Up plating... how do you read this?

[James-Alex]

Morning everyone.

So I’ve been in email communication with JR consultancy with a request to up plate the new to us moho. I’ve been requesting from 3300kg to 3500kg. New driving licence so can’t go over that weight.

Today we received the what I would call holding documents pending payment. On payment new docs sent out.

From reading it I assume an errors been made. What do you guys think??

 

[James-Alex]

This is the current plate. With what I’m reading the figure looks like will come back above 3500kg making it unusable for both of us.

 

[pappajohn]

Yes, he got it wrong.
That's possibly the maximum increase for that chassis which is no good to you.

 

[SteveJ]

GVM is Gross Vehicle Mass, so if they are plating to 3650Kg then that would require C1 on your licence. As pappajohn said, no use to you.

 

[David and Sally]

I guess what you want is (top number) 3500kg but keeping the max weight on any one axle as 1750 & 1900kg.. So not going up to 3650kg with both axles fully loaded.

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[Lenny HB]

Yep he has got it wrong not unusual for JR.

 

[James-Alex]

I guess what you want is (top number) 3500kg but keeping the max weight on any one axle as 1750 & 1900kg.. So not going up to 3650kg with both axles fully loaded.

Yes we only require the 3500kg total weight, will give us an extra 200kg payload

 

[James-Alex]

Yep he has got it wrong not unusual for JR.

Looks like its time to call him and get a dead ear have been in email communication so far with all figures put in original comms. Looks like he normally deals with the people that want maximum weights hence that figure.

 

[solaris]

Had SV Tech uprate a previous van from 3300 to 3500. It was a paper exercise and they supplied the new plate. They also sorted out issue with dvla who insisted it took van into different category. Would suggest you keep copies of everything you send to dvla, if there are any queries you will have to resend it as they seem to loose everything

 

[James-Alex]

Had SV Tech uprate a previous van from 3300 to 3500. It was a paper exercise and they supplied the new plate. They also sorted out issue with dvla who insisted it took van into different category. Would suggest you keep copies of everything you send to dvla, if there are any queries you will have to resend it as they seem to loose everything

JR to be fair did advise NOT sending the original docs, we will be making sure that we keep on top of things as per any gov organisation.......epic failures and will not trust them. so thankyou

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[TheTwoOfUs]

Just one word of caution. In theory you might think you are getting an extra 200kg payload but if the rear axle is already at its limit do you have the means to put the extra 200kg over the front axle? I have that very problem with our m/h, it is plated at 3850kg, the rear axle's limit is 2000 which means that in theory the front can carry 1850. Practically that is impossible to achieve as there are no lockers etc at the front in which to put stuff.

 

[stevec]

We upgraded from 3500 to 3850 with JR. Rear axle weight needed careful checking. We put all small heavy stuff to the front (jack and tools and bike locks under front seat.Bike batteries to front). All heavier items in the garage as far forward as possible. I weighed everything I put in there knowing what the axle weight was from the MOT printout. I recon to be within 60kg of maximum on the axle in "holiday" mode. But we do have two folding electric bikes in the garage which weighs us down a bit. Without those we wouldn't have bothered uprating.

 

[Minxy]

If you don't want to go above 3500kg then let him know and the max will be set at 3500kg instead of 3650kg, your axles will remain as they are but, as mentioned by 'TheTwoOfUs', it's what weight you physically have on each axle that matters as their individual maximums must NOT be exceeded as well as the overall weight.

 

[TDub49]

This is an interesting post and as a relative "newbie", I'm interested in how people weigh their mohos? Obviously you find a friendly locally weighbridge but do you then weigh with the tanks full and your normal kit on board or do you go empty?

I'm particularly interested in the max weight per axle because as others have pointed out, most of the weight is midships to stern (sorry, was a sailor before taking to the road) so I'm guessing that it's quite easy to max out the rear axle if you are not careful? I imagine that the chances of being stopped and weighed are negligible but not so negligible is the possibility of something breaking and the subsequent insurance investigation discovering an overload and invalidating your policy.

 

[Phill D]

TDub49 you need to weigh both axles and the whole van in travelling trim including fuel, some water gas etc, oh and you and partner and the dog!!
only then will you know exactly where you stand and if you are within both individual axle weights and total max weight.

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[Langtoftlad]

Many discussions & many answers TDub49
A lot depends on how OCD you want to be.
I've always weighed fully laden as if setting off on a trip - if you weigh empty, then you have to weigh each individual item as you load it.
Unlikely, but not impossible to be stopped - and you're entitled to an unofficial 5% before penalty.
Technically & mechanically your van is probably safe up to the maximum possible plated weight as the 3500 is an arbitrary legal limit to do with your licence, and uprating is a paper exercise.
As long as you're insured, you'll always have third party insurance.
Legally, you might have claim issues if found to be overweight, but it's fairly unlikely that every bit of a wrecked MH will be collected & weighed, nevermind the dispersed liquids etc.

 

[Sapper520]

He got it wrong for our van as well, we wanted to go from 3300kg to 3500kg.

Tried to get answers from him, but he never replied. Totally unprofessional and appears to make it up as he goes along.

Probably half the price of SV, but you get what you pay for.

 

[Gromitandvan]

We increased the maximum allowable mass on our Mclouis Fusion 367. It was straightforward if you stay in the limit specified on th VIN plate under the bonnet. For us, the van as supplied had a mass in running order of 3077 kg (not checked on weighbridge) and MTPLM of 3500 kg and the VIN plate gave the base ducato as approved for up to 3650 kg. The dealer was asked to supply an EU certificate of conformity and a new sticker for the habitation unit at the new limit that I wanted which gave us what we wanted. Going over 3500 kg changes the DVLA classification to ‘private HGV’.
Therefore, as far as I understand, to go up to 3500 kg you only need to supply the paperwork mentioned and to return your V5 noting where there is a change. Follow the DVLA instructions to just list what is changed. Our V5 listed new weight and class change to ‘private HGV’. Our paperwork from DVLA took about two months.
When visiting our dealer recently, I asked about the different figures shown in the brochure, the lower figures were optional but if we wanted to go up to 4250 kg this has to be specified at the time of order which didn’t surprise me, common sense would indicate up rating the suspension and possibly brake changes to cater for the extra load. If you check the VIN, you be able to see if modifications are needed.

PS. When you’re done don’t forget to let your insurance company know.

 

[Minxy]

We increased the maximum allowable mass on our Mclouis Fusion 367. It was straightforward if you stay in the limit specified on th VIN plate under the bonnet. For us, the van as supplied had a mass in running order of 3077 kg (not checked on weighbridge) and MTPLM of 3500 kg and the VIN plate gave the base ducato as approved for up to 3650 kg. The dealer was asked to supply an EU certificate of conformity and a new sticker for the habitation unit at the new limit that I wanted which gave us what we wanted. Going over 3500 kg changes the DVLA classification to ‘private HGV’.
Therefore, as far as I understand, to go up to 3500 kg you only need to supply the paperwork mentioned and to return your V5 noting where there is a change. Follow the DVLA instructions to just list what is changed. Our V5 listed new weight and class change to ‘private HGV’. Our paperwork from DVLA took about two months.

It depends what you want to do but you still need paperwork to support it, you got a COC from the manufacturer via your dealer confirming the new weight was okay but the OP hasn't got that AFAIK.

When visiting our dealer recently, I asked about the different figures shown in the brochure, the lower figures were optional but if we wanted to go up to 4250 kg this has to be specified at the time of order which didn’t surprise me, common sense would indicate up rating the suspension and possibly brake changes to cater for the extra load. If you check the VIN, you be able to see if modifications are needed.

Its a different chassis, not just uprating, the lower weight one will be on the light chassis whereas the one one that has a higher MAM will be based on the heavy chassis.

 

[James-Alex]

He got it wrong for our van as well, we wanted to go from 3300kg to 3500kg.

Tried to get answers from him, but he never replied. Totally unprofessional and appears to make it up as he goes along.

Probably half the price of SV, but you get what you pay for.

Have left the wife to contact him today to resolve, we didnt see it at first that the fee is now payable within 7days. obv we wont be settling until we get the figure we want.

All the best
James

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[Sapper520]

If you get a reply it’ll be more than I got. I sent a very nice email asking him a few questions, nothing too hard and in polite terms.........