Payload

[Mickrik]

Hi there,

As I am slowly getting the hang of my Auto-trail Apache 634, I thought I would do the sensible thing and put her on a weighbridge.

The loading was with 2 full gas bottles 1/2 tank of diesel for 200+ miles, no water as it's free, I will use a 10L water can for travelling. All cooking and crockery implements, all bedding and us the two owners sitting in it. So the only thing missing is our spare clothing and personal possession which I expect will be about 40kg.

The V5 states 3500kg max capacity
Weighbridge came in at 3370kg

So I have a spare payload of 130kg with the van in running condition.

I recon if I fit a bike rack on, it may tip her over the weight limit and I won't be able to bring any nice trinkets back from our travels.

How many owners check the running condition weight of their vehicles?.

It was a great run out as I picked a weighbridge 20 miles away so I could give the engine a run. Though the satnav (CoPilot Caravan) sent me down a country lane where I was touching hedges both sides and grass growing up the middle.

Mick

 

[Techno]

I fill mine to the gunnels and still have at least 650kg spare

 

[hilldweller]

If there are plates as in more than one plate, why would they be different? .

FIAT plate their chassis and send it out of the door, the converter then does their thing which radically changes the chassis and may alter what FIAT said the bare chassis is capable of.

 

[EX51SSS]

FIAT plate their chassis and send it out of the door, the converter then does their thing which radically changes the chassis and may alter what FIAT said the bare chassis is capable of.

Yes, actually in the part of my reply you didn't include, I sort of worked it out myself and was saying to use the converters plate and not the base manufacturer (as in fiat, Mercedes, ford etc). Thanks for highlighting my point. However, Fiat don't always plate to the door. Mine is Fiat and not at the door, posts or step. However, it doesn't matter as I have the Hymer plate.
After weighing fully ready to go on holiday and adding 75k for Janet (as she wasn't there at the weighbridge) I still have in excess of 400k payload on a 3.5 tonne moho.

 

[Mickrik]

Ah right ok. So don't use the toilet or shower or no need to wash the cups etc. There's a novel idea.

Heh heh............. not while I am driving, don't use a mobile phone either.

Seriously though, can't see the point of lugging a tank of water around. The only exception would be if you are going wild from the off.

Thanks all for your advice and opinions. The sensible thing to do is go through SVTech and follow their upgrade recomendations. I will do this once the V5c has arrived from DVLA (grrrr). After all I want to be a happy funster and play inside the rules.

Mick

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Minxy]

Heh heh............. not while I am driving, don't use a mobile phone either.

Seriously though, can't see the point of lugging a tank of water around. The only exception would be if you are going wild from the off.

Thanks all for your advice and opinions. The sensible thing to do is go through SVTech and follow their upgrade recomendations. I will do this once the V5c has arrived from DVLA (grrrr). After all I want to be a happy funster and play inside the rules.

Mick

The even MORE sensible thing to do is to use the chap I did which I've liked to in my previous posting.

 

[EX51SSS]

Heh heh............. not while I am driving, don't use a mobile phone either.

Seriously though, can't see the point of lugging a tank of water around. The only exception would be if you are going wild from the off.

Thanks all for your advice and opinions. The sensible thing to do is go through SVTech and follow their upgrade recomendations. I will do this once the V5c has arrived from DVLA (grrrr). After all I want to be a happy funster and play inside the rules.

Mick

Definitely a personal choice but IMO I can't understand for the life of me why someone would go completely empty and only ever have half a tank of diesel but hey ho, perhaps I need to learn more about this pastime.

 

[EX51SSS]

Heh heh............. not while I am driving, don't use a mobile phone either.

Seriously though, can't see the point of lugging a tank of water around. The only exception would be if you are going wild from the off.

Thanks all for your advice and opinions. The sensible thing to do is go through SVTech and follow their upgrade recomendations. I will do this once the V5c has arrived from DVLA (grrrr). After all I want to be a happy funster and play inside the rules.

Mick

To be fair, I find that the carrying of water so useful and far outweighs any possible negatives. Some say it'll cost in fuel but throughout my few miles I've found no discernible difference in mpg. If I could absolutely guarantee that I would have absolutely no problems in getting to a toilet when required or having a shower ad hoc, then maybe I might travel with less. However, as a lot of travelling is done in and around France and Germany, I've found that whenever there is a potable water supply then I fill up because the next place may charge. Some may call that being tight but why pay for water when other places it's available foc? Plus, always expect the unexpected whether in this country or abroad. Things can and do happen and if you're stuck unexpectedly in the wrong sort of place, at least you can use the loo that's fitted.
I forgot to mention that I usually carry around 6 x 2 litres of bottled water for consumption and that was in there when I went to the local weighbridge.
We all have our own thoughts how we travel. I certainly can't knock your decision to travel bone dry and I wouldn't expect anyone to knock the idea of travelling full of water. I've never found any adverse affects from driving or camping with a full tank of water and not found any plusses for driving with an empty water tank.
I appreciate you can't understand why someone would want to go lugging around water but equally I can't understand why someone would not have at least some water in the tank. It's there, made for the job. Toilet, shower, wash basin and sink can all used as and when required.
Plus, because I fill up prior to leaving home or a site, I don't have to prime the taps in the sink/shower or, most importantly, the boiler when I get there. The thought of having to fill up on arrival, then start priming taps and boiler before parking just is completely alien to me. We can just Park (site/Aire/wild) and have hot water within a short time rather than queuing for supply then parking. Your choice.
I'd seriously look at @Minxy Girl way of uprating.

 

[Minxy]

Agree with you EX51SSS, we always have a full tank of water when we leave home and rarely let it drop below half, usually topping up before it gets to that point as the opportunity arises. We've found this to be a sensible approach as at a couple of the aires the bornes were out of order, and a couple of others were ones I certainly would NOT have wanted to fill from! We now have a 100L water tank which is luxury since our last PVC only had a 60L one and it was a nuisance 'worrying' about running out.

We are very fortunate that our new PVC has a long-range 120L fuel tank which we don't usually let go below 50% if we can help it, unless we know we can get fuel cheaper somewhere (eg Andorra) so will let it go lower in that case.

 

[Mickrik]

I might have a bit of a Mystery here as I have found the Fiat plate on the front flitch ok. I can find no trace of an Auto-trail plate anywhere.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Larrynwin]

Could be anywhere, the Hymer plate on mine is on the outside below and to one side of the habitation door.
The Fiat and Alco ones under the bonnet.

 

[Speve]

I though the. Apache was something like 3650kg perhaps it's been down plated?

 

[mpdcymru]

I might have a bit of a Mystery here as I have found the Fiat plate on the front flitch ok. I can find no trace of an Auto-trail plate anywhere.

That is not uncommon and why I said it maybe on the door frame (either door), the bulkhead or the flitch plate near the bonnet catch. I have also seen them on the endge of battery boxes! They can, literally, be anywhere.

My advice is to have a good look around the whole vehicle and, if you still cannot find it get in touch with the manufacturers (Body this is not the chassis manufacturer) and ask for a replacement. If you cannot direct DVSA to the plate they will take the information from the manufacturers plate (chassis manufacturer) that they can see and that will almost certainly be lighter than that of the converters hence leading you into more of an overload and hence a more serious offence.

Don't be tempted to go without a plate either, not dispalying a correct manufacturers plate is an offence in itself under the Road Traffic Act 1988.

 

[Mickrik]

I have contacted Auto-Trail for help with the location of the plate.

I am still waiting for the V5c to arrive, the dealer forgot to post it off after contacting them of it's whereabouts.

The intention is to have it uprated to 3850kg once I have the V5c

 

[Lenny HB]

We now have a 100L water tank which is luxury since our last PVC only had a 60L one and it was a nuisance 'worrying' about running out.
.

Our biggest gripe about our current van is the piddly little 100 Lt tank always carry 2 x 20 Lt containers in the garage.
At least the new van on order has a150 Lt tank.

As for checking weight we do it before most trips, probably won't bother with the new van as it's on a 4500kg chassis and has about 1300kg payload, obviously will check it the first time we load it up.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Candapack]

I have contacted Auto-Trail for help with the location of the plate.

I am still waiting for the V5c to arrive, the dealer forgot to post it off after contacting them of it's whereabouts.

The intention is to have it uprated to 3850kg once I have the V5c

I have a 2015 Apache 632, which was at 3650kg when I bought it. Added an extra battery and a towbar, as we already had a towbar mounted bike rack. We are a couple, plus a small dog. Loaded the van up with everything except food and clothes, filled the fuel tank and left water tank empty.
Went to a weighbridge fully expecting to find out how much we had to play with for food, clothes and water - result, 3660kg.
So, we got it uprated to 3,850kg by SV Tech (sorry Minxy) but it required having air suspension fitted to the rear axle. They also uprated the rear axle load to 2240kg, from 2000kg. The whole exercise didn't leave much change out of £1,000.
We haven't been back to a weighbridge yet, but we will. But we are assuming that 190kg (well, a bit less, the air suspension weighs a few kg) is plenty for food, clothes and water. (We always travel with water, our view is that a motorhome with no water is not fit for purpose. We aim for about a half tank, but as the gauge is completely useless, it's a bit of a guess)

 

[Speve]

I have a 2015 Apache 632, which was at 3650kg when I bought it. Added an extra battery and a towbar, as we already had a towbar mounted bike rack. We are a couple, plus a small dog. Loaded the van up with everything except food and clothes, filled the fuel tank and left water tank empty.
Went to a weighbridge fully expecting to find out how much we had to play with for food, clothes and water - result, 3660kg.
So, we got it uprated to 3,850kg by SV Tech (sorry Minxy) but it required having air suspension fitted to the rear axle. They also uprated the rear axle load to 2240kg, from 2000kg. The whole exercise didn't leave much change out of £1,000.
We haven't been back to a weighbridge yet, but we will. But we are assuming that 190kg (well, a bit less, the air suspension weighs a few kg) is plenty for food, clothes and water. (We always travel with water, our view is that a motorhome with no water is not fit for purpose. We aim for about a half tank, but as the gauge is completely useless, it's a bit of a guess)

Problem is a half tank of water is 50kg so your back to square one not much spare capacity.

 

[Purple2]

Full tank of water might take you over but you can always dump it. 100 ltrs is a 100 kilos. The bike rack, if its Fiamma wont weigh much and even two largish electric bikes will only weigh a total of about 50kg

 

[jnn]

Apols for possibly daft question

If the conversion is self build do you just go by the weights on the manufacturer's plate?

And a sneaky second one, what do weighbridges usually charge for a weighing?

 

[Speve]

We have one that only charges if you want a print out and that costs £7 I can't help on the self build bit though

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Puddleduck]

We weigh ours all loaded for a trip at least once a year. We get both axles and total weight done. Costs £8 at the local haulage contractor. Flat plate bridge and it is a clean and tidy yard.

Even though the weighbridge ticket only tells you what it weighed at that instant of time I do feel that having the ticket shows you are aware of payload and have done your best to ensure compliance.

 

[jnn]

That's my thinking too, I'm going to weigh it when we bring it home (with just solar panels, a heavy duty floor and a window added) so that we know how much we have to play with and then as you say periodically just to check. It'll be good to keep the level of accumulated 'stuff' of vital importance but never used to a minimum too.

 

[mitzimad]

Apols for possibly daft question

If the conversion is self build do you just go by the weights on the manufacturer's plate?

And a sneaky second one, what do weighbridges usually charge for a weighing?

Your self build will be at the weight of the original van but you can usually get it uprated

 

[Mickrik]

I have a 2015 Apache 632, which was at 3650kg when I bought it. Added an extra battery and a towbar, as we already had a towbar mounted bike rack. We are a couple, plus a small dog. Loaded the van up with everything except food and clothes, filled the fuel tank and left water tank empty.
Went to a weighbridge fully expecting to find out how much we had to play with for food, clothes and water - result, 3660kg.
So, we got it uprated to 3,850kg by SV Tech (sorry Minxy) but it required having air suspension fitted to the rear axle. They also uprated the rear axle load to 2240kg, from 2000kg. The whole exercise didn't leave much change out of £1,000.
We haven't been back to a weighbridge yet, but we will. But we are assuming that 190kg (well, a bit less, the air suspension weighs a few kg) is plenty for food, clothes and water. (We always travel with water, our view is that a motorhome with no water is not fit for purpose. We aim for about a half tank, but as the gauge is completely useless, it's a bit of a guess)

Hi ,

Did you not have to uprate your tyres as well for the extra axle weight. I am looking at having air suspension and a different tyre with a 1120kg rating

 

[Mickrik]

Hi All,

I am well impressed with all of the comments on this thread and it has shown me what I need to do.

I thank you all

Mick

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Mickrik]

I though the. Apache was something like 3650kg perhaps it's been down plated?

I think it has always been run with 3500kg according to the V5

 

[Puddleduck]

When we get home after a trip we tend to take most stuff out of the van to put it through dish washer or washing machine and any accumulated paperwork gets filed or thrown. That does keep the clutter in the motorhome down but means I have to reload before we go away. Obviously the basics (pans, plates, cutlery etc) get put back as soon as they have been washed but bedding and so on needs to be taken from house to van.

Some things we use when we are at home as well as when we are away (cycles and kayaks so the gear needs to go back and forth).

I am thinking about having the base units, bench and wall cupboards on one wall of the utility room taken out and replaced with floor to ceiling cupboards. The base units and wall cupboards are impractical and don't hold much. I need something that will take the plastic storage crates so I just have to take the crate that I need....... crates for kayak gear, crates for cycle gear, space for maps and information by area ...... I foresee a trip to IKEA at some time in the near future

 

[jnn]

One of my mates already has the van labelled as a very good excuse for an Ikea trip

 

[BusyBuilder]

We weighed our Hymer 552CL with full load of food for 3 days wild camp, full 120l water tank, half grey water tank, full fuel tank, two LPG bottles, all bedding and clothes, bike rack (no bike), extra leisure battery and solar panel, George the pointer, me and the wife and we still had 300kg left, at 3500kg. (And we could still uprate it to take more)

I tried to think of anything else I could load up with ......

 

[Mickrik]

Hi Folks,

Some info for other Auto-Trail owners if they are unsure about the axle weight sticker location for 2008 to 1012 models

It will be on the engine front panel or in the power supply unit housing.

See attached pictures

She has a standard 3500kg Sticker
She has standard rear springs
she has 215/70 R15 109 rated tyres.

I will uprate her because she is lovely and she is worth it.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Minxy]

We weighed our Hymer 552CL with full load of food for 3 days wild camp, full 120l water tank, half grey water tank, full fuel tank, two LPG bottles, all bedding and clothes, bike rack (no bike), extra leisure battery and solar panel, George the pointer, me and the wife and we still had 300kg left, at 3500kg. (And we could still uprate it to take more)

I tried to think of anything else I could load up with ......

If you jettison the contents of the half full grey water tank when you fill the fresh water tank you'll have even more payload to play with!!!