Overall Weight of a caravan when being towed
We have purchased a Buccaneer Clipper with the additional towing weight plate of 2000 kg.
It is fitted with a Powrtouch 4 wheel motor mover which adds to the empty weight of the Caravan at 1889 kg. This leaves only 111 kg for everything else.
My question is are we likely to be prosecuted by the police as I have weighed it when it is full and it comes out at 2229 kg.
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If the caravan exceeds its MTPLM if you are checked then, yes, you are liable to prosecution.
You might also be invalidating your car insurance by towing illegally and you might also be exceeding the max towing weight and gross train weight of your car which would be further areas for prosecution.
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Following on from the above comments, if you're involved in an RTC and your outfit is checked for weight as a possible contributory factor, you could find yourself seriously b******d.
Is it worth all of these risks?
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I'm guessing (hoping) that as you've chosen a caravan with a MPTLM of 2T you've a large heavy weight towcar to tow it with. You'll likely to be able to carry the excess weight inside your towcar & still be within the gross train weight. 2229kg is more than 10% over weight for your caravan.
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I believe you brue ..... but like David I've yet to be pulled over or see anyone pulled over. Perhaps they tend to pull over those that look to be over loaded .... & I've seen quite a few of them, especially wanna-be 4x4s towing 4x4s on a trailer.
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Multi agency checks tend to he an annual event on the M5 in peak season. I'd not risk life, limb or licence towing or driving illegally. 🙁
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I have never weighed mine but already appreciate to poor payload capacity. I have always put heavy stuff in my boot as I have space. So awning and any other stuff such as any weighty drinks and the BBQ all of which can weigh a bit.
A number of people have had problems with ALKO axles and ALKO get out always seem to be over locating, although Alko seem to like evading warranties for a number of areas
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Yes and the A303, it appears to be random and often during the holiday season, all sorts get pulled over, from new to old. Details get published in our local paper, with photos in some cases. I'm amazed how some manage to travel!
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No, on the last big check we saw ( at a services on the M5 south of Brum) people were being pulled off the motorway in a random fashion. A police car appears in front of you with an illuminated sign in the back saying "follow me"...you duly follow and the rest of your day or holiday depends on how things are regarding the condition and loading of your outfit...you have been warned!
We were glad it wasn't us as it's not the best of experiences when travelling even if all is ok.
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I was also wonderIng how the weight being carried could mount up so much!
Tister....did you weigh the empty van as supplied? It is quite possible it was already considerably heavier than the stated MIRO. Unfortunately, the weight upgrade available on that model is only an extra 21kg, and as already stated you should not exceed the 2000kg.
And even with the upgrade, the payload is not exactly generous to start with.You will need to look at reducing the weight in the van.
Consider gas bottles.....can you carry a smaller one?
Battery as far as I know has to come out of your payload, and with a mover you do need a decent one, so nothing to do there.
Water.......drain down as much as possible before travelling.....none in the onboard tank......none or very little in the toilet tank........even drain the HW in the Alde. A bit of a pain, but it will save 9-10kg. (NB....water, not the Alde fluid.)
I am a great believer in only packing in the van what will be used in the van. Our T/A has great storage space, but if we filled it all up we would be well overweight.
So things like an awning, outside furniture, heavy tools reserve tinned or dried foods (when abroad) travel in the car, as do laptops, camera, coolbox for extra drinks, Aquaroll, EHU cable, levelling blocks, Alko locks, jack etc.
Is there anything you can remove from the van? For example, we do not carry the main table.....it is heavy and we do not use it as there is generally only the 2 of us. We have a small lightweight folding table we can bring inside if we need extra table space.
Could the solar panel be removed if you are always on EHU?
The spare wheel will be heavy, if you have space in the car, carry it there. You could obtain/make a cover for it and then place it under the bed out of the way when sited if you wish. You could also then remove the AlKo carrier.
Instead of liquid toilet fluids, use sachets of blue, or liquid bio pods in the cassette, and ditch the pink, plain water is fine.
Also review what you are carrying of "essentials" ......is everything really necessary? We do an annual cull.....amazing what accumulates!
Food.....If necessary to reduce the weight of that too, shop when you arrive.
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Yes, we only removed the table, spare wheel still in place, as we do not have an overall weight problem as we have a 345kg payload. In our previous van we removed the lift up bunk as we did not need it, and it was pretty heavy. Better to use the weight for something useful.
We do not travel light either, my essential toolkit is comprehensive, and we take plenty of clothes and food, pretty much all of which we can carry in the van, we never drain down the water between sites.
We like to be able to use the van and its facilities en route for coffee and lunch stops, and not have to move stuff when we arrive, so keep the floor clear at all times. Wastemaster travels in front locker, but Aquaroll is too big so goes in the car. TV stays in van, but I prefer the security of the car to the van, so my camera etc usually go where we go.
We used to have a roll out Fiamma Zip on the van, but that has worn out now and we just have a lightweight canopy....saves a lot of space and weight in the car. And 15kg off the van weight.
However it sounds like the OP has a big problem, if his figures are correct, so he will need to take drastic action.
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How did you weigh the caravan, i have one of those drive over yellow reich things and it really is uselss with twin axles to measure properly..it shows our elddis T/A as over 2200kg with an uprated plate of 1900kg.
MRO is 1678 so according to the reich unit we are carrying over 500kg payload.
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Just do an Internet search for weighbridges in 'County of your choice'. We used a private one operated by a grain merchant.
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The whole issue of van payload frustrates me. I wish the club would weigh the vans they test and also check the nose weight. Caravan brochures display all the wonderful storage cupboards but fail to tell you they cannot be used in transit. Manufacturers fit the cheapest suspension axles they can get away with leaving the owner with the problem of fitting everything into the car. In my opinion most modern vans are not fit for purpose. Come on club, speak up for your members and raise the standard.
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The user payload of modern vans is frustrating and, in my opinion, inadequate. I am currently thinking about changing our towcar. Not only do we need a vehicle that is more than capable of towing the caravan, but we need a vehicle with a huge boot space in order to carry all the stuff that we would like to take with us.
We're already had an axle replaced, under warranty- absolutely agree that the spec for the axles have no leeway - they are right up to the basic requirements.
When we travel, these days we keep very little in the caravan - basically cooking/ eating utensils, bedding, and clothes. We carry very little food - we do a food shop as soon as we arrive - and we use serviced pitches to avoid taking an aquaroll and wastemaster. EHU lead goes in the car as does anything which 'lives' outside the van, on site: Cadac, extra gas bottle, outdoor chairs, groundsheet, foldable table, broom, waste bin, rotary washing line, collapsible fresh mini water hook up kit, flexi pipes to connect to waste water outlet, collapsible bucket, collapsible watering can etc. We do have a motor mover and a Thule wind-out canopy, both which take up user payload. I even leave the caravan jack at home, on the basis that if we need a wheel changing, the Green Flag will be doing it, and they use their own equipment.
We automatically purchased a weight upgrade certificate and sticker when we bought the van, and apart from the wind out canopy, we never use an awning these days (and we're happy with that).
When we change the car, the absolute minimum we're looking for is a large 7 seater so we can remove/ collapse the back row of seats. It's looking like another Discovery, a Shogun (which has slightly less boot space), Nissan Pathfinder, or a 'van type vehicles such as a Mercedes Benz Viano. A small 7 seater would be too small for us!!
David
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We do on occasions use the 7 seats, AD, and we do like the space, to be honest. The other thing is I do like a lot of headroom - being longer in the body and shorter in the legs - in some cars I hit my head on the roof of the car. We've always had big cars, too. I like a high driving position too... 😀
Even before we caravanned, in out trailer tent days, we had a Renault Espace. Not a good towing vehicle for a caravan, but I remember going out for days and our 'picnics in the car'. The kids sat on the very back row of seats, the middle row of seats you could put the backs of the seats down to form a sort of centre table, and the front (driver and passenger seats) could swivel round for our 'in-car picnic'.
My son keeps telling me to get a smaller car, but the dog now sprawls out on the middle seats of the car.... I just can't bring myself to it.....
David
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P.S. Deleted User User. We are still loving the Thule awning but tend not to put the sides in these days.... just extra carriage and it saves the pegging. Our outside kit is mainly waterproof and the canopy usually keeps stuff fairly dry. Should things get a little wet or damp, they soon dry off... 😀👍👍
David
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We are with the carry everything heavy in the car posters. All that is in the caravan are food, clothes and bedding plus a few odds and ends. We have a loading capacity of 225 kgs, so after the mover, battery and gas bottles we have plenty of allowance left. We have just come back from a break at East Fleet near Weymouth (lovely site by the way and pretty well full when we were there). Near us was an outfit with a full size air awning with extensions both sides. also they took enough food for their break of 2 weeks! All this with loads of other goodies went in their caravan. I asked him how much did all that weigh, he had no idea and just raised his eyebrows that it may be a problem. However, I remember when we started caravanning many, many years ago we did not think about load weight and as for nose weight - well if you could just lift the hook it was probably ok! Carefree days!!!!
PS Have you weighed your elec cables? We take 2 x 25mtr and they are surprisingly heavy! They now go in the car as well.
PPS Nice pics DSB. What no flowers on the table!
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and made to off load the add weight
