Weights and payloads
I must admit this is a sore point for me and I admit I'm narrow minded, but it really is a safety issue that I believe manufacturers should address.
I contacted the club following a magazine review of a very nice twin axle a couple of months ago. It made many berths, was big and heavy with lots of storage, but a very poor payload.
When on sites UK and abroad, CL's, independent and club I am amazed and saddened at the stuff owners drag out of there vans. Just because they have the space they think they can fill it, but vans turn up and it is obvious they are overloaded.
I have not gone as far as to weighbridge my van, as I know some have, but I keep a list of accurate weights in an attempt to keep on top of things and with correct loading remain safe.
So what do your vans actually weigh ready for you to fill and what are your real payloads?
I'll start with mine:-
2017 Eriba 430 - 3 berth
basic weight = 840kg - 30kg for BS EN 1646-2 gas/water allowance = 810kg
Add factory fit extras and mover at 125kg = 935kg
Max permissible load of 1200kg = 265kg [now available with 1300kg axle for 365kg] payload
Colin
Comments
-
We took our MH to the weigh-bridge when we got it, with full fuel, travelling water, full gas and us. This gave us figures to work with for both the total payload of 3.5 tonnes and axle loading. We weighed as we added what we needed for our tour, then went back to the WB to check again. We were still inside our maximums and could travel with more water if needed, so very happy.
0 -
We've been strict weighers since day one.
Everything that stays in the caravan is weighed before going into a new caravan. Then we take the maximum clothing and other variables that might go in, such as food etc. and weigh those. You get the idea.
We haven't had this caravan weighed on a weighbridge but did have our previous one done. That Lunar actually came out lighter than Lunar advertised and plated, giving us a bit better payload. I suspect that one of the reasons it fell to bits 18 months ago was not just the pothole I hit but the flimsiness of the unit itself. It delaminated badly, the day before Lunar went belly up!
This replacement is ideal for us as Coachman put it on a better axle that allows us 209kg Payload. Our maximum amount that we would take including motor mover etc only reaches 150kgs so we don't see any point in having it weighed officially. If it was a close run thing we would do.
I agree with your statement about all sorts of gear coming out of units at sites and I'm convinced that quite a lot of outfits are overweight or as near to 100% as dammit. However, you can still be just under and be safe. Depends on the driver.
0 -
No worries with mine, last time I checked it on a weighbridge I had just under a ton to spare but that was without my passenger and no water. Once things settle down I intend popping it along again for a check as I have added solar panels and hydraulic leveling since and one or two smaller items.
peedee
0 -
I agree entirely about poor user payloads. In the future it will be the biggest single issue in my choice of a new caravan... (although I have no immediate plans). The poor user payload is one of the main reasons I have a Landrover Discovery towing vehicle. I could tow with a smaller, less powerful vehicle, but I need a large vehicle in order to carry equipment. I'm not short of room in the caravan..... just short of weight capacity.
These days, I also book serviced pitches. We don't take the wastemaster or aquaroll, but instead, we use the very small fold down Colapz 'Fresh-mini' and the flexi- waste pipes. Saves on room. We now carry all outside stuff in the car. Inside the van is just clothes, bedding, toiletries, towels and kitchen stuff. Cadac, electric lead, outside chairs/ table, rotary washing line, groundsheet, awning (when we bother), wheel chocks/levellers etc., together with the Colapz stuff.
David
0 -
I just stick my fingers in my ears & shout la al la .... Unladen weight of my caravan is 1600 & something and max is 1800 & something. My ML has a train weight of about 6.5 tonnes so try not to let it worry me when EmilysMum loads the cupboards .... 🤐
1 -
My up plated payload is around 300kg without digging out the paperwork for the exact figure, and you may well have seen me unloading the leccy bikes out of the caravan door both here and mainland Europe. OK, the batteries do ride in the car.
0 -
Having discovered that our last van (Bailey Barcelona) was 20kg over weight with just the basics in it (no food or clothes etc), I vowed that the next one would have a more realistic payload. That was one of the reasons I selected the Knaus, because with a payload of 365kg, I was fairly confident it would remove that worry of being overweight. I still carry all the really heavy stuff in the car, but based on experience of what went into the last van and what goes into this one, I haven't yet felt the need to take it to the weigh-bridge.
0 -
Yes as being one of many with the "Failed Axle" and you have overloaded the van with only the very basic stuff in it proves to me the very poor allowances now.
Like DSB now I have two large plastic boxes and all "extra's" like cadac,Avtex TV ramps Awning security locks all travel in the car.
I did have my van weighed with the stuff you cannot do without,like pots and pans,cups,plates and cutlery,extra gas cylinder,aquaroll and waste container.etc ect. only to find I have just 14kg left.
Surprise to me was the weight of the fixed bed duvet bedding pillows and security locks.
This in my mind,is all due to the motor mover eating so much of your payload allowance.
I loathe to say it,but if every van like mine has such low payloads, because a is MM fitted,there must be many many towing over their maximum.
0 -
UK caravan payloads are pathetic and totally unrealistic. By the time that a battery, mover and gas has been added, the payload has virtually disappeared. That's before you think about extra toys like solar, aircon, satellite dishes etc. I weighed my previous 4 berth caravan that had been up-plated to give me a theoretical 230Kg payload. It was just about sufficient for two without any aforementioned 'extra toys'. It's less of an issue now I have a MH but even then must be watched to remain within axle/gross plated limit of 3500Kg.
1 -
Agree but I am more convinced that a car of sufficient excess weight to the caravan is as important if not more.
As long as it is legal I take no other notice of the towing limit of the car. I will never tow with a vehicle where the kerbweight is less than the MTPLM of the caravan. Others might argue I am ultra cautious and old fashioned, I can only agree!
0 -
I agree with the sentiment of ensuring that your outfit is not over weight, there is just an issue of where you can get your outfit weighed accurately. To the best of my knowledge, public weigh bridges have a tolerance of +/- 5%. So for an outfit weighing 1800Kg, it could read 1710Kg or 1890Kg. If this is the case, it seems a pointless exercise. Have I missed something?
0 -
DaveT, I understand your concerns re accuracy but it maybe on checking your van is shown to 150kg overweight!
All I would say is, if your outfit was weighed by the DVLA and found to be overweight but you could show them that you had a certificate showing that it was OK at that time, they may just give you a warning rather than a fine.
I have never had my current caravan weighed but I did substantially upgrade the MTPLM at the time of purchase, so I would not be in the situation of being close to the limit.
0 -
Absolutely agree Fozzie.... especially that many overload. I still remember a few years back when a caravan pitched next to us and I've never seen so much stuff come out of a caravan.... including 4 bikes!
We also 'bought the weight upgrade'......
David
0 -
"UK caravan payloads are pathetic and totally unrealistic."
Spot on CY, but I would add "we" collectively only have ourselves to blame, "we" buy them.
Only if "we" take a positive buying stance will things ever improve.
We don't entertain a van, unless it is viable, however seductive it might otherwise appear.
1 -
Quite agree but when did it seem to become necessary for caravanners to have the largest caravan possible, the largest awning possible and all the extraneous equipment.
Is the apparent change from touring to longer stays one site, a result of the larger vans etc, the perceived difficulty in arranging multiple sites or is it no longer a pleasure towing on our crowded roads
0 -
All of the above probably. One wonders how many newbies who have bought these 8ft behemoths realise all is not sweetness and light and sell by the end of the summer.
1 -
I hazard a lot less than, either don't bother, don't care or don't understand and use their vans in the manner the advertising pictures portray, all family with bikes and smiles etc.
We also have the toys, but have the payload and the OTT tow vehicle to do so.
I suspect when Covid has "passed" many newbies will dump the vans, but doubt they will have ever realised they overloaded them start to finish.
0 -
Don't agree, the weiigh bridge I use at a scap yard is regularly calibriated by a standards organisation. I know this because I had to wait once while the job was finished and is was explained to me what was going on. Any how does it matter if at a roadside check a similar tolerance is applied?
peedee
2 -
I also agree with the payloads, I have on my computer all the weights of equipment in our caravan, motor mover, solar pots & pans so I know how much weight I have left for clothes & a bit of food, most of our food is from Lidl when we get to the site
When I got my 1st caravan we didn't bother then, you would hitch up, if the car would pull it you where O.K. their was NO weight marked on the caravan, and NO max towing weight in your car registration book
I don't think the designers are caravaners, if they where the payload would be more, perhaps they think we get paper cups & plates when we get their
0 -
I remember those days. Years ago we didn't bother.... but then we didn't have collapsed axles!! I can remember coming back from France with so many bottles of wine stored in the caravan we could hardly get up Jubilee Way in Dover..... 🤣🤣🤣🤣
David
0 -
Am a complete newbie. Have an Elddis 120 2009 models. I have had a bike rack added but otherwise everything else is standard. I believe the payload for this vehicle is c725kg. I assume I add two people - 150kg leaving 575kg. Do other motorhome users advise weighing everything that we now intend putting and leaving into the van? And then working out what extra we add on for each trip like the bikes, paddle board, clothes, food etc etc. Or am being too cautious? Many thanks
0 -
The certain way of checking is to load the van as it will be in holiday mode and take it to a weighbridge to weigh the whole van and each axle load.
0 -
Do continental caravanners use movers as standard? Genuine question, as they seem very common in UK. We have never owned a mover on a van. They seem to account for quite a bit of payload.
0 -
I have arranged some plastic crates that will fit into the cupboards in the caravan and carry tinned goods in one, drink in another, and bike stuff in a third. They work a bit like drawers when in the caravan and I transport them in the Discovery where I can check contents easily. They fit nicely in the back with the two others that carry all the Land Rover "stuff" and the blocks etc for a level stay.
On travels I know quite a few places that I pass where there is a weighbridge and will pop in occasionally to check the weight in the caravan is still less than whatever it is that is printed on the sticker beside the door.
For our purposes we do not need a public weighbridge as we are not carrying on a commercial activity. So many private weighbridge operators are happy for a chat and a ticket.
0 -
Nav, I suggested the weighbridge option as the poster is a new motorhomer and needs to establish what's what. It's a suggestion that has been stated here many times before and is the simplest way of checking weight. 👍🏻
0 -
In this month's issue of the German 'Caravaning' magazine they published results of a survey conducted among its readers. Among some other very interesting details, the report listed those features which owners would find most important on their next purchase:
Motor mover - 60%
Electronic stabiliser - 51%
Combined heating and hot water system - 36%
Roll out awning as a factory fitted option - 33%
Underfloor heating - 27%
Larger kitchen - 25%
Continuous flow hot water system - 21%
Plain outer panels (no hammered finish) - 20%
Shower of generous size - 18%
Digital remote power management system - 17%
Oven - 11%
Microwave - 9%
Pull-down bed - 6%
Note that this data applies only to readers of the magazine. It surprises me a little that wireless rear camera system and TPMS don't feature in that list.
2
