Okay So I'm at a stage where its not viable for me to keep running a car I use for track as a daily, so my current car insurance is being used for a more comfortable car. That with the fact of rising insurance on bigger cars, means I'm not getting a chance to use bigger engined stuff. So the plan is to get a trailer licence (as I think this is whats needed for me to carry cars on a tow truck) , I have funds sort a reasonable loader to carry a track car. It is also a viable solution to insure this for a year as It'll be used to pick up other cars too / I like the idea that if it breaks I can trailer it back home. -is it difficult to get the licence, any experiences on costs involved / general ease of doing ? Just want to enjoy being back on track again really, and of course it means I can use nigh on scrap cars for fun and cut my losses at the end of it.. Advice / Experiences welcomed..
if you wanna pull your average drift car, 1200kg. with a proper trailer and something worth pullling it with. YOU NEED A TOW LICENCE. ffs. search I wouldn't say its "easy" was £427 to do mine. "2day course" but really it was 2.5hr day 1, day two was 1hr then the test.
Shit me, I was thinking Maximum of £200 for that course after seeing them drive around my area, will have to think a little more about doing that then, However counter think insurance and road tax maybe it's not so bad as a one off but still fucking steep for the time it takes.
find a school and do a trial run. i did this at £35ph for use of there car and trailer... then test prices as above no its not "easy".. there very anal about small things and its the same standard as an hgv test
Meh i passed my class 1 and 2 first time. its just a shame when i loose my hgv entitlement i also loose the ability to tow a trailer even though i will have been able to do it for 44 years. If your doing the tow truck way i would go for a 6.5 ton flatbed that way you have no worries about weight but youll need the correct licence or somebody who has to drive it. personally get atow car and a trailer and do the test.
(nas) rough price to do your trailer test all done inc lessons between 250-500, and very easy to pass, no harder than a car test.
Thanks for the information, okay so the price is probably about reasonable then and by the sounds of it just have to be pretty on form when it comes to judgement etc. I'd imagine that towing a reasonable car would require a proper work horse, and with that in mind I'd think we'd go well above the standard weight limit. Unsure of where the closest test centre to Coventry is.. but reckon I'll go get this done sooner than later now. Pretty sure I could do a few local pickups to crawl the money back to be honest. Not exactly a loss Is this a class 1 licence then?
I dont think I understand this thread correctly........are you looking for a car transporter or a trailer? If a car transporter then get any 3.5T truck (transit, renault master, ldv etc) and you can drive it on a car licence. Will be enough to pull most drift cars (used mine for the whole of this year with no problems. If it is a trailer that you want to tow with a car on it then you will need to do a trailer test. I am just about to book mine for circa £400 over in the worcester area, hoping its not too hard!!
I think I've been slightly confused on the differences and requirements of each, so I reckon that's what has caused some confusion. Okay so it seems a 'car transporter' (being the keyword) can do the job I require, I was under the initial impression that due to the weight I required an additional licence class. Hence the trailer licence suggestion / advice. To me, the 3.5t transporter limit doesn't leave much room for error, when you include 2x vehicles, winch, tools, sets of spare wheels. I'm sure being pulled by VOSA isn't worth the risk.. (then again I've no experience, so no idea if this is over or under weight) Is there any weight limit for a trailer? its appealing to sit in a comfortable 4x4 and just trailer away, that + I'm sure I'll need the next weight option. So either way I'm going to still look into the trailer option
I loaded mine to fuck everytime I used it, never really knew what the weight of it was but made sure it was always safely loaded and strapped down to arouse as little suspicion from the 5-0 as possible. If I had been stopped and weight tested then who knows, but for me the risk seemed minimal as only used it once a month or so, drove relatively carefully (usually on a sunday or at night/early in the morning) and the effort for them to take it to a weigh bridge seemed quite a lot for them to bother (its not as though I had a transit/4x4 on the back or anything). But then thats a risk you take....similar to people who go 80mph down the mototway.......small risk of getting done but it could happen, many people still do it! The comfort of sitting in a 4x4 is nice though, especially on a longer route when the truck can become a bit tiring and uncomfy....this is one of the reasons I sold my truck last week and have gone down that route. Also its the space to fit tools and tyres etc in when going to a weekender, and the ability to use the 4x4 as another daily/bit of fun in the winter etc makes it more appealing. Obviously the fact that you have to do a test is a fucker, plus you will usually find the cost of 4x4 + trailer + test will come to more than a cheap Flatbed!
Im no expert but i believe the maximum weight you can drive on a standard car license is 3.5t depending on when you passed your test, So if you had a transit recovery truck that weighed 3.5t that would be your limit without anything on it. With a trailer you can tow one up to a maximum weight of 3.5t for the whole lot tow and load. I think you would need to do a 7.5t license to rive a transit recovery truck but i don't think that would necessarily allow you to tow a trailer on that license because its not an articulated vehicle. Like i said im no expert but i hope Ive given you something useful to consider.
Transit beaver tails with no load will weigh around 2100. Meaning you can carry a car upto 1400 but then you have your self and tools etc so in the real world about 1200 for the car maximum.
3.5t is the gross weight of a transit, not net, as said a decent transit recovery with a non homemade bed should weight around 2.1t, so can legally carry 1.4t on a normal licence. If you get a transit and load it upto 7.5t, expect a day out in court and around £1k per overloaded ton fine. With a B&E licence you can drive a transit recovery with a car transporter trailer behind it, (providing you get a decent spec one that has a good enough train weight). Wish the trailer test was that cheap round here, I've been quoted upto £620+vat, looks like I'll be paying £595 where I've decided on. Test fee is £115 on the DVLA site. Alex B
