Towing Caravan

Hi Guys

I have a 2006 Jimny vvt and it currently tows a 450kg trailer tent with ease.

My question is what weight or size of caravan could the Jimny comfortably tow? as I am thinking of replacing the tent with a caravan.


Regards
Peter

The maximum recommend towing weights from Suzuki are:

450kg - Braked
350kg - Unbraked

So you pretty much at their recommended maximum. I certainly wouldn't want to tow a caravan with one as they are only 1300cc, light weight and the clutch would not last 5 mins I would reckon

Martin

Ok Martin, thanks for the advice, I'll bear that in mind.

Peter

as martin has said, the legal limits are quite small due to the Jimny's lack of weight ( actual shunting power though is a lot more. The Jimny will pull a 2.5 tonne Discovery with ease. It will happily launch and recover a 1000kg Boat ( although Mud tyres donot offer the best grip! .. I changed back to our A/T's ) on a steep slipway.
Wouldnt fancy towing on a motorway though.

Hi Guys
My Jimny must be completely different to everyone else's.
I have a 2001 y plate jlx converted to a pickup (see Rons Jimny in pic gallery)which on the weighbridge comes in at 1140kgs fuelled.It has a gross braked train weight of 2720kgs(see plate under bonnet by battery.)
Sales brochure says for standard vehicle.
Kerb weight 1040kgs
Gross vehicle 1420kgs (inc fuel luggage your granny etc)
Braked towing 1300kgs
total 2720kgs

Figures quoted in handbook correct at 350 and 450 but more in countries where allowed!!!
However my Towsure tow bar is only plated to 1100kgs because it is older design so I keep weight below this.
I would agree 1300kg on the motorway wont be fast,and anyway most towing people advise
you only tow approx 80% of vehicle weight to stop the 'Tail wagging the dog effect'.I have successfuly towed a four wheel boxvan 486kgs (unloaded) full of furniture over 300miles without probs.
I would think 850/900kgs about max and you wont find many caravans that small ive looked.

Offroad I use 215x75x15 at2's on 7 inch alloys and when towing seriously put on 225x60x15 Cooper road tyres because it drops the gearing a little.

215x75 approx 27in dia
205x70 (standard) approx 26in dia
225x60 approx 25in
The only thing to remember is that speed will very a fraction (speed cameras)225s slightly under 215 slightly over.

Ronm

ps If Im wrong here let me know

I may be wrong here, but I'm prety sure there are other factors that you need to considder. When I did a towing course there was a bit about the size of the towing vehicle compared to the size of what is being towed. There are ratios etc if I remeber correctly including weight and legnth compared to the towing vehicle.
I could never get my head around it...

Folding caravans are a good bet, lightweight and quicker/easier to put up than a trailer tent.

Gary

We've been considering getting a camping trailer for when we camp at off road sites, either for a weekend away with our club or to watch a winch challenge too far away to drive to and back in a day. This would stop me having to have weight high up in a lifted vehicle.

Having had the vehicle loaded to the hilt with camping stuff, I wouldn't want to strain the little 1.3 any more than that weight.

So regardless of what the plated weights are, I'd forget trying to tow a caravan with a Jimny. I can't imagine you'd be friends with many truck drivers on a motorway where hills are present!

It's just not made for that stuff.

Kirkynut

Which is why i sold my first jimny and bought a Discovery for towing the family caravan, it might be naff off road but its a great tow car. Thankfully i now have both !

Gary

Copy of my homemade offroad camping trailer. Designed at 500kg with hubs for Jimny wheels. Just used loaded to the gunwhales with camping gear spare wheels trolley jacks etc.Went to TOR Kirton from London plus sightseeing around 650 miles (60mph on motorways no probs).Only downside is the car has the aero dynamics of a brick and fuel was about 30mpg.

pic now attached - see above

It's no bad tractor, the Jimny.
We have a 2005 VVT-model - and a Hymer Touring Triton caravan.
The Hymer brand is sold as Eriba in most other countries.
This is a pop-top caravan - only 2,1 m high when travelling but with the top up we have head-room to stand up
The caravan is 2 m wide and 4,3 m long (body length), has an empty weight og 750 kg and total weight og 1.000 kg.
Here the Jimny has a towing weight of 1.300 kg braked.
We usually cruise around 90 km/h in 5th gear - 4th comming to use for steeper highweay-hills and "fast" overtakings of lorrys and other caravans
We can even do 100-110 km/h on flatter ground !
The caravan is large enough for the 3 of us, with a double- and a single bed, kitchen and toilet.
Now we don't have any mountains here in Denmark, so I can't tell You that this rig will race up any incline, you can think of. But the VVT-engine has surprising amounts of torque for it's size - just keep it revving over 3.500 rpm.
I have been writing with another dane, who had the older, non-VVT, engine in his Jimny and a full-height caravan (2,5 meters) of about same lenght and weight as ours.
He couldn't use 5th gear when towing - and felt that 80 km/h was what suited his rig best.
As you will see from the attatched photo our caravan has a pretty flat profiled front - what is not obvious seen from the side is that the front is also very sharp - whereas the old Streamline for instance is rounded.
This means that the drag is very low - and when cruising at highway speeds this is more inmportant than weight.
The weight - however - will catch up with you when you're driving up a long, steep hill.....
Here in Europe we have another caravan, that you migth know: the Tabbert T@B. I know that it is sold in the US in a locally produced glass-fibre edition - just can't remember the name. But it is very distinct in it's teardrop-shape - much like the Little Guy but high enough to stand up in :woohoo:
This caravan also has a very low drag - and afair it is even lighter than ours - and thus even better for towing with the Jimny.
Clutch holding up ? No problems after 80 tkm. We use our caravan for 3 weeks of summer-holiday, driving 2-3.000 km in Denmark, but last summer we went to nothern Germany and camped in the outskirts of Harzen (the northmost mountain-area of Germany - up to about 1.000 m high). But we didn't pull the caravan up anything much steeper than what we can find on danish highways.
The Jimny isn't any "directional wonder" in stronger winds - but hitch up to a caravan and it runs like a train - no sidewind pushes the rig anywhere ?!

So now when we are in our 3.rd summer with this rig I cannot see much reason why you should not use the Jimny for pulling a (reasonally sized) caravan.
We could consider trading up to a bigger car as our 12-year old daughter outgrew her mother over a year ago and now they are fighting over leg-room in the car. Mother's seat can't travel much futher forward now