MH crash diet for MOT

Jev88

Jev88

Joined
Apr 6, 2019
Posts
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Location
Eye, Peterborough, UK
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59,702
MH
RV
Exp
FourWinds Windsport 6.8L V10
Interesting figures.
MOT station weighs each axle to gauge if brakes are good enough for weight. My MH was 3,880Kg and rear brakes failed by a fraction.

Unloaded all water (not a lot as was put away for winter), removed surplus tools, some canned goods, toilet fluids, bottle Jack, spare gas bottle, cycle rack, camping beds and chairs for guests, steps and surplus ladder (just custom built one for over cab bed with bigger treads).

New weight 3,525Kg..... That is some diet!

Now to sort through what we really don't need on travels.
 
Sorry but you have not mentioned you maximum plated weight, so we dont know if you have a realistic payload when you allow for driver & passengers, plus all the essential stuff cut down to the minimum.
It happens to a lot more people than will admit, see @Jims Payload thread, and how many vans especially the 4+ birth jobbies rated at 3500 KG,s, even 3850KG,s are not fit for purpose, they should never have been sold in the first place with inaccurate MIRO weights, leaving insufficient payloads for the "belted" passengers.
The laws on selling these vans needs addressing, too many are being conned, especially first time buyers with no experience of payload issues.
Hope you can get around these problems in your case, and your van is usable in the real world.
LES
 
TinaL said:
Sorry but you have not mentioned you maximum plated weight, so we dont know if you have a realistic payload when you allow for driver & passengers, plus all the essential stuff cut down to the minimum.
It happens to a lot more people than will admit, see @Jims Payload thread, and how many vans especially the 4+ birth jobbies rated at 3500 KG,s, even 3850KG,s are not fit for purpose, they should never have been sold in the first place with inaccurate MIRO weights, leaving insufficient payloads for the "belted" passengers.
The laws on selling these vans needs addressing, too many are being conned, especially first time buyers with no experience of payload issues.
Hope you can get around these problems in your case, and your van is usable in the real world.
LES
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Hi. Thanks for the info but my post was more about how much weight you can drop if you remove stuff, not a reference to plated weights. I know a fair bit about payloads etc... And mine happens to be 3850Kg chassis. Like the majority(?) Of Motorhomes without tag axles I am going to be overweight carrying food and half a tank of water. Might just scrape in if I ditch some of the extras and spares I like to carry. Also whilst refitting stuff to MH I have moved some chunky items to the seat just behind the front seats so I don't have Jack, tools, air compressor, hose reels, oil etc.. hanging out over the back end making the balance too tail happy.
 
The MOT place that I use, and suspect that many others do not have a weighing facility so how is this part of the MOT.
 
Mikeco said:
The MOT place that I use, and suspect that many others do not have a weighing facility so how is this part of the MOT.
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Hi Mike.
The place I use routinely weigh each axle and total and look at a chart for brake performance. Don't know if this is becoming law etc... Very useful to know balance of weight Vs performance and weight distribution for me though. Failed first time by 1.5%, then passed easily when surplus weight was shed.... Can't tell you more than that? My MH is slightly confusing as I have 3500 and 3850 plates under bonnet.

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Mikeco said:
The MOT place that I use, and suspect that many others do not have a weighing facility so how is this part of the MOT.
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I thought the weighing was built into the rollers they use for the brake test, in which case they would all have it.
 
Pausim said:
I thought the weighing was built into the rollers they use for the brake test, in which case they would all have it.
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Don’t believe so, I’m certain that the weight of any axle is not part of the MOT or the garage I use would have it.
 
I understood that the brake test pass threshold is variable and dependent on the weight applied to the rollers. The weight is recorded/printed to show required brake force.

The weight, per se, is not part of the test.

I‘m sure Lanerboy could confirm?

Ian
 
Mikeco said:
The MOT place that I use, and suspect that many others do not have a weighing facility so how is this part of the MOT.
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At the place I use the rolling road weighs the axles as part of the brake test.
 
I believe if your vehicle is classed as PHGV it is weighed for the brake test all part of MOT.?

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Why not have the rear brakes checked out, as they were designed to be effective at all the weigh that the vehicle was designed to carry. If they failed then something is amiss. Probably not used enough or often enough. There is probably a bit of corrosion in the mechanism or on the drum/ disc surfaces.
 
Jev88 said:
Interesting figures.
MOT station weighs each axle to gauge if brakes are good enough for weight. My MH was 3,880Kg and rear brakes failed by a fraction.

Unloaded all water (not a lot as was put away for winter), removed surplus tools, some canned goods, toilet fluids, bottle Jack, spare gas bottle, cycle rack, camping beds and chairs for guests, steps and surplus ladder (just custom built one for over cab bed with bigger treads).

New weight 3,525Kg..... That is some diet!

Now to sort through what we really don't need on travels.
Click to expand...
I have to empty mine totally so he can MOT it. I use it as a chance to remove all the guff that I haven't used for the last 12 months.

I am very organised in getting stuff in and out as I have 3 different things that we use the MH for and they all have different needs.

Be brutal.
 
Mikeco said:
The MOT place that I use, and suspect that many others do not have a weighing facility so how is this part of the MOT.
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Your right its not. The brake tester works out the % of braking effiency for the axle or N/S O/S brakes which the axle weight would effect. A grossly overloaded vehicle would greatly affect braking efficiencies.
 
PhilG said:
I have to empty mine totally so he can MOT it. I use it as a chance to remove all the guff that I haven't used for the last 12 months.

I am very organised in getting stuff in and out as I have 3 different things that we use the MH for and they all have different needs.

Be brutal.
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I would prefer to know that the brakes work efficiently when fully loaded.
 
Mikeco said:
Don’t believe so, I’m certain that the weight of any axle is not part of the MOT or the garage I use would have it.
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It isn't possible to give a percentage value for brake efficiency if weight, preferably axle weight, isn't known (or assumed). For cars the MoT relies on manufacturers data or nowadays the rollers. For motorhomes it depends on how thorough the tester is as to whether he asks the owner, or uses the plated weights, or nowadays has rollers that automatically weigh each axle. The percentage is related to 'g' - IIRC it is how close the braking effect is to 1g. For 100% the braking force must equal 1g. For this calculation the vehicle weight (or mass to be pedantic) is required.
 
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If within the weight limit of the axle the load valve should give the correct braking regardless of load, if loaded the brakes fail then there is a brake fault, or the load valve is stuck or needs the rod adjusting, by just unloading the vehicle to pass an MOT you risk being uninsured when loaded , an libel to prosecution should you have an accident.
Compensator Load Valve
 
Mikeco said:
The MOT place that I use, and suspect that many others do not have a weighing facility so how is this part of the MOT.
Click to expand...
The machine that completes the running brake test indicates axle weight but does not record same. I asked my MOT man to write it down, so I have a record of both axle weights at each MOT.
Phil

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Surely as others have said if you need to take stuff out to meet the brake efficiency test you then need to keep the stuff out to drive it safely.
 
By the sound of earlier posts taking stuff out may not help. If it was my van I would want the brakes to exceed the minimum requirement and be looking to get them fixed.
 
Mikeco said:
Same test for all motor caravans irrespective of weight unless more than 9 travel seats, Class 4.
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Cheers. I know mine is weighed because I get a print out and that saves me having to pay a couple of quid at a local farmer's yard. Still don't know if it is part of test or just because he has the gear for it. (this may have been covered above since my last post but I haven't had time to look).
 
Our class 7 brake rollers do not weigh the vehicle, we imput the gross weight from the chassis plate of the vehicle and the box of tricks calculates the braking performance of each wheel and works out if it is a pass or fail, some stations may have the facilities to weigh the axle but there is no requirement for this.
You should not need to unload anything from your vehicle for the mot as long as it is within its designed weight it will be fine fully loaded.
 
PhilMary said:
The machine that completes the running brake test indicates axle weight but does not record same. I asked my MOT man to write it down, so I have a record of both axle weights at each MOT.
Phil
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Mine did. It gave me the ebeejebees so soon thereafter I went to a weighbridge.

Ian

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