Motor homes and payloads

When we had a MH it was a 3.5t one, at one stage we towed my little car on an A frame which was great as the car could carry some of the items that normally went inside the MH. 

After a couple of years using it in France and other northern European countries we wanted to go to Spain and they don't like/allow A frames.

OH also at that time had a fancy for a 3 wheeled scooter a Peugeot Metropolis, fairly heavy but comfortable for 2 folk, so we decided to buy one and have a trailer made for it.

Spain then became our next destination for a couple of years, it was great as having the trailer built we could carry the loungers tool box and other bits and pieces which meant nothing on the floor of the MH while travelling.

Positioning the trailer by hand once at a site wasn't a problem as long as it was fairly flat with no curbs. Not all sites have good enough space to be able to reverse it onto the pitch. 

Having the scooter gave a much wider area of sightseeing without moving the MH, it also came in very handy for the shopping when using the cycles were not suitable, its amazing how many bottles of wine you can carry under the saddle on a Metro 

The disadvantages of a trailer is having somewhere to store it when not in use, having to pay more (much more in some cases) for the ferry, of course once on site it does take up part of your pitch and in lots of places now you have to pay for having a trailer on your pitch anything from 2 - 5€ a day, fair adds up over a 3 month trip. 

'Keith, without being too politically incorrect, some couples weigh a blooming site more than your 11 stone each these days (nominal 75kg allowed for each within most manufacturers allowances'

I appreciate that some people weigh considerably more than we do, I was showing what we carry in our Motorhome, but at my cardiac rehabilitation class many decide that losing weight is not a bad idea.

As we get more mileage and holidays under our belt the need to take items we initially thought necessary has diminished, along with their weight, and even on month trips abroad we carry far less than on our earlier journeys.

Emptying the garage after ever trip and seeing what you used and what is still gathering dust is one way of helping to reduce the load.

We have a payload surplus of about 100 kgs (after taking the MH to a weighbridge) and that is ample for the carrying of wine and brandy from one country to another.

Payloads are a minefield. Even when you think you have enough, can you load up so as to not exceed axle weights. On my last motorhome I had a payload of 750Kgms but I could never achieve this without overloading the rear axle.

As an aside I have just had mine MOT'd, they weigh it as part of the brake tests. If you get the results you have a pretty good idea of what payload is left.

peedee

What I can't understand is why the NCC persist in quoting MTPLM's of caravans on the basis of MIRO plus a calculated standard payload but they don't do similar with motorhomes.

afaik, when i started MHing, 11 yrs ago, there used to be a 'std' measure of the MIRO which included driver at 75kg (perhaps this needs to be at least 85kg these days?) full fuel tank, full fresh water tank, a full gas bottle and ehu leads..

for some reason (though, obvious really) this got changed to each manufacturer including what they liked, as long as they put it in the (microscopically) small print...

with vans getting bigger and with more and more 'essential' kit (full ovens, large fridge/freezers, huge fixed beds etc) something has to give and materials consequently got lighter....(with commensurate tumble in quality)...

..but this wasnt enough to offset the rise in weight so how could the converters make their vans remain 'usable' at 3.5t?

easy, change the rules and take things out of the MIRO

first thing to come out was the full water tank.....WOW, a van that actually weighed 50kg MORE than its predecessor now had 50kg MORE payload, how clever is that?

great selling point...but not good for the unwary customer...

I am a vanner , out of curiosity been in van this afternoon , the weight ive got rid of with stuff we dont use anymore suprised me ,, Think i will keep the kites , i forgot we had , water pistols anyone ?

We have an Elddis autoquest 155 7m long with a payload of 500kg
we do an extended tour every year to Spain so this year we have up rated  the van to 4100kg giving us 2250kg on the rear axle and over 1000kg payload. No more worries about being over weight.

if we didn’t do our extended tour I think we would have stuck to 3500kg but we take a lot of gear plus bikes for 8+ weeks

Kev, how did you acheive this as it looks like the van is supplied on the light, 3500kg chassis?

i do know that AutoSleeper deliver some of their vans on the heavy, 4250kg chassis but are downplated to 3500kg to make them 'license friendly' but easily up-rateable (back to 4250kg) should the owner require this.

is this how Elddis do it?

otherwise, you'll need physical modifications to beef up the light chassis, so you're looking at larger wheels/tyres and probably air assistance??

if your van is rated at 4100kg and the rear is 2250kg then the front must be 1850kg which is the std light chassis rating, so i reckon this is unchanged and ive answered my own question....

mods to rear axle only??

BB, I like you get concerned about weights, we usually run fine but as said with the extended Spanish tour it would tip us over the 2000kg rear axle, we have quite a long overhang with the under bed storage at the rear, plus fresh water tank of 100kg at the rear also. We travel with the water tank full when touring so if we need to stop somewhere with no supplies we have everything onboard for about 3 days.
I got air assist on the rear, and up rated tyres to 225 70 15 (112) wheels were rated high enough (info from the manufacturer not Elddis)

front stayed the same max at 1850 and rear increased from 2000 to 2250.

I got JR consultancy to do the calculations and paperwork for me, I have a new weight plate which goes next to the original under the bonnet, a weight certificate and a letter for whoever, dvla, visa ect.

Happy with the result as only 55 years old and can downgrade when we eventually come to sell.