as he often tows with it

My friend, who is a plant hire contractor, often tows mini-digger on a plant trailer, he has pretty big off road tyres, and he is fine locally taking it slow.

Problems would occur if he tried it towing hundreds of miles on the motorway, the bigger the tyres, more rubber going round on the bulge, they would get pretty hot after a bit, especially the rears.

As you say, getting the towball down to the level of the trailer hitch is the key with this, I have seen a few where the front trailer wheels weren't even on the road!

steveyorks · Feb 26, 2015

Forgive my ignorance as I don't tow but was under the impression that you could not tow anything that was over the weight of the tow vehicle or does that just apply to caravans (or maybe not?)?

Pikey · Feb 27, 2015

steveyorks said:
Forgive my ignorance as I don't tow but was under the impression that you could not tow anything that was over the weight of the tow vehicle or does that just apply to caravans (or maybe not?)?

Not true..

warrior · Feb 27, 2015

steveyorks said:
Forgive my ignorance as I don't tow but was under the impression that you could not tow anything that was over the weight of the tow vehicle or does that just apply to caravans (or maybe not?)?

It's cosidered good practice to only tow 85% of the tow vehicles weight or something like that but not law the plate weights are law on a commercial vehicle

martin1512 · Feb 27, 2015

steveyorks said:
Forgive my ignorance as I don't tow but was under the impression that you could not tow anything that was over the weight of the tow vehicle or does that just apply to caravans (or maybe not?)?

Depends what licence you have. If you have B+E categories on your licence, you can tow any trailer up to the towing vehicles max plated towing weight, provided that the vehicle and trailer combination do not exceed the vehicles max gross train weight. If you only have B category on your licence, then you can only drive a vehicle and trailer combination that weighs no more than 3.5 tons.

cooltide · Feb 27, 2015

steveyorks said:
Forgive my ignorance as I don't tow but was under the impression that you could not tow anything that was over the weight of the tow vehicle or does that just apply to caravans (or maybe not?)?

I have read this too - may have been for o licensed vehicles

Turboman · Feb 27, 2015

steveyorks said:
Forgive my ignorance as I don't tow but was under the impression that you could not tow anything that was over the weight of the tow vehicle or does that just apply to caravans (or maybe not?)?

Never heard that, I often tow 3500kg with a 90, which weighs around 1800kg. So do many people I know.

blue beasty · Feb 27, 2015

martin1512 said:
Depends what licence you have. If you have B+E categories on your licence, you can tow any trailer up to the towing vehicles max plated towing weight, provided that the vehicle and trailer combination do not exceed the vehicles max gross train weight. If you only have B category on your licence, then you can only drive a vehicle and trailer combination that weighs no more than 3.5 tons.

As an addition to that as far as the law is concerned the maximum GTW is what the total COULD be. In other words the MAM of vehicle + MAM of trailer. You'll be assumed to be fully loaded not how much the train weight actually is.

warrior · Feb 27, 2015

blue beasty said:
As an addition to that as far as the law is concerned the maximum GTW is what the total COULD be. In other words the MAM of vehicle + MAM of trailer. You'll be assumed to be fully loaded not how much the train weight actually is.

Having done alot of searching regarding this and reading, it's a common mistake made by the police, and that it based on the actual laden weight not the total maximum plate weights,

Example my transit has a max gross weight of 2600kg and a max train weight of 3500, meaning I can tow a 3500 trailer so long as it does not weigh more than 900kg when my van is fully loaded

blue beasty · Feb 27, 2015

warrior said:
Having done alot of searching regarding this and reading, it's a common mistake made by the police, and that it based on the actual laden weight not the total maximum plate weights,

Example my transit has a max gross weight of 2600kg and a max train weight of 3500, meaning I can tow a 3500 trailer so long as it does not weigh more than 900kg when my van is fully loaded

Not got time to search it all now but unless it's changed recently the wording of the regs from VOSA (or whatever their name is this week) is very clear that it applies to the MAM and not the actual mass.

Certainly as far as cat b licence is concerned. I'd have to double check for b+e.

warrior · Feb 27, 2015

blue beasty said:
Not got time to search it all now but unless it's changed recently the wording of the regs from VOSA (or whatever their name is this week) is very clear that it applies to the MAM and not the actual mass.

Certainly as far as cat b licence is concerned. I'd have to double check for b+e.

I've just had a quick look and found a few bits nothing on a gov website, maybe an idiots guide to towing,

I move large empty trailers behind my transit with a max train weight of 3500, these are up to 3500kg but behind the van they are empty and weight less than the 900 kg towing allowance, I have my b+e and could use the defender if I had to but when I use the van every day its easyer,

warrior · Feb 27, 2015

I might email vosa asking if I can find an email,

If it's the case then there is very few car and very few vans which can tow a ifor lm trailer with a mam of 3500kg

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