Newbie with a dream project (1 Viewer)

[Vanproject]

Hi,

Pleased to find this forum, looks amazing with a lot of people and info.

At the moment, I am ordering my dream campervan, been studing about materials, brands, weights, equipment, gas or gasless.

The van will be a MAN TGE 4X4 MWB converted by a company to be off road and off grid, so underbody protection, snorkel, all terrain tyres, LED around the van and cctv.

My main concern is the weight limit. I am young with B license, I don't like the idea of taking the test for the License C.

I have seen that EU will allow drivers the 4.25T with the License B, so this is another matter which can affect my conversion band my future.

 

[Lenny HB]

I would say with what you are planning no chance of it being under 3500kg

The EU are only discussing raising the weight limit to 4250kg for a B licence if they do hopefully UK will follow but it could be years away.

 

[Carpmart]

I think (sadly) your dream will be a nightmare! As Lenny says (above) there is no way your converter will be able to keep you with a useable van from a payload perspective and keep it under 3500kg.

Your young, with a dream van, get your C1 licence and have a van that is what you want without compromising your dream.

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[Dutch 68]

And MWB? That is a big compromise

 

[Nanniemate]

You need to.upgrade your licence it's not difficult. Why would you oder a vehicle that you can drive.
Even if EU lifted weight limits the UK does not have to follow.

How are you going to get to Dover? Or get insurance.

Where are you based

 

[RedFrame]

Love the dream, but with a starting payload of 999Kg, as Lenny says, you're going to struggle to keep it under 3500Kg, especially with all the fancy bits you'll be adding externally.

Invest in the test, then you can fulfil your dreams without compromise.

Cheers
Red

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[ambulancekidd]

 

[David and Sally]

 

[gus-lopez]

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[f6c]

Welcome aboard

 

[Brains]

Welcome.

Firstly, given the cost of the new van, an extra £1,000 to get your C1 licence (and add D1 whilst you are about it) is a small price to pay to then enable you to drive anything upto 7.5t.

As all the others have said above, you will have a continual issue of trying to keep the van under 3.5t, it means everything will be a compromise, all the time, including the weekly shopping list.

It will also severely impact how many days you can go 'off grid' as water is 1kg per litre and you need 20-30 liters per day unless you are going to ration yourself.
Water tanks are typically 100 liters/100kg.

Same applies to fuel, a 60 litre tank will get you 300-400 miles, but with a 120 or 150 litre long range tank (or jerry cans) you can travel 1,000 miles before needing to refuel

Unless you are intending on doing some fairly serious long distance rough roading (ie Trans Sahara or South American riprap) I'd be inclined to go for the LWB (6.8m) base van with a 5.5t payload.

 

[Figaro]

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[Jo662]

 

[Vanproject]

Hi everyone, I have been doing some calculations and with fiberglass shower and Vandermoon cabinet, I don't think will be impossible. At least to the 3600kgs. Norantz build Man and California with same specs I am looking for and they say is under 3500kgs.

I will think about the license, the problem is the time. Anyone did recently? Also, go overweight means two people will have to get the license to drive it.

Can I buy the 3.180 and in the future up plate to 4.2T for example?

MAN is selling 3.5t or 5t, I think 5T is too much,isnt?

 

[shawn&emma]

They probably say it’s under 3.5 but you’ll likely not be able to carry much else. If you’re full time you need the extra capacity. Our self build sprinter comes in at 3.6 with none of our things inside, just the van and the two of us. Go for the 5t.

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[Raul]

Welcome to the fun
One think to keep in mind, if you do go 4x4, you will need to have extra high roof, as the floor is much higher compared to the FWD. I have the crafter 3.5T LWB FWD, self converted and fully laden for the trip was 3.3T. I added since then a bike rack. Definetly a challenge to keep the weight down, I had to opt out for some things.

 

[Stoosal]

I think you need to get C1. At 3500kg it would be a constant struggle to keep below that figure. Not saying it can’t be done but I think you would end up regretting not getting a higher payload. Once you start loading up for longer trips, (bikes, water, chairs etc) that payload would soon put you over 3500. You will soon end up compromising what you can/want to take with you. I would also go lwb. Getting C1 isn’t difficult.