Weights and payloads

2017 Carthago C-compactline i138 - 4 berth.

originally plated at 3850Kg but i wanted to run it at 3500kg, if possible.

After fully loading for European trip I drove to the local weighbridge still with 120 ltr of water and 90 litres of fuel along with all bedding, pots, pans, tools, food, wine and ebikes and the two adults at about 115 kg.

Whole Gross: 3420 Kg.

Front axle: 1600 Kg.

Rear axle: 1820 Kg.

I, too, sent these figures off to Michelin and they kindly sent me back a set of tyre pressures for various weight loads.

so, fully loaded with as much as I would ever carry, 80 Kg spare (for more wine on the return) and loads of axle weight spare.

I'm obviously carrying too many cans of baked beans. Mine came in at 3460Kg and I haven't got the dropdown bed in mine. Do you carry a spare wheel? One wonders what the tolerances are on weigh bridges. As they are designed to weigh substantially heavier loads than our relatively puny motorhomes, are they sensitive enough to pick up the odd 20-30Kg?

CY, i carry a spare tyre only, no wheel....

when i was looking to buy this van, i checked out a very low mileage one at Southdowns, similar extras but auto box...

i had it weighed and there was quite a difference between that one and the weight in known condition or the in i bought, which i also had weighed.

this is why a buyer cant rely on brochures.....or salesmen.

once i knew the actual weight of the van and what was going to be added to it, i coyld calculate accurately my final MIRO, and thus payload.

when i actuslly weighed it all up against my 'calculated prediction' i was only 20kg out.

Colin - you are right to be concerned. Payload was the biggest issue for us when looking to buy a motorhome then a caravan. When I picked up out new Coachman Laser 575 I took it to a local weigh bridge (weight tolerance +/- 20kgs and was pleasantly surprised to find it came in very close to Coachman's predicted unladen weight making allowances for A/c, leisure battery and motormovers etc. Everything which has subsequently been put into the caravan has been weighed. 

The industry faces huge challenges over weight in terms of increasing payload and decreasing MTPLMs to enable PHEVs and electric cars a chance of towing.   

< MTPLM 1350kg, payload 300kg, I can up plate it to 500kg.

I doubt even my wife could defeat that!

 ... I doubt even my wife could defeat that!

Is that a challenge? 😉😉

i certainly know of one mh purchaser who, on paper, appeared to have around 500kg payload (a heavy, long van on a Fiat 4250kg chassis) and he ticked so many options and accessories that the van was actually unusable (even when upgraded to 4500kg) and it went back to the dealer and the identical vehicle was 'negotiated' but this time built on an Iveco (upto 6.7t) base.

you can obviously never have too much payload😢

That is one of the big problems as you say facing manufacturers worldwide, it has been seen in UK vans for years ,where buyers want all the latest bells and whistles in a four berth and or fixed bed ,and tow it it with a a small family saloon

But that's more of an issue concerning the MTPLM and not payload. Even a caravan with a relatively big MTPLM are known to suffer from an inadequate payload margin. If the buyer wants a caravan with all bells and whistles it should be obvious that one needs to look out for a suitable payload margin which may drive the necessary MTPLM up to a level where a bigger towcar would be required.

If you don't know the weight of the Caravan (when full up in holiday mode) how do you determine the tyre pressures for the weight they are carrying ?

Or isn't a Caravans weight as critical as a Motorhomes weight on each axle ?