Towing vehicle behind Motor Home A frame v Dolly trailer

Willops · Newbie

Towing vehicle behind Motor Home A frame v Dolly trailer

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

Before you spend that money, travel without a toad.

Cheers,
Peter

Lozza1956 · Veteran Member

Hi. We tow a car trailer with a Suzuki jimny on board. Your Esperance can tow 3500kgs, if you have the correct tow bar. All up the trailer and car only weigh 1700kgs.

there is however the trap of then having an overweight vehicle. If you are going to tow anything at all with your motorhome you will need to have it rerated. If you need to talk pm me and I'll answer your questions.

cheers,

Laurie.

Bruce and Bev · Guru

Hi Willops. Be aware that each State has its own requirements for this and it will depend where you will have the RV registered. As well as getting valuable input from others who cart a car behing their MH, go talk to a Transport Inspector at a Transport Dept inspection depot and find out what legal requirements your State has

wendyv · Guru

We A-frame a Terios behind our Coaster. At home, the Terios is my run-around.

Accept that it means extra wear on Terios tyres and moving bits in the wheels, etc. But for us the benefits outweigh those "costs".

It tows beautifully - don't know it is there, except for seeing it in rear view camera. Nothing whatsoever like towing the caravan we had in our former travelling phase.

I can hitch and unhitch by myself, when needed - less than 5 minutes to do either.

When on site, the hitch folds up behind bus, out of way, making it easier to fit both bus and Terios on site when in caravan parks.

baysidetas · Veteran Member

In some states putting a car up on a gypsy trailer is classed as having a double tow (ie motorhome towing the trailer and the gypsy towing the car) and this is illegal.
Do not know of anyone who has been charged but it may be a problem in any case of an accident etc.

Best check with your state transport department.

Barrie

shekon · Guru

Hi, I travelled for 12 months without a tow vehicle, in a motorhome as a solo. Walked a lot and stayed put a lot. Have had a tow vehicle, A frame towing, for the past 6 months and love it. Have no problem hitching and unhitching, the car has paid for itself many times over I feel. I now have more freedom to explore and particularly in places where I cannot get my MH.
Have a look at saftowing.com, great company to deal with, and I have had no problems at all. Love it and would not have it any other way now.

MrC · Newbie

Hi
I have used both. Gypsy trailer was first and found it OK but then changed vehicle and upgraded to A Frame would not go back to gypsy trailer, A Frame is so easy to us and very easy to store when not in use.

woolman · Guru

Now use an A frame and would not go back to any other form for taking along a car for simplicity and convenience. Certainly would not be without the Suzuki when travelling about.

Neil

Cliff and Sue · Newbie

Hi

Have just purchased a motor home and looking to A Frame a Suzuki Jimny behind. Although I can tow up to 4.5 tonne behind the Aveco Daily, WA rate A Frame towing at 1 to 3.5 of tare weight. That,s about 1.3t max so a Jimny is the best I can do - it weighs 1.050t. Problem is getting an A Frame towing kit to fit. The base plate seems to be the problem. Be nice if someone knows where to pick one up.

Cliff and Sue.

-- Edited by Cliff and Sue on Monday 31st of August 2015 01:42:35 PM

wendyv · Guru

Firstly, is the Jimny able to be flat towed? I considered one of these but would have had to fit some after-market piece of engineering to the transmission. To flat tow the car must have a neutral gear, I think is the issue.

Have you considered getting a second hand Daihatsu Terios? That is what we got and I think it would fit in your weight parameters. They are popular for flat towing and there are often ones available through the CMCA Market pages, though we bought ours from a dealer.

We bought a Ready Brute A Frame and the agent for these, who fitted it, was able to get a base plate that is made for the Terios. But I don't know if they make Jimny base plates because of the issue above. Our agent was eastern suburb Melbourne.

Cliff and Sue · Newbie

Hi

Thanks for the Info. Your right on all counts. You either get a dog clutch installed to tow the Jimny or take out the tail shaft. You can leave it out put the car in 4WD and run around as a front wheel drive.

Thought about the Terios - They stopped selling in 2005, hard to get a decent one now.

Thanks

jade46 · Senior Member

Cliff and Sue
A company in Queensland will sell you the a frame set up for a Jimny but yes you need to mod the drive train. the mod is called a "wizard" and cost about $2200

Link to a bar company
hitchngo.com.au/suzuki.html

Link to previous post

http://thegreynomads.activeboard.com/t60246642/towing-a-suzuki-jimny/

-- Edited by jade46 on Wednesday 2nd of September 2015 06:53:49 PM

-- Edited by jade46 on Wednesday 2nd of September 2015 06:54:40 PM

wendyv · Guru

We got our Terios second hand in 2012. It had only done about 45,000kms - little old lady's run about in a country town. I had to do a fair amount of hunting about on the internet but had several good seeming possibilities - low kms etc. They are out there.