Motorhome Payload Stop Checks

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Crazy Grandad

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Fiat Ducato Rapido
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Have any of you funsters ever been stopped in the UK and had your weight checked. Just been on weighbridge and wondered if there is any leeway with regard to carrying extra food and fuel on a 3500 van weight
 
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Jonno1103 said:
Question...

A Transit based Auto Trail F Line motorhome can be up plated from 3500kg to 4100kg with a piece of paper without anyone getting their overalls dirty checking the suspension or even kicking the tyres.

Why is it then that at 3500kg it's deemed unsafe if driven normally at 3800kg?

I repeat, no suspension checks, no brake checks no tyre checks, nothing. At 4100kg it's the same van.
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Because that's the law...BUSBY
 
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Jonno1103 said:
My response & question was to those who deem it unsafe rather than legal. The legality of it is whole different argument which basically boils down to money or simply another avenue to get us to part with it. Me, I like to be legal too hence the trailer even though I have the space & rear axle weight to carry the gear inside the vehicle.

It will be moot soon enough as 68% - 70% of those currently with a licence in the U.K. don't have C1. After the results of the consultaion in June 2023 there's now also very strong support in raising the weight allowance to 5000kg with the need for DCPC training for those wishing to enter the commercial driving market. The exemption to this will probably be leisure vehicles, general emergency service vehicles and horse boxes.
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TerryReis said:
I have just waded through this lengthy and sometimes randomly off topic post. The one thing that strikes me is no one has posted "Yep I Got Done".
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Not with a motorhome but with a van and 7.5 tonner..Never in a H.G.V. BUSBY.
 
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Why don't someone phone the Minister of Transport and say if you want more money for the Government weigh every Motorhome ?

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Tony50 said:
Why don't someone phone the Minister of Transport and say if you want more money for the Government weigh every Motorhome ?
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I wrote to Grant Shapps over 5 year's ago about trucks having to overnight in laybys with no facilities.
He said then they were actively looking into the issue.......

I wrote again last year.......nothing done
 
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busby said:
Because that's the law...BUSBY
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Yes but If a 3500kg motorhome is weighed roadside and found to be upto 3675kg nothing will be done, you receive a verbal warning & there's no requirement for you to lessen the load. They'll even allow upto 5% on axle limits.

Having had long chats about this over the years with both HMG & Police the feedback is mainly a concern over a lack of driver appreciation of stopping distances & speed restrictions especially on paper up plated moho's - they up plate for a few hundred quid then still drive like it's 3500kg.

The intiatives both the DVSA & Police currently employ on our roads concerning leisure vehicles is firmly focused on tow ball nose weights, this is seen as the real concern in terms of safety. In 2023 they were alarmed at the high number of car & caravan combinations with nose weights far exceeding their limits and some VAG models tugging wobble boxes and not even having a GTW!
One which began yesterday (15/07) and will run for 6 weeks will also be targeting tow ball mounted carry boxes... although I don't know if this is due to the Spanish bloke who was pulled over on the AP-2 south of Lleida who had his dis membered girlfriend in a Thule Backspace cargo box!!!
 
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Jonno1103 said:
Yes but If a 3500kg motorhome is weighed roadside and found to be upto 3675kg nothing will be done, you receive a verbal warning & there's no requirement for you to lessen the load. They'll even allow upto 5% on axle limits.

Having had long chats about this over the years with both HMG & Police the feedback is mainly a concern over a lack of driver appreciation of stopping distances & speed restrictions especially on paper up plated moho's - they up plate for a few hundred quid then still drive like it's 3500kg.

The intiatives both the DVSA & Police currently employ on our roads concerning leisure vehicles is firmly focused on tow ball nose weights, this is seen as the real concern in terms of safety. In 2023 they were alarmed at the high number of car & caravan combinations with nose weights far exceeding their limits and some VAG models tugging wobble boxes and not even having a GTW!
One which began yesterday (15/07) and will run for 6 weeks will also be targeting tow ball mounted carry boxes... although I don't know if this is due to the Spanish bloke who was pulled over on the AP-2 south of Lleida who had his dis membered girlfriend in a Thule Backspace cargo box!!!
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Plenty of motorhome drivers on different forums have trouble with their brakes even on 3500 kg motorhomes on long decentS especially abroad..Probably because driving instructors don't teach using your gears to hold you back on hills..Back in the 60s pre plating on trucks brakes were virtually useless and you quickly learned to use low gears on steep hills..going up because of lack of power and coming down because of useless brakes..BUSBY

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busby said:
Plenty of motorhome drivers on different forums have trouble with their brakes even on 3500 kg motorhomes on long decentS especially abroad..Probably because driving instructors don't teach using your gears to hold you back on hills..Back in the 60s pre plating on trucks brakes were virtually useless and you quickly learned to use low gears on steep hills..going up because of lack of power and coming down because of useless brakes..BUSBY
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Descending Shap Fell in my Dad's fully loaded Albion was an experience. A downchange required full handbrake to hold the speed down during the not-too-quick double-declutch downchange.
 
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Jonno1103 said:
Yes but If a 3500kg motorhome is weighed roadside and found to be upto 3675kg nothing will be done, you receive a verbal warning & there's no requirement for you to lessen the load. They'll even allow upto 5% on axle limits.

Having had long chats about this over the years with both HMG & Police the feedback is mainly a concern over a lack of driver appreciation of stopping distances & speed restrictions especially on paper up plated moho's - they up plate for a few hundred quid then still drive like it's 3500kg.

The intiatives both the DVSA & Police currently employ on our roads concerning leisure vehicles is firmly focused on tow ball nose weights, this is seen as the real concern in terms of safety. In 2023 they were alarmed at the high number of car & caravan combinations with nose weights far exceeding their limits and some VAG models tugging wobble boxes and not even having a GTW!
One which began yesterday (15/07) and will run for 6 weeks will also be targeting tow ball mounted carry boxes... although I don't know if this is due to the Spanish bloke who was pulled over on the AP-2 south of Lleida who had his dis membered girlfriend in a Thule Backspace cargo box!!!
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Best place to keep a dismembered girlfriend I'd have thought. You wouldn't want her messing up the upholstery. She'd ave ad to be a big lass to exceed the towball weight though I'd imagine.
 
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tonyidle said:
Descending Shap Fell in my Dad's fully loaded Albion was an experience. A downchange required full handbrake to hold the speed down during the not-too-quick double-declutch downchange.
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How many derivers even know how to double-declutch, never mind practise it? When I started driving many vehicles had no synchromesh on 1st gear so if one wanted to change from 2nd down to 1st one had to double-declutch.

I still practise driving not using the clutch although it is easier now with the bevels on gears.

I once had to drive without a clutch from Wetherby to ST. Albans. It is possible.
 
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nicholsong said:
How many derivers even know how to double-declutch, never mind practise it? When I started driving many vehicles had no synchromesh on 1st gear so if one wanted to change from 2nd down to 1st one had to double-declutch.

I still practise driving not using the clutch although it is easier now with the bevels on gears.

I once had to drive without a clutch from Wetherby to ST. Albans. It is possible.
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When I started truck driving all gear boxs were crash..no synchro whatsoever..no brakes power steering or heaters either..BUSBY
 
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nicholsong said:
How many derivers even know how to double-declutch, never mind practise it? When I started driving many vehicles had no synchromesh on 1st gear so if one wanted to change from 2nd down to 1st one had to double-declutch.

I still practise driving not using the clutch although it is easier now with the bevels on gears.

I once had to drive without a clutch from Wetherby to ST. Albans. It is possible.
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I drove from mid Essex to Southend once the car was pushed to get it going and I had no clutch so good for you Wetherby to StAlbans is a bit further than my trip.

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Coolcats said:
I drove from mid Essex to Southend once the car was pushed to get it going and I had no clutch so good for you Wetherby to StAlbans is a bit further than my trip.
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I do not want to take too much credit, as I was got going by the AA just off the A1 and then had to switch to M18 and M1 and then only 3-4 miles at dead of night to house in St. Albans.

That was the only reason I even attempted it.
 
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I drove my frankia all the way from Ronda in Spain to the algarve with no clutch . Had no choice 😁
 
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nicholsong said:
How many derivers even know how to double-declutch, never mind practise it? When I started driving many vehicles had no synchromesh on 1st gear so if one wanted to change from 2nd down to 1st one had to double-declutch.

I still practise driving not using the clutch although it is easier now with the bevels on gears.

I once had to drive without a clutch from Wetherby to ST. Albans. It is possible.
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If it was a BMC / BL vehicle it only had syncro on the rest for the first 10K miles anyway unless one double-declutched as a matter of course. No baulk rings in the early days.
 
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tonyidle said:
Makes it more fun 😁.
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It was a little stressful and a miracle that we made it there but less trouble than trying to have an 8.5 metre tag axle recovered with 2 dogs and the price for a new clutch fitted in algarve was a lot cheaper than I'd have had to pay in Spain. So worth it in the end
 
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Coolcats said:
I drove from mid Essex to Southend once the car was pushed to get it going and I had no clutch so good for you Wetherby to StAlbans is a bit further than my trip.
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Did it in a loaded 8 legger from Dartford to Derby with no clutch...my tight arse boss said it was cheaper for me to drive it back and him repair it than take it into a garage.
BUSBY.
 
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They've been busy near the DVSA at Kidderminster this week. Combined Police/DVSA/HMRC operation.
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