American Forest River or Hobby 720 KFU

We are both experienced at towing as I have towed horses for years in my own trailer and I did have a large Eurocargo 3 horse lorry and Andy is a builder and tows plant machinery through his contruction business.  So not adverse to towing, or nervous......just wanting to make sure we buy the right van and keep it legal!

Thanks Guys!

From those figures, your tow vehicle could not legally pull either of the vans you looked at.

Either you are not asking "the  correct questions". or the people  at DVLA are not understanding what you are trying to establish.

Selling on in the future would be something to consider as both these are not your everyday caravan so would appeal to a smaller number of buyers.  Good luck whatever you choose.

https://www.gov.uk/towing-with-car/weight-and-width-limits

The government take on things.....

I would also think that your vehicle is possibly a bit under powered for a very heavy van.

Our van is MTPLM 1900kg, we had a Volvo XC90 184PS, which was fine, but it  felt a steep hill.

We recently changed to a VW Touareg with 262PS and I really notice the difference.....no problem on hills now.

Firstly I would not consider the Hobby (unless you own Fort Knox) as the bad boys would be onto it in a flash.

An acquaintance of mine has a large American tag axle van which he sites semi permanently and manages 1 trip abroad each year due to the unsuitability of touring in the UK. Think about some road weight restrictions.

Having brought  it he wishes that he had purchased a fifth wheeler which he reckons would be easier to tour with.

Whatever you decide to go for, enjoy and have fun.

Two aspects, of the American would worry me

Firstly the build quality as far as I understand some of the US build methods are pretty archaic I have reviews from the USA for example getting very excited about plastic double glazed windows and cassette blinds.  Are the all the electrics ok in the UK.  I believe this is not just the voltage but possibly the frequency as well   

Noseweight a lot of US trailers seem to have the wheels set a long way back makes for a stable tow but check the noseweight for suitability for a Ranger. 

In my mind I would probably go for the hobby but both of them are going to be very large caravans, maybe too big for touring. 

Have you used the Club matching service?  I tried it recently when a salesman tried to sell me a Mitsubishi ASX and the result was not suitable unless I was an experienced tower - which I am but I don't want to drop from the good match with the Outlander I have.  Too much pull from overtaking vehicles if it's borderline suitable which doesn't make for a relaxed journey.  

One point to remember when buying is repairs and spares for whatever you are towing. The main dealer for Hobby I think is at Ambergate Derbyshire, although you may get repairs done in France better than an American van. Also you will be over 100% with your towing vehicle. We tow 1900kg with the large shogun and find that to be very safe towing.

Insuring a Hobby could be a headache, they are very attractive to a certain section of the population.  Even the slightly smaller ones.

Also, there are some sites(not Club) in UK that will not accept Hobbys.

I too would worry about the availability of spares for an American van.

The Hobby would use very similar parts to UK vans, but bodywork could well be an issue.