Payloads

[Ebbo]

Hi All, as a newbie who is hopefully buying a motorhome in the near future I have a few questions,

Having read a few items and done a bit of research it seems its not as straight forward as I first thought. and from what I can gather the most important thing to think about when buying is the payload!

As this is such an important specification why is it so hard to find it on any publicity? very few adverts I have looked at mention it, professional or private.

Is there a clever website where I can inout the make model etc and find this info out? or is that too simple?

Cheers

 

[The Wino]

Hi All, as a newbie who is hopefully buying a motorhome in the near future I have a few questions,

Having read a few items and done a bit of research it seems its not as straight forward as I first thought. and from what I can gather the most important thing to think about when buying is the payload!

As this is such an important specification why is it so hard to find it on any publicity? very few adverts I have looked at mention it, professional or private.

Is there a clever website where I can inout the make model etc and find this info out? or is that too simple?

Cheers

The best you will find is a stated payload in the manufacturer's data any extras fitted after that will reduce it.

 

[Mr Colpot]

The only true measure of payload is to weight the van.
I would say though that payload is secondary to layout. Find the right layout and then look at payload.

 

[Googlebot]

The only real way to find out is a weighbridge.

Ours has a 500KG payload. but.....

Family - 120KG
Water - 100KG
Dog - 25KG
Awning - 40KG
Bikes - 60KG
Spare Wheel - 40KG

You get the picture.

If you have C1 then I would get one with at least 800KG payload if not 1000KG. The manufacturers won’t help as it doesn’t sell vans and they are nearly always actually heavier than they say they are.

 

[Jim]

Very few makers/dealers advertise payloads because they are so poor. Buyer beware. On average a couple will need a minimum of 400kg.

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[MikeD]

Payload is only an indication of what the whole van can carry.

The makers stated payload, it might not all be where the storage is in the van.

You might have a great big garage to fill up but only a couple of hundred kilo's of payload on the rear axle max loading.

As above you need to get the van weighed - each axle.

Makers build tolerance can be 5% of weight of the van, Air con, ground sheet, Awnings, TV's - Everything eats into that Stated payload.

 

[Pausim]

Makers build tolerance can be 5% of weight of the van

That 5% can mean 150kg of the payload is already used up. My motorhome arrived 130kg above the figure claimed by the manufacturer, fortunately I had allowed for this.

 

[Ebbo]

Thanks for all that seems its a bloody minefield

 

[dunnah01]

I'd be surprised if any modern 3500kg coach built van with full holiday gear on board is legal. I was surprised that mine weighed in at 3700kg with basics on board. Luckily it's a 4250kg van.

 

[Jim]

I'd be surprised if any modern 3500kg coach built van with full holiday gear on board is legal.

You'd be surprised quite a lot then, because plenty are. The real bad ones are the family vans at >3500kg and you need to look hard to find them with enough payload for four, though they do exist.

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[dunnah01]

You'd be surprised quite a lot then, because plenty are. The real bad ones are the family vans at >3500kg and you need to look hard to find them with enough payload for four, though they do exist.

There must be some heavy compromise involved. We don't have much of a garage for stuff so the one's I've seen full of bikes and chairs and BBQs must be saving elsewhere

 

[Jim]

There must be some heavy compromise involved. We don't have much of a garage for stuff so the one's I've seen full of bikes and chairs and BBQs must be saving elsewhere

We have found that the average payload for a couple is around 400kg. Most standard vans come in around 3 tons, (well spec'd ones will come in at a lot more) That does not mean that you don't pack 900kgs

 

[Lenny HB]

Most vans come out of the factory towards the top end of the 5% allowance, so you have lost 100 -150kg of payload before you start.
The manufacturers give a MIRO figure (Mass in running order) this normally includes (but not always) allowances for a driver at 75kg, 20 Lt (20kg) of water, 1 x 11kg aluminium gas cylinder & 90% fuel.
The figure is given for a basic van without options, or any factory or dealer fitted extras which often add up to 200kg.
If buying a Brit van you could probably get away with 500kg as a lot of what would be options on other vans are often standard. Buying a continental van you really need 700 kg of payload.
If you have a C1 licence well worth getting a van with over 1000 kg of payload.

 

[63720]

When you find a van that you're really interested in buying ask the dealer to weigh it and make sure you see the certificate.

 

[Ebbo]

Once we are allowed out, we'll get out the dealers, for layout info, and see if I can get my head around the payload requirements, if the only way to be sure is to weigh it then surely you must have already bought it.

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[Lenny HB]

When you find a van that you're really interested in buying ask the dealer to weigh it and make sure you see the certificate.

Need to establish the state when weighed, amount of fuel, water, gas, with or without driver and driver weight.

 

[Lenny HB]

Once we are allowed out, we'll get out the dealers, for layout info, and see if I can get my head around the payload requirements, if the only way to be sure is to weigh it then surely you must have already bought it.

Make it a condition of sale, if they refuse you can be fairly certain it's not got much payload.

 

[jdk62]

We have found that the average payload for a couple is around 400kg. Most standard vans come in around 3 tons, (well spec'd ones will come in at a lot more) That does not mean that you don't pack 900kgs

View attachment 384906

Aargh...... Only 2 bottles of wine!!!!!!!!! And thats not even each........

 

[Podney]

Once we are allowed out, we'll get out the dealers, for layout info, and see if I can get my head around the payload requirements, if the only way to be sure is to weigh it then surely you must have already bought it.

Don’t be surprised if the dealer treats your enquiry about payload with a certain amount of disdain or amusement. Some of them are just not interested. One dealer said to me “Oh yes,I reckon most motorhome are overloaded,but it’s not a problem as you’ll never be stopped for it”
Well............firstly your insurer may not pay out in the event of a claim and secondly you may be putting yourself and others lives in danger.

 

[Pausim]

There are already WiMS (Weigh in Motion Sensors) built into some motorways. I believe they are currently aiming to catch overweight commercial vehicles but who is to say they will not start checking motorhomes.

British systems catch overloaded trucks. See how they work

British Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has special WIM sensors and roadside cameras all over the country. It helps the agency fight the overloaded ...

trans.info

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[suavecarve]

Totally agree with all comments about weight.
I note you say you live in france.
When Brits (on here) are looking for value for money then Belgium and Germany appear to be the places to go to save money.
I have no idea whether you have to pay any tax to "import" them to France or not but a left hand drive might be an option for you to consider.
Best of luck

 

[Ebbo]

wow Jim thats what we were thinking of doing, you have saved us a lot of work

Suavecarve, we definitely want a LHD its a no brainer here and yes I have already sussed out that the Dutch/ German models are the ones for us. there will be no import Tax on them as they are all in the EU.

 

[Puddleduck]

if the only way to be sure is to weigh it then surely you must have already bought it.

We saw a beautiful van that would have been absolutely ideal for us ...... asked dealer to get a weighbridge ticket - and it was already overweight as a bare van - and had also have already been replated with no more upgrade available.

We walked away.

 

[Snoopy]

Can only reiterate all of the above, we were sadly nieve, when we purchased our 2003 hymer And thankfully lucky to have found this forum, where we 1st became aware of payload, Jim's information on payload and other very helpful people on this forum, made it easier, even for me