Talk Morgan Forums Talk Morgan Members Section Special Information Flat Towing a Morgan on an A Frame

I have recentley purchased a Motorhome and i wish to modify my Morgan Roadster so that i can use an A Frame and therefore flat tow it. Is anyone aware of any difficulties i might encounter?

You will have to watch the ground clearance carefully.

I have flat towed almost all my Morgans (Series 1, 4/4, and Plus 8) but not behind a motorhome, only behind my SUV (Ford Explorer). And, I have never towed a Roadster. (Not sure what to make of the air con condenser?)

I attach to the Morgan's lower cross member. Dont know if there is access problem with a Roadster.

Towing is easy but the tow bar (A frame) must be low enough, coming off the tow vehicle, to allow some vertical movement as the tow vehicle goes up and down over bumps. A Morgan without a front bumper is much better than one with a front bumper.

Cheers,

Whist I am aware of others doing this, unless the Morgan brakes are connected, it's not legal. The towed vehicle becomes a trailer, and although the Morgan is light, I don't think the weight of it plus the A frame is under 750 kG (the point at which trailer brakes become compulsory).

Towing a trailer that should have brakes - but hasn't puts a great load on the brakes of the towing vehicle.

A frames used for recovery do, I think, have some exemptions but there are limits on the total distance they are used for.

Most of the people I know who use Motor Homes and Morgans together use a braked twin axle trailer. This then places weight restrictions on the towing vehicle.

From memory, if your Motor Home is less than 3.5T GVW all will be well. Once you go over 3.5T GVW then, unless you have more than the standard car license, you have a 750kg weight limit again.

We researched this when we had a 7.5T GVW horse box and were looking into how to take a car with us on holiday with the horses. We ended up selling the lorry and buying a Disco 3 and trailer. Which means the Morgan gets left at home when we take the horses to Norfolk. The plus side is that SWMBO can (but chooses not to) drive the Disco / trailer combination but physically was not strong enough to manage the gear box on our Renault Midliner - which could have been a major problem had I been incapacitated 100 miles from home with 2 horses etc to get home.

Two issues here.

Explanation of towing law on Pistonheads

And yes, as it stands, you can't add a trailer for a fourwheeled Morgan to a 7.5 tonne truck. But, what is the weight of said truck converted to carry horses and fully laden? The idea of re-plating it to a lower weight freeing up some weight for a trailer occurs to me. However I've a feeling the speed limits and tachograph regulations might make this a poor option compared to towing a twin horse trailer behind a Discovery.

I'd imagine most readers of this forum are older, passed their car test before 1997, so have B+E on their licences.

Towing safely is not rocket science, but I would advise the novice who has B+E to practise a bit before towing you pride and joy.

This page may be of help - braked A-frame towing including an MGB

http://www.armitagetrailers.com/Aframes....sntPxoCO1nw_wcB

Nigel

How are the towed car's brakes operated?

It states clearly in my 1999 and 1994 +8 handbooks as a CAUTION: If the vehicle is to be towed with the rear wheels in contact with the road and the engine not running, the propshaft should be disconnected.

The oil pump in the gearbox is engine driven and damage may result.

I recall reading a similar statement in my 4/4 Sport handbook.

One point to note - vehicles in the UK are based on GVW - gross vehicle weight - thus a vehicle plated at 7.5T GVW has to weigh less than 7.5T when loaded with horses or other load. This is a common misunderstanding - we once viewed a horse box that was 7.2T unladen leaving 300kg for 2 horses, crew and tack - the vendor was convinced he had a good vehicle but it was technically useless.