Weight again.

RGCH999

RGCH999

Joined
Feb 5, 2016
Posts
196
Likes collected
86
Location
Bristol
Funster No
41,593
MH
Murvi Morocco XLB
Exp
15years
Took the van to the weighbridge yesterday and obtained some interesting results.
Fiat Ducato panel van conversion is on a maxi chassis with a mgw of 3500 kg and1850 on front and 2000 on rear.
The vehicle was loaded up with a full tank of diesel 100 litres which is about 90 kg and 60% onboard water, 10 gallons about 45kg.
Also loaded up the driveaway awning and all usual accessories inc a couple of chairs.
Only thing missing was the other half, clothing, personal affects and food.
Results on the weighbridge were as follows.
Front. 1700
Rear. 1620
Full. 3480
So it would appear that I need to reduce the amount of water when travelling, which I normally do, carrying only enough for the journey and saving maybe 35 kg.
That will allow the wife to get in.
It's then a choice of ditch the awning and take food and clothing.!!!
I was a little surprised as I thought the front and rear would have been closer to the max, but it wasn't to be. How others manage to carry heavy e bikes on their panel van conversions I don't know.
Vehicle is fitted with air ride at the rear so nice and stable. Also uprated wheels but still 15". Don't really want to up plate the vehicle but could do with another 100kg on the mgw.
The positives are I now know the correct tyre pressures for the Continental tyres is 55 front, up to 1785 kg and 60 rear, up to 1675.
 
The lack of proper payload on many motorhomes today is a scandal. I'd guess many thousands of motorhomes are well over-weight and the owners just don't have a clue. I'm intending to collate a table of real world payloads to make public here.
 
I agree with Jim, think a lot of motorhomes are over loaded.
Some because people are not aware about weights and payloads and some that "dont give a stuff"..
Surprised you have air ride on a panel van, would have thought you did not need it plus even that adds to the weight..

Good luck with sorting it...
 
When we had the scooter rack and scooter on we had to travel with 1/2 tank of fuel, 10lts of water and little or no food. On top of that nothing could be stored in garage area or under the bed area because of rear weight. Now with scooter rack, scooter, air con, have been removed we can now use garage, travel with full tank, some water ( don't see why you need full water tank ) and 2 x eBikes in garage and weight in (last check) 3450kg, with wife on board. If we go over weight I get wife to follow on the eBike:)
I agree with Jim it's a scandal, but more worrying is that some MH's owners don't care...........
 
I weighed in our Elddis 180 at 3050kg (3500kg max) the other day which I was quite happy with. That was with empty tanks, and lowish fuel load but with all bedding, pots pans and sundry gear aboard, wind breaks etc. Plus it has Fiamma awning, tow bar and bikes rack attached (no bikes).

Even so 450kg should leave us an OK payload, assuming roughly 200kg extra required for wife and kids. Supposedly a 6 berth but 6 people would mean a pretty limited payload. Fine for 4 of us though.

I'll probably remove the towbar at some point to save a bit more weight.

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Surely just leave wife at home, pack a few more crates of beer and hey ho jobs a good un as they say.
 
Am I missing something here but the figures you have shown just don't seem right.
There's a heck of a lot of disparity between the two axles individual weights and the sum of the whole (160kgs).
I could understand 60kgs but not another ton(sic) on top.

It looks like you'll have to go down the SVTech route. You have the capacity in each axle. It's 'just'? the Gross thats the problem.
 
It's worth talking to Sv Tech as I have a similar vehicle to yours and it could be uprated to 4250 kg as a purely paper exercise. I suspect yours may not go as high, 3850 would be my guess but the point is your vehicle may be over weight in the legal sense but it probably isn't unsafe.

And as above, try another weighbridge first as the one you went to is a bit iffy assuming there isn't a typo.
 
Last edited:
emmitdb said:
Am I missing something here but the figures you have shown just don't seem right.
There's a heck of a lot of disparity between the two axles individual weights and the sum of the whole (160kgs).
I could understand 60kgs but not another ton(sic) on top.

It looks like you'll have to go down the SVTech route. You have the capacity in each axle. It's 'just'? the Gross thats the problem.
Click to expand...
1000Kg = 1 tonne.
 
tonyidle said:
1000Kg = 1 tonne.
Click to expand...

Yes Tony But, in the context in my comment ie 160kgs minus 60kgs is 100.
That is why (sic) was inserted.
Regards

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Ok just to clear up a few points having spoken to stech. Yes they can up plate it easily to 3850 for £312. Not sure if I want to go down that route with medicals etc.
Interestingly he stated that a weighbridge could be up to 100kg out, which is alarming, but more interesting is that unless you use a split weighbridge, the readings for front and rear need to be taken as really just a guide. Because of the length of the weighbridge, if it isn't split, the front and rear readings may well not be accurate, and that would account for the difference between the actual front and rear added together, being vastly different from the Max gross shown.
Think I will just go with what I've got, and be aware that when fully loaded I am close to the limit or very slightly over. I can't see clothing and food adding a huge amount, and the fuel will be going down every mile, so by the time I get where I'm going I'll likely be under weight.
 
MichaelT said:
Surely just leave wife at home, pack a few more crates of beer and hey ho jobs a good un as they say.
Click to expand...

I had thought of that, but it didn't go down too well.
 
I guess then if you do get stopped to be weighed you can jettison the wife at that point.
 
Either that or drink the extra cans quickly.
 
Are you sure its a Maxi chassis? I thought they had 16" wheels as standard?

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Ours is a similar case. Went on the weighbridge at Totana, which has a maximum capacity of 60 tons.The van's plate shows a gross weight of 5 tons, with a 2 tons allowance for the front axle and 3.5 tons for the rear axle. Frankia say my build number came out of the factory at 4005kgs, and I believe that our awning and Oyster dish were after market additions.

The van was weighed with both axles on the "Bascula Publica". There was 120 litres of fresh water onboard, empty waste tank, 55 litres of diesel, our usual Camping stuff, (but we longer carry a towbar or a 4.5metre Fiamma safari room - heavy!). Ros and the dog stayed on board but I got out to put the (1.5) Euros in (expensive or what?) and collect the ticket.

I was surprised to see that the ticket read 4970kgs! So, strictly speaking, I shouldn't have got into the van to drive away without emptying the fresh water tank to bring the weight down within the plated figure of 5000kgs. (I weigh a little more than 30kgs.)

SV Tech have indicated that the van can be replated to 5500kgs as a paper exercise and I'm applying to DVLA as soon as I get home for the increase. I'm surprised that our general Camping clutter plus awning and Oyster dish comes to nearly a ton!

Norman

PS At Camping Maria (ACSI) in Sierra Maria it's still 20° outside at 5pm and there's not a cloud in the Sky and we are the only people on the campsite. The mountains are spectacular!
 
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Ours is a similar case. Went on the weighbridge at Totana, which has a maximum capacity of 60 tons.The van's plate shows a gross weight of 5 tons, with a 2 tons allowance for the front axle and 3.5 tons for the rear axle. Frankia say my build number came out of the factory at 4005kgs, and I believe that our awning and Oyster dish were after market additions.

The van was weighed with both axles on the "Bascula Publica". There was 120 litres of fresh water onboard, empty waste tank, 55 litres of diesel, our usual Camping stuff, (but we longer carry a towbar or a 4.5metre Fiamma safari room - heavy!). Ros and the dog stayed on board but I got out to put the (1.5) Euros in (expensive or what?) and collect the ticket.

I was surprised to see that the ticket read 4970kgs! So, strictly speaking, I shouldn't have got into the van to drive away without emptying the fresh water tank to bring the weight down within the plated figure of 5000kgs. (I weigh a little more than 30kgs.)

SV Tech have indicated that the van can be replated to 5500kgs as a paper exercise and I'm applying to DVLA as soon as I get home for the increase. I'm surprised that our general Camping clutter plus awning and Oyster dish comes to nearly a ton!

Norman
The ticket read
 
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Last edited:
Double post and I'm sure its not my connection? Forum keeps going to a crawl
 
RGCH999 said:
Results on the weighbridge were as follows.
Front. 1700
Rear. 1620
Full. 3480
Click to expand...
You seem to have gained 160kg somewhere. The Total weight should be the sum of the two axle weights so the total weight should be 3320kg not 3480kg

John
 
lunarman said:
You seem to have gained 160kg somewhere. The Total weight should be the sum of the two axle weights so the total weight should be 3320kg not 3480kg

John
Click to expand...
See the earlier post by the OP, it seems weighbridges are not exactly kitchen scales.
 
Another duplicated post. I blame the North Koreans. :D
 
Not sure about the maxi requirements. Definitely 15" wheels and mgw of 3500. Thought the ordinary one was a mgw of 3300. It's a 3 litre auto so maybe it gets a slight upgrade cos of that. I'm sure someone on the forum will know. Maybe the converter upgrades it slightly?

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I too have a Maxi (XLWB) panel van of 2009 vintage, it sits on 16" wheels and although it is plated to 3500KGs overall it has 2100 on front axle and 2400 on rear meaning if I wanted to a paper exercise would take it up to 4500KGs MTPLM.
 
emmitdb said:
Am I missing something here but the figures you have shown just don't seem right.
There's a heck of a lot of disparity between the two axles individual weights and the sum of the whole (160kgs).
I could understand 60kgs but not another ton(sic) on top.

It looks like you'll have to go down the SVTech route. You have the capacity in each axle. It's 'just'? the Gross thats the problem.
Click to expand...

Why ? Depends how the approach is on the weigh bridge as if not level then you get odd weights. If I was op then I'd want to be 100% sure before I did anything.

Disparity between front & rear ? mine is usually 300kgs under on the capacity of front axle & 300kgs less than the rear axle , when the water & fuel are full . Both tanks are equi-spaced between f& Rear axles. Only way I can get more weight on front is to load the over cab with heavy items which the dog doesn't really like in case anything comes out .

& mine is weighed on 2 bridges that are 100% dead level & with c50m flat approaches.
 
The new Maxi too is 16" wheels. How can it be a maxi if it cannot take maximum weight.
Van
Generous in volume, generous in payload
  • 3 wheelbases, 4 lengths, 3 heights
  • 8 volume options, from 8 to 17 m3
  • 3 sizes of sliding side door and rear door.
  • GVW options from 3000 to 4250 kg
  • payload from 1000 to 2200 kg
  • Maximum load on the front axle up to 2100 kg
  • Maximum load on the rear axle up to 2500 kg
  • 2 different ranges, the Ducato and the Ducato Maxi with reinforced suspension and 16” wheels.
 
Not seen it before but Hymer now recommend travelling with just 20lt of fresh water.

When I had my old Hymer downrated to 3500 from 3900kgs by SVTech , only the gvw was changed, the axle weights staying the same.
That is also the case with my new one , it has the heavier 3850kg gvw plate but was supplied as a 3500kg unit so has a plate for this gvw although axle weights are still at 2000kgs each.
 
Looks like they've messed about with the new models

Fiat has divided the range into lighter Ducato and heavier Ducato Maxi models, with the former, powered by the 2.3-litre engines, comprising L1H1 to L3H2 versions and featuring gross vehicle weights between 3,000kg and 3,500kg.

The Ducato Maxi range overlaps with the Ducato range, taking in L2H2 to L4H3 models at 3,500kg, 4,005kg and 4,250kg GVW. Payloads from 800kg to a maximum of 2,100kg are available

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