I am thinking of changing my Kia Sorrento for a Ford Transit. Does anyone have experience of towing with a long wheel base van...regarding total length and turning circle etc ?
Roly
Mon, 30/05/2022 - 12:33pm
#1
Towing with a van
No, but I would be a little concerned with getting off of a slippery slipway, especially with front wheel drive (without checking.. I believe there are both front and rear wheel drive option). You can also get a 4x4 tranny I think..
I dragged (I think Keith??) up the slipway at Chichester when his camper front wheels were spinning away.....
Mrs has a Movano horse lorry (Fwd) and that is surprisingly easy to get stuck.
Matt
Hi Roly
As you know I have a short wheelbase Transit, it's a RWD with a high towing capacity - MGTW 5.2T (which is the same as the Sorento). It's 2007, and of the Transit range at that time, only the RWD 3.3T vehicle had sufficient rating. All the FWD models were not rated high enough to tow a Mac at all. I bought it when I still had the X, and I was able to pull the boat up a steep slipway; although being manual and having to use a clutch without low ratio, somewhat harder to control than the Sorento automatic with low-ratio 4WD!.
I don't know if things have changed with the later Transit models - there have been two revisions since then.
I don't think you'd find a longer vehicle in itself would make towing any harder, might even improve stability. The difference is pretty small in relation to the length of the Mac trailer, which is the dominating factor - as we all know!
When I was hunting around for a van, the bits of info I picked up suggested that Merc Sprinters are the best vans for towing. I couldn't find one in my price range unfortunately.
Rick Jones (Treasurer), former 26X & 19 owner, Isle of Wight
Hi Roly, we've recently bought a 2012 transit with a tow bar; it's been converted into a camper. It's a fwd with a 2.2 engine and I am hopeful it will tow our 19 without too much fuss. Launching should be OK too but recovery might be a different story, depending on slipway gradient and condition. I am not selling our Discovery until I have tested the transit on Windermere. Will try it in a couple of weeks time and let you know.
Quentin Sands, past owner
1991 26C Mrs MacGregor
1993 Mac19, Margarita
Although RWD is better overall for towing, for slipway use it's not that simple. Technically, RWD gives better traction, esp. uphill, but if the slipway is actually slippery, it's going to be near the water under the rear wheels, whereas the front wheels will most likely be on a dry surface with better grip. Always hard to say which will work better.
Rick Jones (Treasurer), former 26X & 19 owner, Isle of Wight
Hi All,
yes, Mathew your help was much appreciated in the panic of wheel spin! and spotting you. However, embarrassingly, it was my panick that caused the problem in that I had forgotten to raise the outboard!!. Once the outboard was raised it came up the slope easily. So I doubt I would have any problems if I'd stopped to think.
I towed Star 26m with Fiat Ducato A Class which is extra wide. I had no issues with towing and from memory I was about 3feet within the maximum U.K. legal towing length. When we went to Windermere I turned into the car park in front and had to turn around but with Ann's help to ensure I was as close as possible to using the max space the lock was excellent and it ended up an easy manoeuvre. Just need to be aware when your approaching 90degrees to the A frame. With Star on the back we averaged 26 to the gallon on the motorway/main roads but as soon as we got near to Windermere the average went down to an overall of 20 to the gallon. We was heavily loaded as well.
The main problem I had was finding a Motorhome that hadn't been down rated by the converter's. We ended up with a "Pilote" which gives us plenty of space and pulls like a train, well pleased.
When I worked for Gwent Outdoor centres I did a lot of driving of vans full of children and adults, towing a long trailer stacked with canoes. Not the weight of the Macgregor but a lot of trailer. The transit was my preferred drive. We had one with limited slip clutch and it was brilliant in the snow. It also had a very good turning circle, mutch better than my Nissan Navara or a Long land.
Jonathan