Motor homes and payloads

If buying from a dealer ask him to weigh it as it stands on his forecourt,  add 200 kg for full load of fuel and water, then weigh yourself, your wife and your bikes and add all that too. What does it come to? 

I am sure BB will be along to give you chapter and verse on motorhome payload soon. When I was looking to change our previous motorhomes one unusual thing I noticed about Autotrail coachbuilt motorhomes (not van conversions) is that they appear only to have 60 litre fuel tanks(as opposed to the normal 90 litres), probably to save weight. On the surface payloads seem quite generous compared to caravans but when you have to take everything in one vehicle it becomes more critical. You need check the spec for the motorhome in question as usually they only allow 75kgs for the driver, maybe no water on board so if you want to carry a good supply of water, a passenger, dog, bikes it all eats into the available payload so you have to do your calculations. Depending on your age and licence it may be possible to up-plate the vehicle to say 3650 or higher but there are perils in doing this. Perhaps you need to cast your net wider in terms of models as you will certainly find some continental models with higher payloads, providing having the door on the other side is not a problem to you. We have recently changed to a different model Bailey motorhome which has a payload of around 750kgs which gives us a bit of leeway over our previous model. 

David

Thanks both. I am surprised how little mention there is of payloads on a number of the dealer sites. I'm guessing 500kg would be about the minimum I'd get away with? (allowing for food/ crockery/ etc etc)

Will try and find some continental models to look at 

hi, not chapter and verse but to say that the AT 632 has been the subject of a number of 'payload' threads.

IMHO, the new model (longer/heavier than a likely second hand model) is certainly 'difficult' to run at 3500kg even with just two people..just go to AT website and look at their 'weight calculator' page for the 632.

older versions may be a little better but care may be needed.

even with 500kg of payload, youll quickly eat into that with a full water tank and your OH (175 together) bikes and dog (another 30)...so now less than 300 left.

this will need to accommodate and outside gear (tables, chairs, water mgt kit, tools etc) along with all your 'living' equipment like pots, pans, electrical items, clothes, boots, bedding (far heavier than you'd think), books, maps etc.

there are also factory/dealer fitted extras like a 2nd leisure battery, satellite system, solar panel, inverters, bike rack (even inside a garage)

i like ET s idea of weighing the van as is and adding everything ypu can think of.

fixed rear beds and a garage underneath is al ost the exclusive preserve of continental vans and there are loads to choose from.

good luck.

I've got a Marquis Majestic 125 running at 3500Kg. Garage at back under a transverse fixed double. 6M long, so fairly compact. The Peugeot van is front heavy, so unless you travel with paving slabs for your outdoor space, it'll run at that weight.

After looking at alt the very good advice here ,i would keep my caravan

Having been stopped by the police and escorted to a weigh bridge I have become far more weight conscious. We were just okay but the experience was not one I wish to repeat. The good thing mind was that we were issued with a free printout of the axel weights. Once home I weighed everything, including wife, that was removable from the van. At 1kg per litre I also had a gestimate for the water on board. As a result we had a real rethink about the essentials we carried and decided to adopt a light approach to packing for our tours. Quite surprising how much we carried which added very little to the enjoyment of our pastime. We now also only ever carry enough water on board when traveling for a couple of kettles. 

Since our ten years of motor caravans and now back with towing a caravan,I have yet to  understand all the "negative?"worry about payloads of caravans, as the ever present go almost any where with no getting ready to move,support vehicle along side with  enough load capacity for all our long tour needs

folk contemplate moving to a mh for lots of reasons, one is to be able to pull over when you feel like it and stay for one night or more if it appeals.

we couldnt do the sort of impromptu touring we do in the 2/3 weeks we take to bimble to or from the south of france or spain if we had a caravan..it would be too much hassle and we couldnt stop at some of the places we do as they are for mh only.

re: payloads, you just need to understand what is available and how that can best be used.

some vans are easier to live with,ayload wise, than others.

we have a rear bedded, garage model with many extras and can run comfortably at 3.5t carrying everything for an extended three month trip, incl electric bikes.

it can certainly be done, but care needs to be taken over model choice.

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