What do I NEED to lose from my van next year? (1 Viewer)

[GWAYGWAY]

Next year I need to renew my licence and have a medical, because of a historic problem I probably will not get it, so I need to prepare to lose some of my goodies from the van. I bought a Hymer ML1 580 that is presently 4200kgs and it is possible to have it at 3500kg but with a basic form. So what needs to go to get it down?
Wife and her clothes 70kgs
Spare wheel and Jack 30kgs
0ne gas bottle 18 kgs and then single regulator
Towbar. 63 kgs
Awning 32kg
two habitation batteries 40kg
Clothing and food in cupboards 25kg
Travel with little water 30kg
Travel at half tanks of fuel 60kgs
no grey water at all at anytime 25kgs
Corner seat and cushion 10kgs
Left door electric step (waste of space and never ever used)6kg
GRP second roof for antihail 30kgs (not do-able obviously)
Automatic gearbox 48kgs extra over manual (again not do-able)
Nothing of weight in garage .ie . no chairs, silver screens, bicycle or motorbike. ?????kgs
Second carpet in cab area 5kgs
Carpets in hab area 3kgs
TV and aerial system 8kgs
Cooker and oven 33kgs.
Remove drop down bed and mechanism 78kgs
Fixed table out and replace with folding one 25kgs
probably a few others I haven't looked at but probably the wife out and keep the towbar and fix a trailer for all the thing I might need to have but cannot carry in the van.
This is ridiculous as the weight is the same as it always was but in different places. The wife will complain sitting out in an open trailer under the sheet, but as she refuses to drive it , the needs must.

 

[Eenansue]

Engine? Saves the problem of not being fit to drive...........

 

[Lenny HB]

Looking at the spec on the 3500kg chassis payload is 450kg less auto box so 402kg but you have the maxi chassis so you loose 50kg , leaves 352kg. If you are prepared to travel light and without full tanks & remove the towbar you will probably get away with it. I know this goes against what I normally peach which is 700 kg for two people. I know these figures do not include fitted extras but I had that in mind.

Ditch the jack & spare wheel and carry just a tyre that will save 15kg. Change gas bottle to Alugas and save 6kg per bottle. Only one hab battery and fit more solar or if you are flush change to a Li-ion battery.

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[BobtheBass]

Leave your son Jack at home. He's very light, must be a toddler.

 

[The Dotties]

Transit connect van?
Just the van and a couple of sleeping bags?
Or one sleeping bag if wife has her way!

 

[FIDGET]

Hi Graham, @GWAYGWAY
I notice the auto box & GRP second roof is (not do-able obviously)
But no similar comment on the Wife
Terry

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[Stealaway]

Anything you have not used / seen over the past year.

I think the towbar would be the first to go. Only ever carry half a tank of freshwater and always empty the grey before you move anywhere.

 

[tacr2man]

Leave it as it is Fit an "A" frame to Moho , and tow behind your car

 

[Minxy]

When you say it's presently 4200kg is that what it's max weight is, or what it is loaded up to now?

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[Riverbankannie]

When you say it's presently 4200kg is that what it's max weight is, or what it is loaded up to now?

Yes, it would be useful to know actual weight with all these things loaded. Surely not 4200kg as with 700kg to save he’s not going to do it even if eveything on list dumped.

 

[GWAYGWAY]

The 4200kg an insurance and allows the little motorbike in the back, I need the towbar to pull the trailer that all the bits are in after reducing the weight down, When I first got the van I weighed it as was with two of us in it and minimal food etc, combined weight was 3520kgs so just outside then the bits went on to make it usable/ enjoyable and capable. it was a bit tight at3860 that is outside the licence however, Why does the DVLA not accept the EU directive on recreational vehicles being different from the proffessional licence where they are driving constantly and much bigger vehicles. There are murmurings within VOSA all over seventies driver to have the compulsory medical exams following a string of gag gaged old peolple driving into motorways the wrong way hitting pedestrians and other mayhem.

 

[Nasher]

How about becoming a naturist and not bothering with the clothing

On a more serious note, trading down to a smaller van may be an option? Spec-ing a PVC to your requirements?

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[Cheshirecat57]

I would keep the towbar and tow a 750kg trailer which will cost you £1000 ish with a cover
Your motorbike/scooter will go in there with loads of your other essentials and you can drop MAM to 3500kg

 

[mikebeaches]

How about becoming a naturist and not bothering with the clothing

On a more serious note, trading down to a smaller van may be an option? Spec-ing a PVC to your requirements?

I like that one about becoming a naturist, to save the weight of clothes.

As confirmed nuddies, I can agree that it definitely helps...

And the suggestion of a PVC is a good one too.

 

[Geo]

The penalty for over weight is a lot less than driving other than in accordance with ones licence

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[BILL 875]

Well getting a trailer and putting all your bits in is ok so when you get to 70 you end up same weight but a trailer and 4 mtrs or so longer, now which clown at DVLA things thats a good idea its a joke.
Bill

 

[Cheshirecat57]

Well getting a trailer and putting all your bits in is ok so when you get to 70 you end up same weight but a trailer and 4 mtrs or so longer, now which clown at DVLA things thats a good idea its a joke.
Bill

I know its nonsense, but its a solution to the question you asked
In fairness to DVLA ( a phrase i never thought i would hear myself saying) they are only the managers and not the policy making “clowns” at westminster who probably would’nt know a motorhome if it squashed them flat inside the low emmission zone as they left their gents club hailing a cab

 

[Nasher]

As confirmed nuddies, I can agree that it definitely helps...

Dim willy waglio as we (don't) say in Welsh!

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[GWAYGWAY]

How about becoming a naturist and not bothering with the clothing
On a more serious note, trading down to a smaller van may be an option? Spec-ing a PVC to your requirements?

The weight I have allows motorbike etc and loading a lot more besides without the worry
Before buying the Hymer I did look a a Lunar, based on a sprinter but it has a ludicrous weight capacity even worse than the Aclass vans
The trouble is that commercial vehicle are actually quite heavy beasts and the imposition of the weight of insulation , equipment and all the entrails that make the guts of a USABLE motor home are also heavy and together make for little payload. It is the imposition of the medical requirements and the other problem of new people buying in without the grandfather rights on their licences and inability to take a driving test on one but having to learn on a drive a LORRY which they might never drive or see the inside of again. The whole thing is farcical having a class of vehicle that requires a licence for something completely different, to drive. My problem is a medical issue of 28 years ago that is on my records and will require a whole boatload of run-around with specialist reports, tests, and further reports for something that does not make me liable to expire whilst driving or be disabled whilst driving.
After buying my Hymer I will NOT be selling it to spend another shedload of money buying something else that will be just as compromised but just relieving me of any money that I do not find renewable. The whole matter of weight is a farce, as many members have found to THEIR costs buying what they thought was a usable vehicle and then having to upgrade chassis weights to just get a minimal payload.

 

[Cleve]

Just take the trailer option Graham. I have seen a huge number of our French colleagues drawing a mixture of trailers. I thought the trailer would be a problem with Aires but recent experience suggests not.

I am going to be looking for a LHD Smart car and trailer I think this winter.

The trailer takes care of all that anguish and you could have one with a proper body and almost or as secure as your Hymer.

Clive

 

[peterc10]

TWhy does the DVLA not accept the EU directive on recreational vehicles being different from the proffessional licence where they are driving constantly and much bigger vehicles. .

AFAIK the rest of Europe have the same 3.5T limit without a C1 as we do. The difference is that many of them did not even give "grandfather" rights for those who had already passed. The Dutch guy I was stalking to this spring had to pass a separate C1 test to drive his over 3.5T moho.

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[joe and sue]

i thought the 3500kg was max total including any trailer.
Please prove me wrong
Joe

 

[DBK]

Given the vehicle is safe with the extra weight, you could take everything out and get it down plated.

Then put the things you really need back in. I can't see any problems if you are just the odd hundred kg or so over weight. Smile and pay the fine if you are unlucky enough to be caught.

And don't tell anyone what you have done on here. There must be tens of thousands of MHs driving around overweight which their owners are completely unaware of.

 

[Cheshirecat57]

i thought the 3500kg was max total including any trailer.
Please prove me wrong
Joe

Nope
The max total is the train weight
At 3500kg the trailer on a Hymer can be somewhere between 1500and 2000 kg on top dependant on model homologation

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[GWAYGWAY]

When you say it's presently 4200kg is that what it's max weight is, or what it is loaded up to now?

i thought the 3500kg was max total including any trailer.
Please prove me wrong
Joe

No the B1E gives you the rights to pull a trailer up to the Gross TRAIN weight on mine 5880kgs, silly isn't it more weight than I could drive by nearly half, more trailer weight than now in fact. Providing you have the E on your licence If not then another test with a commercial trailer after a certified driving course. I believe that the Continentals CAN take their test on a motorhome, unlike here where we have to use a proper lorry box van or tilted??????????????????? plus all the regulations on driving a lorry as part of it.
However if I downplate they cannot claim in court that the vehicle is unsafe as overweight, as it was perfectly safe at 4200kgs at the old rate of tax and classification for the same identical vehicle.

 

[peterc10]

i thought the 3500kg was max total including any trailer.
Please prove me wrong
Joe

You are wrong. You are entitled to tow up to the maximum train weight of the vehicle as long as the maximum vehicle weight is 3.5t or less and you keep to that.

 

[Minxy]

I really don't know what you want us to say in all seriousness, even at minimum levels of kit you were overweight so you're never gonna be 'legal' unless you change your MH for a 3500kg one or downplate and don't carry any stuff!

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[Northernraider]

Just get a fake I'd and say your 25

 

[Pausim]

My MLI580 has a very similar specification ( auto, tow bar, grp roof) and has a MIRO of 3281k. You should have this figure on your Certificate of Conformity. I would find it very difficult to live with only 219kg payload. You could perhaps save a few kg with LiFePO4 batteries and an Alugas cylinder.

Fill the tyres with helium?