Load margins, what do you need?
What is a comfortable load margin for medium to long term touring? I struggle to keep within the 211Kg of my current van. ( It has been replated to max axle load)
Mine has an MRO of 1339Kg MTPLM 1550Kg. (1500Kg standard)
Completely drained and stripped of everything removable except mover and battery it weighs 1400KG +/- 20Kg so with MRO essentials at approx 30Kg I guess this is about right. Leaving 150Kg margin.
300 Kg would be much more useable.
By the time you have added a motor mover 35Kg and battery 25Kg and an extra bottle of gas 14Kg there is precious little left for all the other paraphernalia.
I note that German vans eg Hobby and Knaus can be specified with a range of extra or reduced load margins. The nearest equivalent to my van in the Hobby range Has identical MTPLM of 1500Kg and MRO of 1292Kg standard but can can be specified at min 1400Kg or max to 1750Kg giving between 99Kg and 429Kg load margin.
Maybe I ought to get my order in before Brexit bites
Comments
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At the risk of sounding like an old you-know-what, years ago 300-400kg payload was quite usual. Those were the days!
I honestly don’t know how some of you cope with such low payloads as we see these days.
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does it all (other than battery and mover) go i the tow car?
we say a Trooper absolutely loaded to the gunwales with 'stuff' the other day, and all this had to be transported to the caravan (or surrounding area) as part of 'setting up camp'....and then the reverse conducted when leaving....no thanks.
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And don't forget the washing machine. Yes, I have seen those as well as the domestic fridge! Oh, and the windsurfing board! All from the inside of a tourer
.Yes, awning, aquaroll etc and cable can go in the car and so can the spare wheel. Empty water tank (that's 10kg), just a little water in toilet. It can be done.
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Have you ever noticed the amount of stuff some MH-ers carry in their rear garages?
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From experience it is very difficult for a family of 4 with a dog to keep within the approx 150Kg load margin of most 1500Kg single axle tourers. In the past I used a roof box on the car for extra load space. Currently we are 2 plus dog, If you are touring for 4 weeks plus how is it done? I drain down every trip, removed carpets travel with 1 gas bottle, empty loo and header tank, minimal amount of food etc.The awning bulk of food and BBQ etc travels in the car. I am considering ditching the main table and television bracketry which we don't use, looking for a light weight mattress, removing the spare wheel and getting a lightweight battery which could give another 40Kg.
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I have banged-on about this in previous threads. The payloads of current caravans are completely inadequate. 150-169kg comes down to around 95kg once a motor mover and leisure battery are fitted. I have complained to the Club's magazine that reviews of caravans compound the makers' con-trick by enthusiing about amounts of locker space, storage under beds and floor-to-ceiling fridges when in practice you will be way over payload if you use half of it. I would guess that a considerable proportion of the caravans on the road are over their weight limit even if their owners put items such as awnings in the car.
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Often the payloads quoted are calculated by subtracting the MIRO from an MTPLM figure on a label next to the door. However, the MTPLM on that label may not be the actual figure at which the caravan has been type approved. The figure on the label next to the door is purely hypothetical one based on EN 1645-01 which is an industry standard for minimum payload requirements and not the technical maximum limit for which the manufacturer accepts full product liability. Calling the figure on the label next to the door an technical maximum is therefore a misnomer. One will find the proper MTPLM on the statutory plate, usually located in the front locker.
The calculated payload is for marketing purposes only to make the caravan more attractive to a wider range of customer with a lighter towcar, but actual payload based on the MTPLM on the statutory plate is the figure that really counts. In some cases the difference can be quite considerable.
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Viatorem; really don't know what else you can do. May I suggest you take your caravan to a weighbridge to actually check it's weight when you are ready to go. I am currently packing my caravan for a 4 week holiday in France. A few years ago I weighed my caravan, ready to go, and found that it was within the MTPLM.
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Hi comeyras, yes I have checked it loaded and completely stripped out. I have bang on 150Kg to play with.
what amazes me is the lack of MRO capacity. 1 gas bottle, couple of litres of loo glug a cable and 10 litres of warm water. No battery, no second gas bottle. I'm still not sure if the wheel lock or the Alko jack that came with the van are included or not.
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We have just moved back to a caravan after 6 years with a MH.
Boy oh boy have they got mean with the personal weight allowance.
We chose to buy a small 6.2 m caravan as we don't want a massive 5 berth twin axle 8 m van for touring. The tow car will tow a big van we just don't want one. However the personal allowance of the 2 berth is pathetic.
Having got used to not having to bother about weight it has come as a shock to how little we now get. So the car has everything in it including a box of food as it puts us over the allowed up plated weight allowance.
Roof box may well be the next step for longer holidays but don't really want to do that. Not happy that lots of things that we used to carry in the caravan now have to go in the car. If we had children to travel with us we just couldn't do it, as the back seats are down and the back of the car is full.
Crazy world in that you can have a PVC with hundreds of kilo weight allowance but little room in which to put it, or you can have a caravan with lots of cupboards wardrobes etc and no weight allowance to be able to put things in. Touring van its supposed to be so to me that means stuff goes in the van not the car. Guess the solution would be to co to a bigger van but we don't want to.
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If the payload allowance is based on the formula 10L + 10N + 50, where L is the body length and N the number of berths, as laid down in BS EN 1645-1, it is hardly surprising that it appears to be rather meagre. However, it is worth checking whether that is what it actually is. Subtract the MIRO from the MTPLM (not the one on the label next to the door, but on the plate in the front locker) and you will see what the true payload allowance is.
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Most caravans have a chassis that will take more than the plated weight for the caravan and you can upgrade often for nothing if you need the excess weight allowance. The low figures are down to cars getting lighter and the caravan manufacturers know that lighter MTPLM's sell caravans.
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The formula is right , checked it and that's the MTPLM, we have up plated it and got an extra 30 kg the plate by the door has been removed as we are waiting for the new one from Coachman. The plate in front locker is the up plated weight 1350 kg.
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I have never seen the plate in the locker, but do note the one by the door on our caravan shows it as 1450, whereas Lunar quote 1430 in all their literature. The dealer had no explanation and had not even noticed it but I assume the 1450 stands if I am stopped.
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On the A frame, perhaps? Possibly under the cowl. 🙄
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Ah yes I know, took a piccy of it - 1550Kg on the replacement axle when it arrived - which is the MTPLM after the 50Kg upgrade.
I questioned why there was little or no headroom with an alko engineer, apparently vans these days are designed so that the suspension works when they are run unloaded. Needless to say I was amazed as the only time I run empty is on purchase or sale of vans. No wonder there are axles failing all over the place!
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Lately some manufacturers have been combining the statutory plate with the one next to the door. It’s easy enough to check whether there is only one plate on the caravan. If the one that you have found shows an EU type approval number and gives details of maximum axle loads, it will be the only plate on the caravan. Otherwise there must be another tucked away somewhere.
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true true, just another charge at some dealers though at £35+ ours didn't charge 
take your point though about not bothering to put it on, guess its just a quick reference to have it by the door, rather than in the locker.