505 towing capacity

Rich@rdS

Rich@rdS

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Fellow Frogger
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Quick question, what is the towing capacity of my 505 Gti Exec sedan? Braked and unbraked?

The plate on the Hayman Reece bar says 1000kg, but is this braked or not?

I'm being asked if I can tow a 1 tonne gross trailer which I believe is unbraked and I'd like to know if it can be done.

Cheers,
Richard
 
Thanks for the link, some good tips there.

I've found out the trailer is braked so I should be alright to pull it. I might be off the hook though as someone else seems to be offering to pull it with their Patrol. All the better for my Pug...

Richard
 
Don't know about the sedan, but Peugeots recommended maximum towing weight for the GTi Family Estate is 700Kg unbraked, and 1500 Kg braked.

Cheers

Rod
 
I have to admit I don't really understand the differences in braked and unbraked trailers.

I know that braked trailers have brakes (duh...) but are they applied when you press the car's brake pedal? Or are they just a handbrake for the trailer?

Rod, I guess that even if my sedan's towing capacity is 1500kg or so, I'll be limited to 1000kg by my towbar.

Cheers,
Richard
 
There are brakes, and brakes, Richard. Most operate on a simple over-run mechanism that operates whenever the trailer is travelling faster than the car. They can be hydraulic or mechanical.

Others are controlled by electrical systems activated when you press the brake pedal (I presume they simply use the brake light circuit).

The Estate is heavier than the sedam, so your maximum braked towing weight (using the approach applied by Peugeot) would be lower than 1500kg anyway.

Cheers

Rod
 
More than that, Rod...

The sedan has relatively more overhang than the wagon, and a rear suspension less capable of carrying extra load. The overhang is important, of course, because it affects the loading the towed vehicle can apply (with an increase in leverage) to the overall stability of the towed vehicle.

And it isn't merely the stoplight circuit that functions the electric brakes. There is a controller fitted to the car, most of them (if not all) having an adjuster on them to change the braking effort on the trailer.

These electric brakes used to suffer badly from overheating of the electromagnet that runs on the side of the drum to energise the brake shoes, giving big fade problems, but they seem to have improved enormously in the past decade or so.
 
Ok, I think I understand now. I believe the trailer I've been asked to pull has a hydraulic brake system, so its brakes would operate independantly of my car's brakes then. Unlike electrical brakes which require a connection to either the brake system of the car or a controller fitted in the car.

:D

Cheers,
Richard
 
That's right Richard. The hydraulics are activated by a linkage and "master cylinder" that operates whenever the trailer tries to catch up with the car.

Cheers

Rod
 
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