Hi, newbie with a Rapido (1 Viewer)

[styleruk]

Hi, Just bought a 2004 Rapido A class and am planning our first trip, so have a ton of questions.

First one (and i'll post it elsewhere)

Dog cage; I have a steel dog cage for our large Husky, however it weighs about 80 tons and is about the size of a football pitch even though it folds. I'm looking for an aluminium cage that folds down to large suitcase without dissasembling our large dog. My search is ongoing...to the point that I may make my own.

Hose pipe; need to get one but don't want one of the lay flat types and also don't want a standard garden hose. May have to settle for one of those, but does anyone else know of a great idea? Maybe a smaller diameter hose in a box that you don't have to completely unroll but is still long enough. i mean, you don't really need the diameter they are for a garden to fill your water up.

Battery; I'm looking for a new battery, the one that came is not that new. I'm thinking more than 110amp, I have fitted 280w of solar panels and would like a decent battery to fit in the hole I have, (400x230mm), I have contemplated fitting a second one but for now I will settle for a good single battery.

Awning; the awning I have only has a top (sorry for my technical terms.), it does have these small diameters on the sides and I wondered if I can fit sides to this, does anyone know? I've attached a pic of what I have.

Max load (in french); I have a tag under the bonnet that tells me PTAC; 3500kg, PTRA; 5000kg, I assume this means 3500kg max load (total...everthing including two people?) Just not too sure of that. The 5000kg must be max load including towing?
then it has...
Poids maxi essieu avant 1750kg (that must be front axle max)
Poids maxi essieu Arriere 2240kg (that must be the rr axle max)
those add up to the total (almost).
If anyone can help me with this it'll help. I'll be taking it to a weighbridge next week to check out what it weighs. I'm sure I read a max of 3850kg somewhere in the books but this tag worries me a bit, and it's what you would get done by if pulled.


Anyway, a few questions for now if anyone can help. Meanwhile I'll search more and post more on the forums to find the answers.

Thank you in advance and Merry Christmas.

Si

 

[f6c]

Welcome aboard

 

[Baycott]

Hello Si and welcome to Fun
If you have posted your questions elsewhere you should get answers there.

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[wigster]

 

[davidbaldam]

Hi and welcome to FUN.

 

[Just smiffy]

Hose pipe .... look for expanding hose, cheap on eBay...
Battery... you have a good wallop of solar, see how it goes with your present battery, if it's no good then get two the same when you refit...

Can't help with the others but someone will....

Not a sales pitch but if you join, you will get back the £15 many fold with the money you save on the tips and info on here, trust me....

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[Bart]

Hiya and welcome

.

Max load (in french); I have a tag under the bonnet that tells me PTAC; 3500kg, PTRA; 5000kg, I assume this means 3500kg max load (total...everthing including two people?) Just not too sure of that. The 5000kg must be max load including towing?
then it has...
Poids maxi essieu avant 1750kg (that must be front axle max)
Poids maxi essieu Arriere 2240kg (that must be the rr axle max)
those add up to the total (almost).
If anyone can help me with this it'll help. I'll be taking it to a weighbridge next week to check out what it weighs. I'm sure I read a max of 3850kg somewhere in the books but this tag worries me a bit, and it's what you would get done by if pulled.

I would say you are mostly correct
max gross weight is most likely 3500kg , with the 5000kg as you said inc towing
you are also correct with the axle weights
however you can only have a maximum combined weight of both axles totaling 3500kg
so if you had 2240kg on the rear axle , then anything over 1260kg on the front axle would put you over weight

 

[styleruk]

Hiya and welcome


I would say you are mostly correct
max gross weight is most likely 3500kg , with the 5000kg as you said inc towing
you are also correct with the axle weights
however you can only have a maximum combined weight of both axles totaling 3500kg
so if you had 2240kg on the rear axle , then anything over 1260kg on the front axle would put you over weight

Excellent, thank you for that verification. I'm suprised it's only 3500kg, but then I think that seems to be the norm. I'll find out more next week when I stick it on the scales. Thank you.

 

[styleruk]

Hose pipe .... look for expanding hose, cheap on eBay...
Battery... you have a good wallop of solar, see how it goes with your present battery, if it's no good then get two the same when you refit...

Can't help with the others but someone will....

Not a sales pitch but if you join, you will get back the £15 many fold with the money you save on the tips and info on here, trust me....

Thanks for help. My mum always rates the expanding hoses, I'll have a look and see what length I need. I get the feeling I might need a hose longer than I do as when I've camped (for many, many years), the water tap is always a mile away. Not too sure about motor-homing. I'll start a thread elsewhere for this. Thank you.

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[styleruk]

Not a sales pitch but if you join, you will get back the £15 many fold with the money you save on the tips and info on here, trust me....

To be honest, I didn't know I could join and get more advice. I have done this with my smart car because there are a ton of how-to on there and it's worth the few quid you pay. So I will look into this.

 

[Bobby22]

Thanks for help. My mum always rates the expanding hoses, I'll have a look and see what length I need. I get the feeling I might need a hose longer than I do as when I've camped (for many, many years), the water tap is always a mile away. Not too sure about motor-homing. I'll start a thread elsewhere for this. Thank you.

Get yourself a 10l plastic watering can, best £5 spent on the van.

To FUN

 

[Camdoon]

Welcome! Tha knowledge you can acquire on here will probably be ten times what you require for a Smart car. You can save the money by going to a cheaper and better camp site for one night; a detour that saves you 50 miles of fuel or bypasses a paid for tunnel/road; advice on kit you need, nice to have and what you probably don't need (or if you do someone may have one lurking at the back of a cupboard which they could loan/sell you); advice on Internet and tv connections; heating and hot water issues; winter storage; travel in towns, bikes, electric bikes, bus passes, hire cars; meeting up with others whether at a show, abroad, those with kids the same age or hobbies; there are also a number who collect and/or toad their Smart cars. Wow the subs really need to go up in price .

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[gus-lopez]

1750kg = front axle max
2240kg = rear axle max
Although plate states 3500kgs max weight at the moment ,you would be able to uprate it to around the combined axle weights , subject to you having a C1 licence to drive it.

 

[EX51SSS]

 

[Jo662]

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[Clive]

The weight is an easy one. Normally they come as 3500 but are designed to be uprated to 3850. No work required to vehicle just a paper exercise. The dealer I bought from did mine, think it £150.

 

[styleruk]

The weight is an easy one. Normally they come as 3500 but are designed to be uprated to 3850. No work required to vehicle just a paper exercise. The dealer I bought from did mine, think it £150.

That's an interesting thing, I might look into that. I assume the plateer under the bonnet would need to be updated during that process, therefore it has not already been done. The first thing checked when pulled over I guess would be that plate.
I might chat to my dealer.

 

[Clive]

That's correct I now have both plates under the bonnet

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[Kevan]

i have 100ft expandable hose, if you wish to uprate your motor home weight i would check out SVTECH they will give you the info you need, i had my Rapido uprated to 3850 from 3500 just a paper exercise, The 5000kg is your total train weight, ie' as you said towing.
WWW.SVTECH.CO.UK

 

[mikebeaches]

Get yourself a 10l plastic watering can, best £5 spent on the van.

To FUN

Yep, we stopped carrying a hose on board ages ago - plastic watering can works perfectly for us if there isn't already a hose fitted to the fresh water tap.

Oh and welcome to the forum!

 

[styleruk]

Yep, we stopped carrying a hose on board ages ago - plastic watering can works perfectly for us if there isn't already a hose fitted to the fresh water tap.

Oh and welcome to the forum!

Hi, thank you. Can't see myself watering the motorhome! I'll be fit though, when the wife has a shower

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[styleruk]

i have 100ft expandable hose, if you wish to uprate your motor home weight i would check out SVTECH they will give you the info you need, i had my Rapido uprated to 3850 from 3500 just a paper exercise, The 5000kg is your total train weight, ie' as you said towing.
WWW.SVTECH.CO.UK

I assume theyy changed the plate under the bonnet to match the new limit?

 

[Just smiffy]

I assume theyy changed the plate under the bonnet to match the new limit?

I have old and new on mine...

 

[Kevan]

I assume theyy changed the plate under the bonnet to match the new limit?

they send you a new one, which you stick on your self, now got four plates under bonnet,

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[buttons]

Hi and Welcome.....

 

[Hobbyhorse]

Hi
Hope u r enjoying the Rapido. Lovely vans. You don't really need a hose you know. When I started MH 3 years ago I had come from caravanning with wastemasters and watered hogs etc. So I thought Mohos have hoses instead so I bought a good length of nice clear hose and connectors . But within 3 months we went to the Mosel and staying on a stellplatz here, I was puzzled by a nearby woman who every morning went past carrying a bucket of used washing up water and an empty watering can. She came from a large very smart newish Carthago. After some minutes she returned with the empty bucket and a full watering can. She did this couple of times . Topping up the onboard freshwater tank and emptying the waste tank a little every day. No messing about with tap hook ups or moving the van to empty it. Took about 10 mins and a short walk. I bought a watering can and already had a suitable bucket and nowadays do the same almost everywhere I go. My Hobby has a 110 litre fresh tank and and 70 litre waste. The former never runs out and the latter never hangs around to get too smelly. Once in a while I might use the hose but usually at home. And I get a a bit of excercise every morning. And if the weathers foul, then leaving it a couple of days makes little difference. A lot less trouble than hoses and waste traps in the ground- oh, and no queuing at the MH service point either!
Keep up the fun!
Hobbyhorse

 

[treetops1]

Hi and welcome. I upgraded mine ,I am now 3850 but you road tax is reduced which is a bonus . There is a slim chance you may get stopped and if you are overweight you have to unload to reduce your weight there and then before you can proceed ,they do give a bit of tolerance I believe .I must say I do not know anyone that has being stopped but better to be safe than sorry lol.

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[styleruk]

Hi and welcome. I upgraded mine ,I am now 3850 but you road tax is reduced which is a bonus . There is a slim chance you may get stopped and if you are overweight you have to unload to reduce your weight there and then before you can proceed ,they do give a bit of tolerance I believe .I must say I do not know anyone that has being stopped but better to be safe than sorry lol.

I put mine on a weigh bridge and got 60kg under 3,500, so that's not terrible. I was fully loaded up but without the wife and dog...so...LOL
I guess I'm over slightly.
I will look into changing the catagory, however, it transpires that the wife does not have catagory c on her license. Not a big problem as I do all the driving, just handy her having the option to.
Thanks for the feedback.

 

[styleruk]

Hi
Hope u r enjoying the Rapido. Lovely vans. You don't really need a hose you know. When I started MH 3 years ago I had come from caravanning with wastemasters and watered hogs etc. So I thought Mohos have hoses instead so I bought a good length of nice clear hose and connectors . But within 3 months we went to the Mosel and staying on a stellplatz here, I was puzzled by a nearby woman who every morning went past carrying a bucket of used washing up water and an empty watering can. She came from a large very smart newish Carthago. After some minutes she returned with the empty bucket and a full watering can. She did this couple of times . Topping up the onboard freshwater tank and emptying the waste tank a little every day. No messing about with tap hook ups or moving the van to empty it. Took about 10 mins and a short walk. I bought a watering can and already had a suitable bucket and nowadays do the same almost everywhere I go. My Hobby has a 110 litre fresh tank and and 70 litre waste. The former never runs out and the latter never hangs around to get too smelly. Once in a while I might use the hose but usually at home. And I get a a bit of excercise every morning. And if the weathers foul, then leaving it a couple of days makes little difference. A lot less trouble than hoses and waste traps in the ground- oh, and no queuing at the MH service point either!
Keep up the fun!
Hobbyhorse

Hi, thanks for the feedback. Just finished our first holiday and I must say, using a watering can would not be for me, the tank is quite large and the tap was reachable, so I used the hose on site to fill up twice in 1 week. I only have a 15m hose, think I'll invest in another to cover longer distances, maybe I'm lazy, but cannot find myself filling up every day with a watering can..also, I'm sure that would not be enough (maybe our efficiency with water needs to be better). I'm sure we will improve with time.
Next hol in Scotland in April.