Weight Plate (1 Viewer)

[andyman]

Just noticed the weight plate on my M/H reads as the photo. It is rergistered as 4000kg but I think the plate reads 3500kg.

 

[phil1946]

Hi,

Your plate means that your Gross Vehicle Weight, fully loaded, must not exceed 3,500Kg. Gross Train Weight must not exceed 5,200Kg (you can therefore tow up to 1,700Kg). Front axle must not exceed 2,100Kg and rear axle not exceed 2,400Kg. The difference between the 4,500Kg front and rear axle total is to allow for unequalised loading within the 3,500Kg maximum.

 

[pappajohn]

it sure does read 3500kg gross.
are you certain there isnt another plate somewhere.....should be under the bonnet but may be anywhere.
if not it needs sorting as the ministry will look at the plate that is on and thats the one they will weigh you by.

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[andyman]

are you certain there isnt another plate somewhere.....if not it needs sorting as the ministry will look at the plate that is on and thats the one they will weigh you by.

No other plate that I can see. When I was looking to buy an Aviano the 3500kg ones I looked at were all on 15" rims. Mine is on 16" and has the extra leaf in the rear spring. Only noticed the plate did not match the V5 when I cleaned it today.

Andy

 

[markymark]

Hi there
i thought the same when i looked at my engine plate and V5, they didnt match up.
After some hunting i found another plate fixed to a panel behind the passenger seat behind the curtains. This had been added by the converter Swift and married up with V5:thumb:

 

[pappajohn]

Hi there
i thought the same when i looked at my engine plate and V5, they didnt match up.
After some hunting i found another plate fixed to a panel behind the passenger seat behind the curtains. This had been added by the converter Swift and married up with V5:thumb:

as i said, could be anywhere but where you expect it to be. :Angry:

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[Terry]

I personally would not bother about it if as you say the V5 states 4,000 kg (4 ton) even if you got weighed by the ministry they would go on the V5 as it would show on the computer.Even if they went on the plate 3,500 kg and ticketed you as soon as you went to court and showed the V5 -4,000 kg it would be thrown out
terry

 

[markymark]

as i said, could be anywhere but where you expect it to be. :Angry:

Angry man, i was trying to give a idea of where to look

 

[Terry]

Angry man, i was trying to give a idea of where to look

Hi Mark PPJ is not having a go at you just where the convertors put the plate
terry

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[pappajohn]

Angry man, i was trying to give a idea of where to look

Ooops....wasnt meant to be the angry smiley.....supposed to be a oh:

 

[jonandshell]

We had the same problem with our Chausson upon purchasing it.
We noted the plate was wrong and it took two months of threatening the dealer with us rejecting the vehicle and legal action until it was sorted.
Ours was registered and taxed at 3850kg, but it was plated at 3500kg!

It was sorted eventually and the correct plate was supplied.

My advice would be to ensure you have the correct plate supplied by the manufacturer. You will be officially overloaded and you have a vehicle which is illegally registered and taxed as private HGV. This might also affect your insurance cover in the case of a claim! I know the fault lies completely with the original retailer, but it is your responsibility as the driver to ensure your vehicle complies with the law.
If you bought this MH from a dealer, I would get onto them immediately.

The advice above follows the gist of what we were told by the Caravan Club legal department. If you are a member, it might be worth contacting them yourself.

 

[Jaws]

LOL !! If you listen to ANYTHING the idiots at the CC say you are, sooner or later, going to come unstuck..

No idea why folk think they actually know of which they speak..

Every single dealing I have had with the buffoons has driven my opinion of them lower.

I am sure, given the law of averages, that sooner or later they MUST get something right, but if the whole thing hinged on what was on the weight plate rather than the V5, methinks an awful lot of folk would not bother to go through the uprating scheme with SV Tech or similar.. They would just get a plate made up and use that !!

Terry is spot on. ( although of course it would be handy to find where the other plate is hidden :thumb: )

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[jonandshell]

With respect to your views, John, the plate pictured at the top of this thread IS the converter's plate and it reads a MTPLM of 3500kg.
There will be another plate present, fitted by Fiat, on the chassis cowl. This will read 3500kg also. It is very common on continental vans for the chassis to be downplated to 3500kg by the manufacturer despite a build suitable for 3850/4000kg.
This is obviously to allow for those without cat C1 entitlement on their license.
It is then at the converter's discretion as to whether they up-plate the MH for a better payload.
Our Transit chassis is plated at 3500kg by Ford, but it was built with heavy duty rear suspension to allow for a MTPLM of 3850kg.
Chausson built our MH originally as 3500kg. Overflows were present on the fresh and waste tanks to lower the MIRO and allow a reasonable payload. It was marketed and sold to us in the UK as 3850kg. The vehicle was registered and taxed as 3850kg by the dealer.
At the time of registration, the plate showed 3500kg. The vehicle, was plated at 3500kg, and because of this, was incorrectly registered. Furthermore, if the vehicle was stopped and found to over 3500kg in mass, it would be overloaded.
Overloading a vehicle may cause your insurance not to pay out in the event of an accident. I personally wouldn't want to risk it in a 70k a-class, would you?

This is a very black an white issue, the manufacturer's plate, whether it be the converter's or chassis manufacturer's is what counts.

Get on the phone to the dealer!!!

 

[Jaws]

Errrr.. My van has recently been upped from 3.5 to 4.1t
The plate still says 3.5 but the V5 and indeed the tax disk tell a different story ( they tell the truth :thumb: )
The new uprated plate is there for all to see IF they can find it..
The converters plate and the Pug plate are easily spotted.. the new plate is a tad out of the way

I specifically asked about removing the old plate.. was asked back if I would ever change it back.. Cannot see in to the future so said maybe.. Was told best leave the old plate on then as it does not weigh much does not eat much and is really only there for MY benefit and not VOSA as they will have the full ( correct ) info any way

 

[pappajohn]

opposite scenario with mine John.....

plated as 3850kg (both Alko and Swift plates) but log book and tax disc as 3500kg....soon sorted with the help of swifts. :thumb:

it does make a mockery of putting a weight plate on though if the dvla register is different but accurate.

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[jonandshell]

Hi John

Our van is a similar case to yours. The Ford plate says 3500kg, but it is overruled by the 3850kg Chausson one.

In the absence of further plate facts from Andyman's Burstner, I would hazard a guess that the 4tonne fiat chassis cowl has been downplated to 3500kg to allow Burstner the freedom to uprate it or to keep it at cat B license weight as required.

The evidence on the picture shows Burstner haven't taken this opportunity. Of course, I might be wrong on this and there might be a 4000kg Fiat plate lurking somewhere, but my experience wouldn't support this theory.

However, we do both agree that the v5 and the heaviest plate fitted should tally!

It was a fantastic weekend at Thetford, by the way!

 

[andyman]

A call to the dealer and I have now found another plate hidden away under the bonnet showing 4000kgs. All other weights are the same as the photo.

 

[Jaws]

There !! all that discussion and waffle and it was there all the time !! DOH ! ! LOL !!!

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[jonandshell]

Well done Andyman!

Its always a good idea to keep the dealers on their toes though!