I'm the recent owner of a 1998 Rav4 after my diesel Laguna gave up......bar the fuel economy (moving diesel to petrol) I can honestly say I couldn't be happier. Having a car that runs without lights and warnings is a luxury...

I have a 3 door Rav 4 (98) model.....what would be the maximum this could tow? My parents van is in France and needs bringing back to the UK and my car is the only one that is able to be used (all others are either lease or company cars). It is an ABI Award Nightstar, unladen weight of 1200kg.

Also, the car came with a single socket (trailer-type) towbar......is this something that can be changed to wire up to a twin socket caravan bar? I'm not very mechanically minded, so apologies for 'simple' questions.....

Paul

[quote name='paulnanrod' post='933492' date='Sep 29 2009, 11:31 PM']I'm the recent owner of a 1998 Rav4 after my diesel Laguna gave up......bar the fuel economy (moving diesel to petrol) I can honestly say I couldn't be happier. Having a car that runs without lights and warnings is a luxury...

I have a 3 door Rav 4 (98) model.....what would be the maximum this could tow? My parents van is in France and needs bringing back to the UK and my car is the only one that is able to be used (all others are either lease or company cars). It is an ABI Award Nightstar, unladen weight of 1200kg.

Also, the car came with a single socket (trailer-type) towbar......is this something that can be changed to wire up to a twin socket caravan bar? I'm not very mechanically minded, so apologies for 'simple' questions.....

Paul[/quote]
Morning Paul - excellent choice btw....
1200kg is not bad for the car - I've used the same to tow a 3000kg caravan albeit was a careful drive and not too fast!! Also used the RAV to pull a Jaguar XJS on a trailer for 400 miles but again the top speed was 40mph due to the weight.

The single socket is used to work the caravan/trailers rear lights, stop/tail and indicators. The second plug/socket is used for powering caravan electrics like the fridge. You don't need to have the second socket unless you want to keep the fridge working. And its a fairly simple job to add the second socket if you want.

Have fun driving it and take your time pulling the van from France. The short wheelbase of the RAV will mean a different driving experience and the lightness of the 4.1 model makes it an exceptionally nippy car.

Thank you for your response....

It won't be just me towing, my father will be with me and is far more experienced than I am with towing. He should be able to give the guidance etc for getting it back up to the sunny North East!

I know the caravan has been pulled by a car as small as an xtype Jaguar, so thought it should be ok, but something this small.......didn't seem right in my head!

Thanks for the info on the socket...it won't need the fridge etc working until it is back here - the caravan hasn't been used for 3 years, so we're expecting some nasty surprises and a lot of work once back up here, so no need for the fridge and other things to be on.

I expect the milk will have gone off.

Hi Paul

I tow with a Rav 5 door 2.0 diesel, and a Mondeo 2.0 diesel and find the following website really usefull [url="http://www.whattowcar.com/"]http://www.whattowcar.com/[/url] where you can match the van to the car and it gives a performance data, but the general rule of thumb is for the caravan not the excced 85% of the kerb weight of the towing vehicle.

Cheers

Jon

[quote name='JonRobbo' post='933720' date='Sep 30 2009, 08:46 PM']Hi Paul

I tow with a Rav 5 door 2.0 diesel, and a Mondeo 2.0 diesel and find the following website really usefull [url="http://www.whattowcar.com/"]http://www.whattowcar.com/[/url] where you can match the van to the car and it gives a performance data, but the general rule of thumb is for the caravan not the excced 85% of the kerb weight of the towing vehicle.

Cheers

Jon[/quote]

So, the 85% rule means I'm goosed! I'm going to be approximately 100% give or take!

And halfpastsix......yes. If there was milk left there, it will be worse than off!!!

Thanks again for your help