Has anyone had their van weight checked when in Europe? (1 Viewer)

[mrhappydog]

I wondered if the weight is ever checked? I have met so many people who (like me) hurtle through France and Spain weighing a bit more than the 3500 kg that the weight my van is meant to be.
Can anyone tell me please if they have been stopped and weighed? Also what happens afterwards. Thanks.

 

[Mel]

This is not the Law.
But it is belueved no action would be taken up to 3850 kg
Over that unload excess and €90 fine.
That is what every Belgium believes.
I dont want to be the one to test it.
So I am always within my limit

 

[gus-lopez]

This is not the Law.
But it is belueved no action would be taken up to 3850 kg
Over that unload excess and €90 fine.
That is what every Belgium believes.
I dont want to be the one to test it.
So I am always within my limit

90€ is a bargain !
That's ok if max weight is 3500kgs, Wouldn't apply to me as mine is 2350kgs.
Last weighbridge for testing & weighing I saw in Spain ( up near Zaragoza/Huesca ), was ideal for an overnight as it obviously hadn't been used since the crisis started !

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[Mel]

I was replying to the OP he said his was 3500
They say 10% but I dont know anyone who had this done

 

[JohnH]

I had mine checked by French police when the Duane stopped me just after a toll near Tours. I was under weight and had no contraband. They only spoke French to us while looking around. Checked all cupboards etc. Then as we prepared to drive away the "boss", an attractive young lady said, in perfect English "nice van is it an English manufacturer".

 

[mc136]

We were stopped in France in august at tolls and weighed 200 kgs over (oops lesson learnt) fined €90 and sent on our way, just think of it as a French tax the officer said.

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[peter marshall]

Not me but a pal got stopped and weighed in France but he was under so ok. Pete

 

[Judge Mental]

"to live outside the law you have to be honest"

Bob Dylan

 

[Badknee]

Don't worry about being stopped and weighed, worry about WIM instead.

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[Lenny HB]

Never been stopped but we always seemed to be about 100kg over, so upgraded to 3850, just one less thing to worry about and can get on and enjoy our holidays.

 

[Larby]

We were stopped in France in august at tolls and weighed 200 kgs over (oops lesson learnt) fined €90 and sent on our way, just think of it as a French tax the officer said.

Not wishing to be pedantic, but once sent on your way, weren't you were still 200kgs over?
I understand in the UK any excess weight has to be removed before being able to move on.
Or is it as stated, a French tax?

 

[mc136]

We were indeed still 200 kgs over, the police officer said he could make us start unloading but he didn't. I wasnt going to argue, next time remember not to go overboard on the wine at Calais!

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[Funnymunny]

Myself and a mate got pulled just south of Limoges whilst heading north on the free motorway, they were pulling all motorhomes and wagons.
They took us off to a special area where they have a weighbridge, there was quite a queue waiting and they were obviously having problems with an old scrap wagon so the police officer walked down the line looking at every vehicle and just waved both of us out and around the wagons so off we shot breathing a sigh of releif

 

[Minxy]

IMV its not the fine you need to worry about ... if you have an accident ... your insurance might not pay out!

 

[DanielFord]

Never been checked, but I can't remember where it was, there was a sign that said 'Stop obligatory > 3.5t', so I dutifully followed the signs only to end up at a checkpoint that was shut! From that point on I have ignored the signs.

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[Judge Mental]

IMV its not the fine you need to worry about ... if you have an accident ... your insurance might not pay out!

Also handling and braking can be affected! Personally think it's an irresponsible attitude to drive an overweight vehicle......

 

[jumar]

We visit our Local Weighbridge before starting a longish trip, thats when we are more likely to be nearing the MAX. Here in Totana we have many to choose from, just pull on, insert the required coinage and get a print out.
Last week whilst returning home from a 4 month tour, we knew we could be near the max 35oo kg, or perhaps a tad over, pulled on, inserted the 50 cent and WOW................3460 kg that was a suprise to both of us.
So why bother, well when Mr Guardia Civil stops us, and says they are doing spot checks, as they sometimes do,I produce a current ticket, this could save us time sitting in a queue and giving them a reason to do further checks,
up to now never been stopped for these checks, but when we are are, we are ready, and totally agree with previous posting regarding Safety and fuel economy also.

 

[2657]

Also handling and braking can be affected! Personally think it's an irresponsible attitude to drive an overweight vehicle......

Safety margins!!!

Never even used to prosecute until you were 10 per cent over(***** tablet doesn't seem to have per cent symbol!)

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[Judge Mental]

Safety margins!!!

Never even used to prosecute until you were 10 per cent over(***** tablet doesn't seem to have per cent symbol!)

If on a heavy chassis no effect. But when I had a light chassis coachbuilt, the effect of being overloaded was horrible

 

[2657]

If on a heavy chassis no effect. But when I had a light chassis coachbuilt, the effect of being overloaded was horrible

In my opinion, based on some experience,if 200kg(6% on 3500k chassis) makes such a difference to the handling etc then the vehicle is under engineered and inherently unsafe.

 

[gus-lopez]

We visit our Local Weighbridge before starting a longish trip, thats when we are more likely to be nearing the MAX. Here in Totana we have many to choose from, just pull on, insert the required coinage and get a print out.
Last week whilst returning home from a 4 month tour, we knew we could be near the max 35oo kg, or perhaps a tad over, pulled on, inserted the 50 cent and WOW................3460 kg that was a suprise to both of us.
So why bother, well when Mr Guardia Civil stops us, and says they are doing spot checks, as they sometimes do,I produce a current ticket, this could save us time sitting in a queue and giving them a reason to do further checks,
up to now never been stopped for these checks, but when we are are, we are ready, and totally agree with previous posting regarding Safety and fuel economy also.

50c !!!!!!!!! 1 € here !!

If on a heavy chassis no effect. But when I had a light chassis coachbuilt, the effect of being overloaded was horrible

& the reverse is equally true. Unladen vehicles are very 'skittish Especially commercials.

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[Judge Mental]

In my opinion, based on some experience,if 200kg(6% on 3500k chassis) makes such a difference to the handling etc then the vehicle is under engineered and inherently unsafe.

It's dependent on lots of things, layout, rear overhang, loading.... bikes on rear rack on as long overhang, front being to light...whatever

It's why I prefer a wheel in each corner

 

[2657]

It's dependent on lots of things, layout, rear overhang, loading.... bikes on rear rack on as long overhang, front being to light...whatever

It's why I prefer a wheel in each corner

Can't argue with that, from what I have seen, gross overloading of the rear axle is the most common and the most dangerous but seems almost inevitable with the huge overhangs on many motor homes.

 

[Judge Mental]

Can't argue with that, from what I have seen, gross overloading of the rear axle is the most common and the most dangerous but seems almost inevitable with the huge overhangs on many motor homes.

Do you not think 200kg overweight will effect braking? Anything unfortunate happerned your insurance could very well have an excuse not to pay out. And if found a contributary factor to serious injury..would you be happy with that. Far eaier to be responsible and clued up

At least if you upgrade you know your within vans capabilities if you load sensibly

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[Scattycat]

I was under the impression that when you go to get your van uprated to 3.8 or whatever, it is only a paper exercise. That being the case a couple of hundered kilo over 3,5 shouldn't give a major braking or handeling problem, if it did then surely it would be more than a paper excersie.
The only problems I see in that case is you have to limit your speed, check you licence is one that allows you to drive a vehicle over 3.5 and it also restricts you from driving down certain roads in some towns

 

[2657]

Agree totally with being responsible and knowing your actual weights and limits.

Any weight on a vehicle will have some effect on the braking performance of a vehicle, simple mechanics, but my experience tells me that 200k over 3500 should not have a drastic effect on the braking performance, the insurance aspects I have no knowledge of.

As you said earlier the most dangerous aspect of overloading is on the rear axle which affects the steering and road holding of the vehicle, many of which are on the design limits anyway.

It seems to me that many motorhome designers and manufacturers primary objective is layout and squeezing the maximum amount of bodywork on the smallest, lightest chassis. Road performance seems sometimes to be a secondary consideration.

I agree with your comment about wheels on the corners and am currently thinking about a small van conversion, the one that you are selling looks superb but is too long for us as it will be our only vehicle. At the moment the favourite is a Romahome R30, some friends have an early model and the design and layout is superb.

The problem that we have to come to terms with is size, we have had a 5'er and now tour in a large'ish caravan so some jettisoning(or relocation) of stuff seems inevitable.

 

[2657]

I was under the impression that when you go to get your van uprated to 3.8 or whatever, it is only a paper exercise. That being the case a couple of hundered kilo over 3,5 shouldn't give a major braking or handeling problem, if it did then surely it would be more than a paper excersie.
The only problems I see in that case is you have to limit your speed, check you licence is one that allows you to drive a vehicle over 3.5 and it also restricts you from driving down certain roads in some towns

The paper upgrade would only be available to motorhomes built on an originally higher rated chassis which would have had a design weight of over 3500k.

If the motorhome was built on a chassis with an original design and plated weight of 3500k then modifications would be needed to upgrade.

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[Minxy]

I was under the impression that when you go to get your van uprated to 3.8 or whatever, it is only a paper exercise. That being the case a couple of hundered kilo over 3,5 shouldn't give a major braking or handeling problem, if it did then surely it would be more than a paper excersie.
The only problems I see in that case is you have to limit your speed, check you licence is one that allows you to drive a vehicle over 3.5 and it also restricts you from driving down certain roads in some towns

As has been mentioned already, if your base vehicle is already capable of a higher rate with no modification, such as the Ducato Maxi heavy chassis (16" wheels), it should just be a paper exercise to uprate to 425kg - this is exactly what we did recently using a report from an independent engineer at a cost of £76 instead of the £320 for SVTech! If however its on the standard Ducato chassis (15" wheels) it may not be able to go beyond 3500kg. See the below thread for more info:

http://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum...one-done-it-themselves-not-via-svtech.108656/

 

[jointerjohn]

we went to the dusseldorf motorhome show a couple of years ago the police had set up a temporary weighbridge to check motorhomes,