Carrying capacity on a motorhome.

[Mobilvetta]

Hi everyone, sorry it's me again, I took the motorhome to a weigh bridge today for the first time, I had some bits on board, a full tank of fuel and water, just me as the driver, no passengers, I drove the front wheels onto it first, this weighed 1540 kg, then drove the vehicle on it so that both axles were on it, this weighed 3740kg, then drove so the front axle was not on it, this weighed 2080kg, is this the correct way of doing it. I then looked under the bonnet for the plate that tells you the weights.1st one was 3650kg, am I right in thinking that's the maximum weight it should be when loaded.

The second one says 6150 kg, not sure what that refers too, and the next one says 1850kg, I presume this is the front axle and then the next one says 2000 kg, so it appears I'm already over weight, I was hoping to buy a driveway air awning and put a 125cc scooter in the garage which weighs 130 kg, of course the wife would like to come, so this is more weight and some shopping would be handy, I wasalso thinking off having a second leisure battery fitted.

The motorhome was upgraded from 3500kg to 3650kg by the dealership free, he said that would give us a 500kg pay load, we have had an aerial fitted an pull out awning, a tow bar, a spare wheel and carrier put underneath, so I presume this eats into the 500kg pay load.

I also remember him saying it's just a paper excercise to take it to 3850kg and said to contact a company called SV Tech to this for me, but this doesn't seem to be enough with what I had planned.

Could anyone educate me in how I could get a larger allowance, I have had a quote to get air ride put on the back axle, would this gain me some extra allowance, it seems ridiculous having a large garage if you can't put much in it. If I can get pay load increased, will this result in paying more for my road fund licence. My friend gets round this by towing a car, as he says he can pack all his additional stuff in that, but my idea was to avoid this and use a scooter instead.

 

[wildebus]

You have what is a very common problem.

Anyway... The numbers on the plate ....

The 3650 is the GVW - that is the absolute maximum that the van with EVERYTHING in it can weigh.
The 1850 is the maximum load on the front axle
The 2000 is the maximum load on the rear axle.
The reason they are up to more than the GVW is to allow loading flexibility. It doesn't mean you can use the maximum load on both at the same time.
The last number is 6150 - this is the GTW which means Gross Train Weight. This is the maximum weight the van plus a trailer or caravan can weigh. This means you could could tow a weight of at least 2500kg which is surprisingly high for a 3.5t van. Is it definitely 6150?

PS your van is already a HGV so you are paying £160 I would think? Increasing the GVW will make no difference to that.

 

[Mobilvetta]

You have what is a very common problem.

Anyway... The numbers on the plate ....

The 3650 is the GVW - that is the absolute maximum that the van with EVERYTHING in it can weigh.
The 1850 is the maximum load on the front axle
The 2000 is the maximum load on the rear axle.
The reason they are up to more than the GVW is to allow loading flexibility. It doesn't mean you can use the maximum load on both at the same time.
The last number is 6150 - this is the GTW which means Gross Train Weight. This is the maximum weight the van plus a trailer or caravan can weigh. This means you could could tow a weight of at least 2500kg which is surprisingly high for a 3.5t van. Is it definitely 6150?

Thanks for the reply and information thus far. Yes it definitely states 6150 kg on the plate under the bonnet, do you know if it's possible to get the weight increased for the pay load. I have a driving licence that allows me to drive anything up to 7500kg.

 

[Mobilvetta]

Pretty sure that the current Mobilvetta vans are renowned for being overweight, as far as I am aware some owners have rejected the vehicles as they are basically useless without a payload.
Dealers , manufacturers and motorhome press and clubs will all lie to you as they have a vested interest in looking after each other .
Good luck with this .

Thanks for your reply, If true they have certainly kept it quiet, but it won't be a problem if I can upgrade the weight, I have been told it just a paper exercise to get it to 3850kg, but I would like to know what I would have to do to get it higher if possible, hoping someone on this forum can advise.

 

[Trek]

What car tax are you paying ? Just wondering if the dealer has correctly taxed it at the higher weight ? At 3650kgs It should be Private Heavy Goods


By the way Is this a new camper ?


With the extras you have fitted you appear to have exceeded the GVW


Tow bar, awning , spare wheel and carrier will weigh quite a lot

plus the towbar and spare wheel will be at the rear or the camper and actually have a bigger impact on axle loadings than their dead weights (think of a see-saw)

What chassis do you have ?

 

[Trek]

If you weighed in at 3740 without passengers toys food etc then upgrading to 3850 wont help much Especially if you have to add air rides whose weigh5 must also be added into the equation

How big is your water tank ?

You will have to empty this


If its 100 litres then by emptying this then that will give you 100kgs of payload

 

[Mobilvetta]

What car tax are you paying ? Just wondering if the dealer has correctly taxed it at the higher weight ? At 3650kgs It should be Private Heavy Goods


By the way Is this a new camper ?


With the extras you have fitted you appear to have exceeded the GVW


Tow bar, awning , spare wheel and carrier will weigh quite a lot

plus the towbar and spare wheel will be at the rear or the camper and actually have a bigger impact on axle loadings than their dead weights (think of a see-saw)

What chassis do you have ?

Thanks for the reply, Not sure what chassis it is, the cab is a Fiat Ducato 150 hp, it looks to have a single large spring on the rear, looks like carbon fibre, yes it is new, yes the dealer has taxed it as a private heavy goods, I was amazed how cheap the road tax actually was.

 

[Mobilvetta]

If you weighed in at 3740 without passengers toys food etc then upgrading to 3850 wont help much Especially if you have to add air rides whose weigh5 must also be added into the equation

How big is your water tank ?

You will have to empty this


If its 100 litres then by emptying this then that will give you 100kgs of payload

Think the tank is 120 litres in total

 

[Trek]

Front loading at 1540kgs was under the limit of 1800kgs

Rear loading at 2080 was over the limit of 2000kgs

So its not balanced (see-saw again) Where are the water tanks ? Between axles or behind rear ?

If it was me i would empty both fresh and waste water tanks then remove towbar

And weigh it again if still no good ditch spare wheel and carrier

 

[Mobilvetta]

Front loading at 1540kgs was under the limit of 1800kgs

Rear loading at 2080 was over the limit of 2000kgs

So its not balanced (see-saw again) Where are the water tanks ? Between axles or behind rear ?

If it was me i would empty both fresh and waste water tanks then remove towbar

And weigh it again if still no good ditch spare wheel and carrier

Both tanks are just behind the front axle, we will try and move some of the weight forward to try and get a bit more weight over the front axle tomorrow. The spare wheel and carrier are just behind the rear axle, wife says she has put somethings in the garage, so I will see if I can shift some of that into the front lockers. When I drove it to Fleetwood today it seemed to drive and ride well, didn't feel unbalanced.

 

[Trek]

If its a Ducato you need to know what version

What size wheels do you have 15 or 16 inch ?

Out of touch with ducatos these days but if you have the 15 inch wheels you probably have a light chassis , ideally you will have a heavy or maxi chassis which will probably have more scope for increasing GVW

SV Tech would be my next call to see what they say

 

[Mobilvetta]

If its a Ducato you need to know what version

What size wheels do you have 15 or 16 inch ?

Out of touch with ducatos these days but if you have the 15 inch wheels you probably have a light chassis , ideally you will have a heavy or maxi chassis which will probably have more scope for increasing GVW

SV Tech would be my next call to see what they say

Of thanks for that, it has 16" alloy wheels, still waiting for Swansea Dvla to send me the Log book, as I thought I would need this to give to SV Tech

 

[Trek]

Svtech may be able to tell from chassis number

Did you have plans of towing ?

A scooter is going to be at least 100kgs and loaded behind rear axle in garage this doesn’t sound feasible to me

 

[Mobilvetta]

Svtech may be able to tell from chassis number

Did you have plans of towing ?

A scooter is going to be at least 100kgs and loaded behind rear axle in garage this doesn’t sound feasible to me

Yes I was hoping to buy a scooter the one I wanted weighs 130kg a 125cc Honda pcx, I passed my full motorbike test today and was going to buy the scooter today in Fleetwood, glad I went to the weighbridge first though as that would have been more money down the drain. Tow wise we have a jetski and a speedboat that we were going to tow a few times. Obviously not at the same time though.

 

[Val54]

If you are going to contact SV Tech to get it uprated, as Trek says, you will need to tell them which chassis it is. Mobilvetta offer an Alko chassis option which you may have. With a new van you should have separate Alko paperwork/handbook if fitted.
Dave

 

[GWAYGWAY]

I was worried sick when I got my New Hymer, I weighed it at a local weighbridge and it came out a 4200 kgs and it was full of most things to allow a trip, but only two of us. I went another weighbridge and it was done properly. front axle as far to the middle as possible just short of the rar coming on, then the total weight and the front axle JUST off for the rear axle weight. it come out at 3540 kilos and the allowable was 3860 kgs so it was OK BUT the first one was done as told by the operator front axle JUST ON and rear axle JUST ON what had happened was the load cells and not on the edge but a bit inboard of the edge I was playing see-saw with the steel weight bridge and getting part of its weight as mine. For peace of mind I did upgrade to the max allowable of 4200 kgs to allow a safety margin and the motorbike in the garage to be carried. Most motorhome are made overweight and the crooks that sell them know it. You would be hard pressed to get a new van weighed before purchase as it would show the lies for what they are. If you had the option to buy it at the higher weight then you should have been given it BEFORE registration.. SVtech are not cheap and it will probably cost £400 after the registration and nothing before.

 

[Mobilvetta]

If you are going to contact SV Tech to get it uprated, as Trek says, you will need to tell them which chassis it is. Mobilvetta offer an Alko chassis option which you may have. With a new van you should have separate Alko paperwork/handbook if fitted.
Dave

No its not got an Alko Chassis, as I asked the chap who was fitting the towbar for me based in Freckleton, I will give him a ring tomorrow as he has a good reputation for fitting things to motorhomes, to see if he can come up with anything.

 

[Trek]

But with towbar and no passenger camper already almost 100kgs over weight

If box trailer used then nose weight of trailer will add considerably to the rear axle weight and consequently GVW

 

[Trek]

As its not an ALKO REAR CHASSIS then have a play with this FIAT configurator

Using cab,wheel base ,engine etc you may be able to work out your chassis ....?

https://www.fiatprofessional.com/uk/ducato-conversion/configurator

Tyre size and loading may also be an issue / indicator

 

[Mobilvetta]

I was worried sick when I got my New Hymer, I weighed it at a local weighbridge and it came out a 4200 kgs and it was full of most things to allow a trip, but only two of us. I went another weighbridge and it was done properly. front axle as far to the middle as possible just short of the rar coming on, then the total weight and the front axle JUST off for the rear axle weight. it come out at 3540 kilos and the allowable was 3860 kgs so it was OK BUT the first one was done as told by the operator front axle JUST ON and rear axle JUST ON what had happened was the load cells and not on the edge but a bit inboard of the edge I was playing see-saw with the steel weight bridge and getting part of its weight as mine. For peace of mind I did upgrade to the max allowable of 4200 kgs to allow a safety margin and the motorbike in the garage to be carried. Most motorhome are made overweight and the crooks that sell them know it. You would be hard pressed to get a new van weighed before purchase as it would show the lies for what they are. If you had the option to buy it at the higher weight then you should have been given it BEFORE registration.. SVtech are not cheap and it will probably cost £400 after the registration and nothing before.

I may have weighed it wrong then, as I only just put the front Axle onto the weighbridge and did similar with the rear axle, but still the overhaul weight when the full motorhome was on, was still over the 3650kg allowed