Payload

[Dave_E]

just wondering.Due to collect our first van,a twin 640 slb next month all being well.Ideally I would prefer two 11kg gas bottles but see the water tank is in the back as well.We want to spend some time off grid so will need to travel with water.What is peoples experience with weight on the back axle.The alternative is smaller gas bottles which is not my first preference.Any advice appreciated.

 

[pappajohn]

Your best bet is to get the dealer to take it to a weighbridge and weigh front and rear axles weighing the whole van alone is no good, it doesn't tell you if the rear axle is near its limit.
The max axle weights are on the VIN plate.

 

[Dave_E]

Thanks for that I was just wondering what size bottles other people with the same van are using.

 

[Lenny HB]

Our last van only had a payload of 580kg so we uprated it to 3850kg but could only use 150kg of the 350 kg upgrade due to rear axle limit. Water tank was behind the rear axle and we always run with full tanks, also gas bottles in the rear, we carry e-bikes and a twin tub washing machine plus all the other junk everyone carries. We were on the limit on the rear axle but could have increased it by fitting air suspension and wider tyres would have cost £2.5k to do.

Alugas refillable bottles are half the weight of steel ones, that's what we use. We actually have the 14 kg ones.

Your van being a PVC so on a standard Fiat chassis it's easy and cheap to uprate the rear axle. If it's a 3500kg chassis about £500 for air assist and about £400-£500 for a set of 225 width tyres that will uprate the axle from 2000kg to 2240kg.

 

[Dave_E]

Thanks.We both have a c1 licence and have considered the upgrade and then down grade it again before I hit 70.I'm just trying to figure out if all this is necessary.

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[Lenny HB]

Payload is everything it is so nice not to have worry about what you throw in the van. Our current van has over 1350 kg of payload. Just had my medical as I clock 70 next month & the boss has just sent application in to keep her C1.
When we bought the van 3 years ago we wanted a decent payload and took the view if it was a problem keeping our C1 when we got to 70 it would be a good excuse to buy a new van.

 

[Stroppy Bird]

Based on our 2019 adria twin 640 slb

Rear axle 1629

this was with the following
factory fitted solar and awning
2 leisure batteries
3/4 water
full gas (11kg gasit)
1/2 diesel
80kg driver
towbar (but not the bike rack and bikes)
bedding, towels etc
huge amount of stuff under the bed (do I really need it all?)
clothing for a long weekend
food/drink for a long weekend

In all honesty, most of our camping is off grid and the one gas cylinder has more than sufficed for a two week holiday in mid france in Oct, and is more likely to do so now we are on a compressor fridge rather than the 3 way fridge. So, personally I'd stick with the one gas cylinder, see how you get on and add another later if you desperately need one.

 

[RowleyBirkinQC]

Another vote for Alugas here, slightly more expensive but a considerable weight saving.

 

[Dave_E]

Thanks for all your help.I'm accelerating towards the big 70 and as far as I know in good health.What does this c1 health check entail am I expected to do a sub four minute mile or anything like that.Will I need my pumps and string vest.

 

[Stroppy Bird]

Just be aware that if it is a UK spec Adria twin then it is likely to be on the light chassis, and without any further work can only be uprated to the total of the two axles added together. You won't gain any weight carrying capability over the rear axle, only weight carrying capability overall.

I don't know whether any suspension changes would help in increasing the axle load and think that SVTech would be best to ask the question.

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[Minxy]

It looks like it's built on the Maxi light chassis with max axle weights of 1850 front and 2000 rear, the issue is likely to be if you have enough spare capacity on the rear axle to allow you to stow all the stuff you want to there as whilst your overall weight may be below 3500kg your rear axle may not be within 2000 kg - some mods may allow you to go further but without knowing the full spec it's difficult to say.

The only way to know for sure what payload you have on each axle is to get the dealer to take it to a weigh bridge for you and get both axles weighed with as little in it as possible (no driver, no water, minimal fuel etc). At least then you can see what the true picture is.

 

[Dave_E]

That sounds a good plan.Thank you.

 

[Compactliner]

another option ive seen is to order the van on the heavy chassis, limits 2100kg front, 2400kg rear but downplate it to 3500kg.
this way you would have loads of capacity on each axle yet, hopefully stay within the 3.5t overall limit.
certainly worth looking at this once the dealer has weighed the van and you know how heavy each end is.
i bought our Compactline from stock and needed to be confident i could run it at 3500kg so i got the dealer to weight it with all the packs it came with, and i was able to add in the extras we were putting on, ourselves, water, gas and all the kit we carry, inc ebikes in the garage....
i put all this into a speeadsheet, estimating where the load of each item would be re axles, and then added it all up...
it seemed to be ok to me...so we went ahead..
the van was delivered, we loaded it in touring trim, took it to the weighbridge and it came out within 20kg of my estimate and comfortable on each axle.

 

[joka250]

Thanks for all your help.I'm accelerating towards the big 70 and as far as I know in good health.What does this c1 health check entail am I expected to do a sub four minute mile or anything like that.Will I need my pumps and string vest.

Best to check gov. uk driving licence. If in good health it's no great issue at 70 but certain health conditions make it difficult even impossible to retain. Not quite 4 minutes mile but........!

 

[Cheshirecat57]

That sounds a good plan.Thank you.

I had a 640SLB last year
Full of water, 1x 10 kg gas, 2x leisure batteries and solar + towbar ,full of fuel 90 litres, both of us In it ( 85 kg + 65kg), food,tables,chairs, omnistore awning we weighed less than 3400kg
loads of room for another gas bottle
Remeber fridge is 12v only, so no gas there

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