Motorhome Payloads

I have just discovered another downside to uprating. You cannot get 15” tyres with a 115 load rating so it looks like our van has been running on luck since it was changed to 4 tonnes in 2012.

Going to a tyre place today who may have found some 16” x 5 stud wheels that will do the job but need to check if there is going to be enough clearance. If not we may have to down rate the van back to 3.85.
 
Yes I think that was the initial problem Graham, lack of the right wheels as they stopped doing them in 2005 even though our van didn’t get registered til 2007. I am hoping they will fit okay and I should know later tomorrow but cost wise it is going to double replacement costs if I am lucky. Will need to buy a spare wheel as well so full set of 5 wheels and tyres. You would think it would be flagged on an MOT wouldn’t you but 5hey must not check tyres are suitable just that they have tread
 
I don’t know which chassis we have on ours but it’s a Mercedes Benz Sprinter base and original gvm was 3800 (just looked at plate) with new at 4000kgs. The increase was all on the back axle which has caused the problem rising from 2240 to 2430 so the 112/110 that have been on aren’t enough. It is a minefield though as SVTech say I need to get 115/113 rated tyres as that will give 2430 on rear axle. I would have thought it was half the axle weight so 125 for a 2500 axle.

Edit: don’t know if it makes a difference but it is also fitted with air assist on rear axle Graham
 
Never mind will probably be useful to someone anyway :)

I am just hoping the wheels they have found are steel, have seen new steel wheels for other vans for around fifty quid a piece which will be a lot less than alloys :)
 
Very useful thread! When we look again, it is something we will definitely ask about adding it to list of essential things to know about the van we buy ( or convert....guess we will have much more control then). We did look at the figures for the Tribute and decided we needed to go on a diet if we need to have full tanks or bring back much wine when doing a trip!
 
***** said:
The downside is for people such as me who are at around 70 years of age and might have problems with the medical requirement for the C1. We have recently downsized, or in reality I should say down weighted, changed our van to a lighter van of similar size. I did hold a full LGV (CE) (artic) and my new lighter 3500kg van is no different to drive than my previous 4500kg van
You also must remember that us older persons with the C1 are dying out and younger persons who can only drive up to 3500 kg with the B licence are beginning to get into M/Hing and they are the future.
One of the problems is that although we are in Europe and it was supposed to be one size fits all and all countries having the same licence requirements, in reality they are not all the same. Some Countries don't have the cut off at 70 years of age and I believe some not at all
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Another potential downside is weight restrictions on roads; in France, for example, I see numerous 3t5 restrictions, presumably intended in the main to keep large vehicles out of towns and villages.
 
TJBi said:
Another potential downside is weight restrictions on roads; in France, for example, I see numerous 3t5 restrictions, presumably intended in the main to keep large vehicles out of towns and villages.
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Not such a problem for me as I don’t tend to take the van in towns unless it’s routing through. Fuel and supplies are normally on outskirts and I can park in car parks usually anyway. Always been an outcast ha ha
 
Luckily my 6.5t merc weighs in about 5t, so plenty of room for wife, dog and ale. And the 3.5t roads in France are surely a gauntlet laid down??
 
When I bought a motorhome a couple of months ago, it was the garage that sold it to me as I planned to put a scooter in it, the salesman was aware of this, I was totally green, I had no idea about weight restrictions, he told me the van was originally made for 3500kg, but they had uprated it to 3650kgfor free and that it would be just a paper exercise to up it again to 3850kg, he was either telling fibs or does not know his product, since joining this and other forum's I have come to realise about payloads. Wish I had done my homework first, it was just an impulsive buy.

I was left with two options, either sell the van and loose a packet of money in order to buy something more suitable for our needs or spend more to make this van workable for us, I have now had air ride fitted to the back axle that takes it upto 2240kg from 2000kg, I have paid £180 to JR consultancy to up plate it to 4050Kg, looking at getting Alugas cylinders to save weight, probably having to spend over a £1000 which I hadn't banked on. Going to take it to a weighbridge once I have the new scooter put in the garage next Friday when I pick it up, then we can see what payload we have left to play with. I've asked the wife to decant all the jars and glass bottles into plastic containers to save weight, think she put a set of heavy pans in it, so will look at getting lightweight pans, I have also moved more weight forward that I had originally put in the garage, we also had an electric bike and another cycle in there, so will remove them, we will see how we get on the weighbridge. I want to make the garage easy to get the scooter in and out, otherwise if you have to start moving loads of stuff about, you are then less likely to use the scooter because of the hassle.
 
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