What is "up-plating" and why do I need it?

[JerryL770]

A novice question as I am brand new to MHing. I am now over 70 and gave up my C1 driving licence class when renewing my licence at 70 as I did not expect that the necessary medical stuff would be worth the hassle.

So now we have just bought a 2000 vintage Autotrail Cheyenne 635 with a Towtal towbar and air assist rear suspension (balloons) fitted.

The Autotrail sticker under the Fiat Ducatto chassis bonnet states:
Gross vehicle weight 3400kg
Front axle 1690kg
Rear axle 1750kg
Gross train weight 5200kg

Advice appreciated, thank you.

 

[Phill D]

as you have no C1 then you are restricted to 3500kgs max.

so up platting is not an option for you above that. so is it worth the hassle and cost for the extra 100kg payload ? that very much depends on your requirements.

 

[David and Sally]

Up plating is getting a higher GVW to allow you more payload. Usually this is a paper exercise.

In your case you can only go to 3500kg as you have revoked your C1 unless you can apply for it again.

What you really need to do is go to a weighbridge and see what you actually weigh in full touring order so you can see how close you are to the GVW in reality.

 

[Phill D]

Up plating is getting a higher GVW to allow you more payload. Usually this is a paper exercise.

In your case you can only go to 3500kg as you have revoked your C1 unless you can apply for it again.

just for clarity, to up plate above your 3400kgs MAY require additional mechanical modifications above the
Front axle 1690kg
Rear axle 1750kg

total 3440kgs you currently have max total loading using all available load. available additional 40kgs.

In my opinion it will not be a simple paper exercise on those numbers, as it looks as you would be limited to an additional 40kgs.

 

[Emmit]

With regard to the OP having, "given up" his C1 Driving Licence on attaining the age of 70yrs.

He can regain that element of his Driving Licence by going through the same procedure that we all have to do on attaining that age, (and subsequent reapplications)

However, whilst holders of the C1 entitlement continue to have the benefit given by that entitlement to drive >3.5T vehicles while DVLA drag their feet, (Section 88 Road Traffic Act 1988 applies,) the OP will have to apply and wait until the DVLA pulls their collective finger out and provide him/her with the uprated licence.

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[Kiters74]

I am 73, I re applied for my C1, with medical conditions I had to have a medical & Eye test, had send details of my heath issues once DVLA sorted it it was all good and I have just had mine re plated from 3500 to 3850, cost of re plating + docs medical now all good for another 3yrs. and I found my road tax goes down from £280. to £165 so even better.

 

[Phill D]

I am 73, I re applied for my C1, with medical conditions I had to have a medical & Eye test, had send details of my heath issues once DVLA sorted it it was all good and I have just had mine re plated from 3500 to 3850, cost of re plating + docs medical now all good for another 3yrs. and I found my road tax goes down from £280. to £165 so even better.

i agree about the C1 and that it can be regained. However, the one key difference is your Adria was probably plated at 3500kgs with a max of the combined axles of 3850kgs, ( probably 1850 front and 2000kgs rear (thats me guessing ) therefore as long as your tyres were in load then a paper exercise.
however the OP's vintage motorhome has a max across both axles of 3440kgs. so that is likely to require chassis / suspension and tyre modification / changes

 

[Pausim]

If you are short of payload you probably still have B+E on your license. This allows you to to tow a trailer and you have a tow bar. Perhaps you could get a trailer and carry all your heavy stuff in that.

I would start with a visit to a weigh bridge as suggested by David and Sally . You will then know whether or not you have a problem. If you are short of payload and not going to use the tow bar you could remove it, the tow bar and fixings usually weigh 50kg plus.

 

[Geo]

Purley out of interest ?
How much more does it hurt being hit by a 4.5 ton vehicle than a 3.5 ton vehicle at say 60 MPH
And what on earth makes anyone think that someone unfit to dive over 3.5 Ton is fit to drive at all
Cant drive his A Class 4 tonner but can pop out to Tescos in his 253MPH Bugatti Veyron

 

[JerryL770]

Some helpful responses thank you.

As in my OP the MH is fitted with the air assist suspension units ("balloons" between the axle and body) with connections for checking/revising the air pressure. Do these in themselves allow an increase in the rear axle load capacity? Fitted by a previous owner so I know nothing about them - no docs of any sort!

Else, I could tow a small trailer - whad-yu-know?? I have a trailer, a little bigger than small and would need a refurb and cover. Might be easier to buy one.

Getting the MH up-plated and reduce the VED by £115 or so should pay for the up-plating - I hope.

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[Phill D]

The air assist is likely to help but you would need the spec to use them as part of an up plate.

 

[gus-lopez]

Do these in themselves allow an increase in the rear axle load capacity?

No.

 

[pandas]

Purley out of interest ?
How much more does it hurt being hit by a 4.5 ton vehicle than a 3.5 ton vehicle at say 60 MPH
And what on earth makes anyone think that someone unfit to dive over 3.5 Ton is fit to drive at all
Cant drive his A Class 4 tonner but can pop out to Tescos in his 253MPH Bugatti Veyron

Chill

 

[Minxy]

Hi Jerry, welcome to the fun house!

First you need to go to a weighbridge and get the axle load figures as that will tell you how much is left on each of them and the overall weight to find out how much payload you have and if it is sufficient for your needs - either weight it totally empty or fully loaded in 'holiday trim' mode, including you and any passengers you will take every time. I suspect you might find that you don't have much left on the rear due to having the air-assist fitted and the tow bar as both of these will have eaten into your payload, if you don't need the latter then this could be removed to give you some of your payload back but of course you then lose the ability to tow a trailer.

You can uprate of course but you'd have to go through the medical to get your C1 back and do this every 3 years to keep it, then the cost of the uprating itself, but this is secondary to you first finding out the actual weight as you may not need to worry.

 

[JerryL770]

Problem quite possibly solved. I took the MH to a weighbridge this morning and returned with these figures:

Front axle : 1420 kg
Rear axle : 1600 kg
Total : 3060 kg.

Some disparity there but probably within the accuracy of the weighbridge which gave my weight with clothes (!) as 80kg.

So I actually have some 440kg to play with, luckily SWMBO came in at only 60kg. I had a full propane bottle on board plus 25m electric cable and a weighty bike rack which will not be used - though I may fit a better one on the tow bar.

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[Phill D]

Don't want to put a damp squib on it, but you only have 150 on the rear axle which is where you probably need the bulk of the remaining payload.
But you appear to have room to play with.

 

[JerryL770]

What actually causes the load capacity of the rear axle to be limited?

I would think it is the load capacity of the rear springs. So the addition of air assist above the springs should increase that. No?

 

[Phill D]

What actually causes the load capacity of the rear axle to be limited?

I would think it is the load capacity of the rear springs. So the addition of air assist above the springs should increase that. No?

The weight limit per axle is governed by the suspension and tyre loadings, that is assuming the chassis can take more which is usually the case.
Air assist on the rear and check the load rating on the tyres.

 

[Minxy]

What actually causes the load capacity of the rear axle to be limited?

I would think it is the load capacity of the rear springs. So the addition of air assist above the springs should increase that. No?

That could give you more capacity but you may also need to uprate the tyres to be able to carry the extra weight too.