Bongo Towing

[g0uihsteve]

Hi – wonder if anyone can help with some advice on towing.
I have an SGL3 Bongo 2.5D 2wd auto from 1995 with a tow bar.
A friend has asked to me to help him move a car from A to B (250 miles).
He has a trailer that weighs 600kg and the car he wants to move is 2000kg.
A couple of questions. Could the Bongo tow it ok and is this within the weight limits.
I have seen online that the SGL3 has a kerb weight of 1770kgs and that you should use a recommended figure of 85% of this (1504kgs), although it’s not set in stone.
I hold a full driving licence issued in 1985 so I have Class B on it.
All this stuff looks pretty confusing!
Any advice greatly received before I wreck my loved Bongo or get pulled for illegally towing overweight.
Regards
Steve

[francophile1947]

2000Kg - that's one heck of a car
Before you get too involved, check the towing capacity of your towbar - it may well not be strong enough for the job. I would also be very wary of damaging the Bongo at the mounting points
I reckon he'd be better hiring a transporter.

[Bob]

I'm with Franco here. That's far to heavy to contemplate towing that distance.

You'd need a Range Rover or similar to tow, or as suggested, a low loader.

[wormey]

Where's your trip??

[Rhod]

You're looking at towing a load that is almost 150% of the weight of the tow vehicle. That's a lot of mass behind you to get out of control. I'd be fairly sure that it's well outside the Bongos tow limit as well.

Most 4WD pick-ups have a towing limit of 2700kg gross. A very few such as the Nissan Navarna and a Landy 110 have a limit of 3000kg. You'd be better off looking at hiring a Landy if you really want to tow yourself. I'd be taking a very close look at the trailer and it's brakes though...

[mikeonb4c]

Are you sure he means 2000kg as I'm struggling to think what car could weigh that much

[dandemann8]

Are you sure he means 2000kg as I'm struggling to think what car could weigh that much

Try a Bentley or Rolls-Royce

[mikexgough]

Land Rover Discovery & Hyundai Santa Fe are around that weight.....

[mikeonb4c]

Cripes - what do I know

[Alison01326]

Are you sure he means 2000kg as I'm struggling to think what car could weigh that much

How heavy is a Bongo?

If said friend is as old as I am ( ) he may have said/meant 2000 lbs which would cover quite a few vehicles methinks. But then I have no idea what I am talking about

[mikeonb4c]

Are you sure he means 2000kg as I'm struggling to think what car could weigh that much

How heavy is a Bongo?

If said friend is as old as I am ( ) he may have said/meant 2000 lbs which would cover quite a few vehicles methinks. But then I have no idea what I am talking about

errrr, splutter splutter, cough, cough about 2000kg?

[Alison01326]

But the Bongo is only a car when one is trying to get a reasonable deal with a ferry company, right?

[Bob]

Well, Algy's spec sheet says the Bongo can pull 2800kg.

http://www.algysautos.com/BONGO_TECHNICAL.html

But I still wouldn't contemplate pulling that weight with my Bongo. It's one thing to give someone a tug to get them out of the snow, but for 250 miles, as a favour, no way.

[Alison01326]

Our Bongo certainly had no problems at all towing a 1 (ish) ton vehicle on a half ton trailer over 300 and something miles (including a foray off the M5 and up to Bourton on the Water to break the journey). That weight is what I understood was roughly the maximum it could tow but there seem to be so many figures bandied about (and as for the legal side of things, you'd need a lawyer to translate for you).

Come on Steve, get back to us and tell us what this 2000kg vehicle is and put us out of our misery!!

[g0uihsteve]

Hi – thanks for all the info.
The link to Algy’s suggests that you could tow a 2000kg car with a 600kg trailor, although you’d be close to the max (2800kg).
You’d be surprised what some cars do weigh.
Check out Parker’s – even a small family hatchback (Ford Focus) comes in at a hefty 1400kg. BTW some of the Bentley’s are over 2.5 tons.
http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/specs/Sum ... 321&page=2
The car in question is a older 7 series BMW Saloon at just over 1900kg. Rhod’s ‘Landy’ idea is possibly a good route and I’ve only had the Bongo about 6 months - am not keen on wrecking it! . A farmer freind has a Defender 110 - time to chat with him.
Thanks for the info -
Steve