She’s a bit of a bloater

[BOOMEL]

Have a PVC Rapido v68 at 3500kg gross weight. Went to weighbridge today and found out that she (or he) has put on a bit of weight on! Wife, dog, e-bikes on the back weighing in at 3520kg which came as a bit of shock.

With a planned trip to Italy I need to think about options:

1. Wing it - I guess not
2. leave the bikes behind - nahr
3. no booze - nahr
4. loose some weight - possible but unlikely
5. leave the wife behind - guess not
6. dog? Depends how she behaves
7. no water on board - I guess we can fill up on the way and take small can of water
8. change from 2 x AGM batteries to lithium single battery - save me about 10kg

About to strip the van down of everything barring essentials e.g. gas bottles and go back to weighbridge, then add on from there. If my experience is anything to go by, I think there must be a lot of overweight vans out there.Looked at up plating but I think this could be a faff.

Any other suggestions?

Regards,

Mike

 

[Mark McG]

We took the same approach. Do we need two gas bottles, three lots of ehu cables etc. once you have weighed everything then at least there should be no surprises.

 

[Jim]

20KG wouldn't worry me, just be careful as you travel, as you never get lighter.

 

[BOOMEL]

20KG wouldn't worry me, just be careful as you travel, as you never get lighter.

Yes but given the trip we are still wanting to pack more

 

[Yorick]

If you phone the wife everyday, she won't be too upset at home

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Mikey RV]

I would not worry about 20 kilos. Don’t forget if you weigh with a full tank of fuel then as you drive that weight is coming off by the mile.

 

[Jim]

Yes but given the trip we are still wanting to pack more

If you want to take more legally, you have two options. Upgrade or tow a small trailer.

Upgrading is easy. Meanwhile people dismiss trailers out of hand. but we've done countless thousands of miles with a small trailer. It gets you ½ ton of payload and a man-shed on site to secure chairs and bike etc. With three kids and a dog touring a trailer was the only way we could stay anything near legal.

 

[Guigsy]

A 6.4m van has to be spec'd and packed light to stay comfortably under 3.5t.

 

[RobertJary]

Helium balloons?

 

[Yorick]

Helium balloons?

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[WillH]

We rarely set off with more than 30 litres of water in the tank, that saves us 90 kgs.

 

[Wee Bold Davy]

Have a PVC Rapido v68 at 3500kg gross weight. Went to weighbridge today and found out that she (or he) has put on a bit of weight on! Wife, dog, e-bikes on the back weighing in at 3520kg which came as a bit of shock.

With a planned trip to Italy I need to think about options:

1. Wing it - I guess not
2. leave the bikes behind - nahr
3. no booze - nahr
4. loose some weight - possible but unlikely
5. leave the wife behind - guess not
6. dog? Depends how she behaves
7. no water on board - I guess we can fill up on the way and take small can of water
8. change from 2 x AGM batteries to lithium single battery - save me about 10kg

About to strip the van down of everything barring essentials e.g. gas bottles and go back to weighbridge, then add on from there. If my experience is anything to go by, I think there must be a lot of overweight vans out there.Looked at up plating but I think this could be a faff.

Any other suggestions?

Regards,

Mike

Leave your wallet at home or ask your wife to take the kitchen sink out of her handbag

 

[dunnah01]

Wing it as you'll probably never get both the the axle loads low enough anyway.

 

[nicholsong]

If you want to take more legally, you have two options. Upgrade or tow a small trailer.

Upgrading is easy. Meanwhile people dismiss trailers out of hand. but we've done countless thousands of miles with a small trailer. It gets you ½ ton of payload and a man-shed on site to secure chairs and bike etc. With three kids and a dog touring a trailer was the only way we could stay anything near legal.

So what does one do with a trailer on an Aire/Stellplatz?

BOOMEL did not mention his fuel tank status. If it were full he could start with about 25lt less and fill up more often en route. If it was empty he really has a problem to stay legal.

If he has C1 licence the upgrade should not be difficult as most van chassis leave the factory with max possible weight of 3850kg. Upgrade is often a paper exercise.

 

[BOOMEL]

So what does one do with a trailer on an Aire/Stellplatz?

BOOMEL did not mention his fuel tank status. If it were full he could start with about 25lt less and fill up more often en route. If it was empty he really has a problem to stay legal.

If he has C1 licence the upgrade should not be difficult as most van chassis leave the factory with max possible weight of 3850kg. Upgrade is often a paper exercise.

Sorry forgot to mention, 3/4 tank and 25% water with 10Ltr in Truma boiler

Regards

Mike

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[L' Hobo]

Tell the wife she will have to follow in a taxi, Simples!

 

[Langtoftlad]

1. I'd weigh again at a different weighbridge, they have significant tolerances which means you could be well under (or over)
2. I'd not listen to those who say wing it.
3. Less water, sort through your stuff, be ruthless, do you really need 4 mugs etc.
4. Long term get up plated, lower VED offsets the costs & saves the worry

 

[Badknee]

We uprated to 4250kgs, takes all the worry away.

 

[Littlewheels]

Aluminium refillable Gas bottles will save 20kilo +

 

[bobnick]

When these weight issues come up i often wonder just how often do MHers get stopped to get weighed by the rozzers.
If one is grossly overweight and give the rozzers an excuse to stop you then that's fair i think, but a few Ks over
We carry just what we need and always way way under. I've seen some MHs so packed with stuff it would be hard to get a fag paper in.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[KiwiKampers]

Wing it.

 

[BOOMEL]

I think there is a question for dealers here that they don’t tell you. Yes the MIRO is 3120, however the add ons soon build up and they don’t advise you off the effects on your payload (gas low, awning, tow bar, agm batteries, nearly adding up to 120kg). I think they should tell you this.

 

[Captain Yoghurtpot]

We rarely set off with more than 30 litres of water in the tank, that saves us 90 kgs.

Forgive me, but I was under the impression that water equated to a rate of 1ltr = 1kg, so unsure how you get your figure of 90kg saved?
But I could be wrong
No, scrap that……….
Re_read the thread and I assume you mean your tank is a 120ltr capacity, but you only run it at a quarter full?
Sorry

 

[denisejoe]

We uprated to 4250kgs, takes all the worry away.

And road fund licence is cheaper over 3500kgs.

 

[BOOMEL]

And road fund licence is cheaper over 3500kgs.

Why?

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[jdk62]

Tell the wife she will have to follow in a taxi, Simples!

Put the wife in the trailer…….

 

[MichaelT]

Why?

Its classed as private heavy goods so only £165

 

[Minxy]

If you phone the wife everyday, she won't be too upset at home

Or vice versa, no reason he has to go.

 

[Minxy]

Why?

No idea other than I assume it's a past 'agreement' for commercial vans to keep the business costs down as I suspect a lot fall into that weight category.

 

[Minxy]

As you're already overweight and still need to fill tanks and put more stuff in I doubt if you're gonna get below 3500kg in full holiday trim.

If you have the time I'd suggest you uprate to 3850kg which assuming it was a 3500kg chassis to begin with should just be a paper exercise. Your road tax reduction will soon pay for the cost of this and take all your worry away.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}