Maximum weight of an unbraked trailer is 750Kg by law, or as specified by vehicle manufacturer if less IIRC. Above that the trailer needs to be braked.
The max weight of a braked trailer depends on the towing vehicle. Hadn't thought of looking to see if it's placarded on the vehicle itself. It's not mentioned in the manual but around 1600 - 1700 Kg for a V6 Omega from what I've gleaned. The max weights seem to track engine power, suggesting the requirement to pull away safely on a gradient is the limiting factor.
My tow bar is here:
http://stores.channeladvisor.com/towbar/Items/314266?Not desperately cheap but a good bit of kit. Very easy to attach and detach the swan neck and it's little more than it would cost to tax an additional tow car for a year let alone MOT, insure, service, etc.
Fitting was straightforward. Rear bumper has to come off (8 screws) then you need to drill 9 holes for the mounting bolts and 1 for the electrical connection. These were already marked out on the boot floor. Remove sound deadening tar like material from part of the boot floor (hot air paint stripper softens this up nicely) and fit bracing member to boot floor, offer up tow bar to rear of car and bolt the two together then there are 2 bolts between front of bracing member and rear crossmember by the diff. I hammerited all the holes before final fitting to stop rust and gave it all a good spray with waxoyl.
Electrics are easy. There's a connector with all required signals behind the panelling at the rear of the boot and I had to install a jumper to bypass the trailer brake light failure sensor socket, which was a pain to find on my facelift.
Fitting instructions can be downloaded above.
Cheers,
Kevin
