Trailering 27ft from Belgium to Costa del Sol

cHic et Nunc

cHic et Nunc

Member
Joined
27 Feb 2020
Messages
23
Location
Belgium, Hasselt
www.d-tails.be
Hello Forum,
I will be trailering my 27ft Monterey from Belgium to the Costa del Sol by end of this month.
It is a 3.5 Ton pull.. and it is a long, wide and high (radar arch) combination..
To to avoid Paris on the way down I would consider the route via Lyon / Barcelona with possibly les climbing/descending to do.
Any advice/experience is greatly appreciated!
Best regards,
Peter
 
Agree your route
We are on our way back from the Costa Brava up the middle but going there we went Troyes, Lyon, Perpignan etc. The Spanish motorways at least down to Barcelona are now free so that will help. We used to tow a 24ft Sealine down there and had punctures causing complete tyre demolition so be prepared.
Don’t know how you are stopping overnight but don’t stop over at French “aires” they get raided by gangs at night.
Do research hotels with good secure easy parking…….not that easy!
Boat looks great btw
 
DavidJ said:
Don’t know how you are stopping overnight but don’t stop over at French “aires” they get raided by gangs at night.
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Is this personal experience or hearsay?
We have been towing to the med for 30 years, have used the aires to overnight in most trips and have never experienced any issues nor had cause to feel worried though we don't park in a remote dark area of the aire and dont use the ones that dont have services etc.
Two of the boats we have taken there were just within the 3.5t mark, your chosen route is the least hilly in our experience but there are still plenty of long hills to test you none the less! Go through Lyon rather than round it as the 'bypass' is very hilly in parts.
Never had punctures but have had bearing issues, we always carry a spare set with us in case.
Have a good adventure!
 
dpb said:
Is this personal experience or hearsay?
We have been towing to the med for 30 years, have used the aires to overnight in most trips and have never experienced any issues nor had cause to feel worried though we don't park in a remote dark area of the aire and dont use the ones that dont have services etc.
Two of the boats we have taken there were just within the 3.5t mark, your chosen route is the least hilly in our experience but there are still plenty of long hills to test you none the less! Go through Lyon rather than round it as the 'bypass' is very hilly in parts.
Never had punctures but have had bearing issues, we always carry a spare set with us in case.
Have a good adventure!
Click to expand...
Yes ours is a personal experience. We were asleep in the boat and awoke to guys trying to “gemmy“ the car door. Fortunately they ran when we shouted. Of course once this has happened to you, it does stop you from doing it again.
I‘ll also add, have the boat craned in and save those bearings, cables, brake shoes and adjusters.
Not sure how legally but we towed behind a Shogun 2.8D and an Isuzu Trouper 3 litre diesel. Both manual boxes andI found the Shogun gearing better.
Have fun
 
I take it you have the BE at least or C1E licence for Belgium and a vehicle rated to be able to legally tow that weight?
I know that when I imported my Range Rover to Belgium they reduced the weight it was legally able to tow compared with the rating it had in the UK, they dropped it from 3.5tonnes to 3.2 tonnes. :(

The Lyon route south is nice and not too many hills on the way there, I'm not sure where you are leaving from, I'm in Limburg and north of Hasselt so usually go south via Luik and Luxembourg via Dijon to Lyon on the A31, there are some long climbs near Metz as well as the one at Luik (Liege).
Most of the time we are looking for the hills and the side roads to travel by it's not that usual that we take the motorway south
 
Thanks for the good advice!
I have ordered a spare wheel, as it is a brand new trailer I would think brakes and bearings should be good.
@Alicatt : I live in Hasselt :-) so the route is exactly the same, Luxembourg has cheaper diesel so that is a plus as well.
I will pull her with a 340 hp Range Rover Sport but I don't want to push her too much and fuel consumption will be better so thx for the advice on Lyon!
I have always mistrusted aires and choose to book Perpignan Novotel or Ibis : close to the highway and secured parking : driving 2 days for 12-14 hrs at 80 km/h will make good night sleep essential!
 
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It's a 2007 Range Rover Sport TDV8 I have, I bought it new as a LHD to comply with Belgian laws but only imported it because of the change in circumstances between UK/EU in 2020,

Ah oops, just checked to documents, it was they increased the empty weight of the car from 2.6tonnes to 2.71 tonnes and reduced the carrying capacity of the car to 335kg but it still can tow up to 3.5tonnes.
However, when I go to the weighbridge at the container park the car with me in it and a full fuel tank it still only weighs in at 2.6 tonnes.
It pulls 3tonne plus trailers very well, it is a good tow car.
 
cHic et Nunc said:
Hello Forum,
I will be trailering my 27ft Monterey from Belgium to the Costa del Sol by end of this month.
It is a 3.5 Ton pull.. and it is a long, wide and high (radar arch) combination..
To to avoid Paris on the way down I would consider the route via Lyon / Barcelona with possibly les climbing/descending to do.
Any advice/experience is greatly appreciated!
Best regards,
Peter
Click to expand...
I have done the trip lots oftime in all sorts of vehicles, I did one time take a 9 mtr RIB using a diesel Dodge Ram pick up so lots of power. That time I went Paris and then down the west side of France, there is a Novotel at Beritz which has a private car park and its close to the Highway.
Its a bit up and down once you get into Spain but if I remember well its 200 kilometres less

We had a triple axle trai.er with new tyres and still 2 tyres blew , thos small trailer tyres really not good for constant running and that boat looks like it puts the trailer at max weigh with two axles . Take two spare wheels at least. Having said that we did it in middle of summer and traveling at 110-120 kph.
Have a safe trip.
 
Make sure you have the paper work right ie ownership boat and trailer , take down binimi and very good trailer security , the thieving french bastards stripped my trailer .
 
seastoke said:
….the thieving french bastards stripped my trailer .
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I would normally take exception to that but 2 days ago in Spain a French guy engaged us in a parking discussion while his mate nicked my bag from inside the car. (Boat keys, wallet, boat registration documents house keys etc)
Fortunately there are some really decent people about and the thieves chucked the contents minus credit cards randomly along the road. The boat stuff was recognised as boats stuff so my marina was contacted and the other stuff had my mobile number and a guy (who oddly I had met a decade ago) contacted me.
I’m sure all countries have good and bad in equal measure, just prompted from your comment.
ps They bought 2 pizzas before my cards were cancelled…..was it really worth the risk?
pps Just heard from John Lewis Mastercard that they have reimbursed me for the 2 pizzas. :)
 
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If it's the same as here then most crooks are as thick as pig sh*t. Not my opinion but that of two friends - one a criminal barrister and the other a policeman for 30 years. My policeman friend reckons that it was the only way that they nicked anyone.
 
Not directly related to the OP but with bearing failure on these heavy boat trailers.

Is it possible to retro-fit Vanclaes type oil bath bearings instead of crappy grease lubed ones? Seems the way to go. No heat build up or water ingress. No failures.
 
Hi, I'm from Bilzen, :) I used to tow my 28ft Karnic with twin diesel engine to SOF, Croatia , UK, Schotland .... (for diving)
I'll get back to you soon with some of our experience.
you might find some of our cruise reports in the sticky post on top of the thread list page. (if the links work)
 
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