The question is as above. Has anyone ever weighed their caravan fully loaded? New caravans seem to have lower and lower user payload. Yet more and more and more have motor movers and other fixed items such as satellite dishes etc fitted lowering the payload even further. Then no doubt awnings and other stuff such as bikes get loaded too. Not forgetting that pots and pans, food, bedding, clothing etc have also been loaded.
So what proportion are in reality within their plated weight limits while towing?
We uprated ours to 1500kg to help us stay under the weight and we weigh it with the Reich scales, the MTPLM is the maximum weight so anything that puts us over either goes in the car or stays at home.
We have a maximum payload of 700kg in our car and it's just the two of us the dog and a mobility scooter, so leaves about 450kg for all the extra bits and pieces, but I appreciate that others may not have that much and thats a good point.
Quote: Originally posted by Ray Clayton on 18/9/2020
Let us all be open and HONEST here !!!!!!
1. Who does weigh there caravan, car, or trailer, on a weighbridge every time they go on a journey.
2. Who ever weighs the caravan, trailer, or cars, pay load before loading for every journey.
3. Who can 100% guarantee that the MTPLM is correct every time they go out.
4. Who can guarantee that every time they go out on the road, that they are within the GVTW.
To be honest not many people on this forum can say 100% that they are legal every time they hit the road towing.
That am afraid is a fact!!!!!!!!
So i would safely say, that people on this forum, like to think they are legal, but in truth most are more than likely not to be!!
i can honestly say that we are totally 100% within the law, no we dont weigh it but we did when we got it! and we know exactly how much the stuff inside it weighed, and how much that has left us with, we take about the same amount of stuff with us when we leave clothing and food wise too, we have caravan stuff and home stuff, the only cross over is the clothes so everything is consisently the same weight in the same position in the caravan the food normally travels in the car and is only enough for 2-3 days, any longer and we get a asda.com delivery to the site or go food shopping
Yes another boring bugger here have a list whith added extra fittings took it to the weighbridge at Rochdale fully loaded after buying it. Know whats in it /on it.
Only saw one Caravan tuned over on the M62 to convince me keeping an eye on it was a good idea.
Yes it was years ago but it flipped the car as well.
------------- Yesterday is already a dream and tomorrow is only a vision, but today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope.
There are three caravan owners in the road that I live in and all three of us have been over a weighbridge in the past two years and we keep a close tally of what goes in the caravan. I recently changed to a slightly smaller battery and from Calor to Flowgas Gaslight 5kg which has freed up a bit of weight. There a couple of ministry weighbridges on my regular routes and its not unusual to see caravans pulled for checks. I for one don't want any points on my licence due to unsafe loading.
------------- 'A sure cure for sea-sickness is to sit under a tree'
Quote: Originally posted by oldham on 18/9/2020
Yes another boring bugger here have a list whith added extra fittings took it to the weighbridge at Rochdale fully loaded after buying it. Know whats in it /on it.
Only saw one Caravan tuned over on the M62 to convince me keeping an eye on it was a good idea.
Yes it was years ago but it flipped the car as well.
However was the caravan over loaded, badly loaded, speeding etc? I guess we will never know?
Quote: Originally posted by Ray Clayton on 18/9/2020
Let us all be open and HONEST here !!!!!!
1. Who does weigh there caravan, car, or trailer, on a weighbridge every time they go on a journey.
2. Who ever weighs the caravan, trailer, or cars, pay load before loading for every journey.
3. Who can 100% guarantee that the MTPLM is correct every time they go out.
4. Who can guarantee that every time they go out on the road, that they are within the GVTW.
To be honest not many people on this forum can say 100% that they are legal every time they hit the road towing.
That am afraid is a fact!!!!!!!!
So i would safely say, that people on this forum, like to think they are legal, but in truth most are more than likely not to be!!
Well Ray I must admit I have never weighed my caravan, but we never take a huge amount with us, unlike some we have seen arriving on sites. Our caravan is well within the car's capabilities, the car itself has a considerable load carrying capacity, and there are only two of us, so we are probably fine, but I could never swear to it. I go by the principle if it looks right it probably is right. Fully loaded up and ready to go, neither the car or the caravan look overloaded, but I have never actually gone to the trouble of weighing them, and I doubt more than 20% of other caravanners have either. I don't even know where our nearest weighbridge is.
After the fitting of the motor mover and HD battery on purchase I had less than 150K payload to play with, and the awning took 20kg of that, so I decided to be meticulous. I was also close to the car towing limit with the MTPLM, and had a slightly low towbar load limit so had multiple reasons to be careful. I was as much motivated by safety as legality.
I couldn't find a convenient weighbridge within a reasonable distance, so bought caravan weighing scales and weighed 'bare' van as a double check on plated MILO figure. As caravan is stored away from home, I also weighed everything individually that I intended putting into the van to total up my load. Once everything was loaded, I reweighed van as a MTPLM check, and balanced the siting of contents to give correct nose weight and good side to side balance. I deliberately left a bit of latitude in the total load, for late additions and to cover anything that I forgot to remove when towing. Much prefer to load the car with the 'heavy stuff' than the van, but practicalities dictate that it's sensible to leave a lot of stuff in the van.
As I have now established a routine/stock kit, and always load the van the same way when I go away, I don't need to weigh it every trip, but occasionally I'll just pop it on the scales to be sure that all the little things that creep in haven't pushed things too far.
I look at what friends pile into their vans, and see what other people on sites have onboard, and that leaves me in little doubt that there are a lot of overloaded vans on the road!
My logic for purchasing my own scales was that, whilst they were seemingly expensive, fuel for towing van on a 100mile round trip and paying £10-£15 weighbridge fee costs were quite significant, and that was just a one off measurement! Two or three weight checks and I've covered the cost of the scales! I'd also have had to write off most of a day to drag van to weighbridge, but a quick check on my own scales takes 15 mins.
Was it worth all the effort? I think so, despite being a 95% car-van weight match, it tows like a dream, even on a few accidentally creeping well over 60mph moments it still feels rock solid, and having covered thousands of miles under a huge variety of road conditions I've satisfied myself that nasty surprises are unlikely within normal driving limits and even a bit beyond. I also have peace of mind that should I ever be stopped for a roadside check then I have no worries.
I still think you are probably in a minority Monty15. As you are so close to the advised limit, you are probably wise to do as you do, but I bet many don't, and it will be mainly those who are already close to the limit and take everything but the kitchen sink with them, who don't bother.
In our case our car has a 1,450kg towing limit and our caravan weighs less than 1,000kg, so we are well within. We don't take that much with us, mainly just an awning, a couple of folding chairs and a folding table, enough food for the first day and our breakfast in the morning, and our clothes and personal effects. If we are going for less than a week we leave the awning and folding table behind. We don't even bother with any wind breaks.
Our caravan tows so well behind our car that I often find myself checking the mirror to see if it's still there. The car hardly even notices it. That's where I have to take extra care, as I could easily forget that I was actually towing something.
Quote: Originally posted by Colin21 on 19/9/2020
I still think you are probably in a minority Monty15. As you are so close to the advised limit, you are probably wise to do as you do, but I bet many don't, and it will be mainly those who are already close to the limit and take everything but the kitchen sink with them, who don't bother.
In our case our car has a 1,450kg towing limit and our caravan weighs less than 1,000kg, so we are well within. We don't take that much with us, mainly just an awning, a couple of folding chairs and a folding table, enough food for the first day and our breakfast in the morning, and our clothes and personal effects. If we are going for less than a week we leave the awning and folding table behind. We don't even bother with any wind breaks.
Our caravan tows so well behind our car that I often find myself checking the mirror to see if it's still there. The car hardly even notices it. That's where I have to take extra care, as I could easily forget that I was actually towing something.
so you dont take any things like an aquaroll, and wastermaster, toilet fluids, blocks of wood for levelling a tool kit, tv, pots and pans plates cups glasses, towels, step, the list goes on but soon could put you over the limit, ok your car can pull 1450, but whats the max weight for your caravan?
Quote: Originally posted by marg6 on 19/9/2020
so you dont take any things like an aquaroll, and wastermaster, toilet fluids, blocks of wood for levelling a tool kit, tv, pots and pans plates cups glasses, towels, step, the list goes on but soon could put you over the limit, ok your car can pull 1450, but whats the max weight for your caravan?
All of those except a TV, but doesn't everyone? We never take a TV, as that's not what we go on holiday for. If anything we like to get away from it. A good book does for us if the weather's bad, and they are often available on site. All I can say is that if I'm over the limit for our caravan, an awful lot of those I see on sites must be two or three times over their weight limits. I'm certain that I am well within the limit for our caravan, and if I had any suspicions that we weren't, there is loads of spare capacity in the back of the car. The back of an X Trail is huge, especially with only two people in it. Sadly there will be even more next time we go away as we no longer need our little dog's cage in there.
I'm another in the minority then, as I bought a 5 berth caravan so I'd be ok for the three of us, and the kitchen sink.
When weighed it was just in and that was including the telly and other essentials.
Quote: Originally posted by Ray Clayton on 18/9/2020
Let us all be open and HONEST here !!!!!!
1. Who does weigh there caravan, car, or trailer, on a weighbridge every time they go on a journey.
2. Who ever weighs the caravan, trailer, or cars, pay load before loading for every journey.
3. Who can 100% guarantee that the MTPLM is correct every time they go out.
4. Who can guarantee that every time they go out on the road, that they are within the GVTW.
To be honest not many people on this forum can say 100% that they are legal every time they hit the road towing.
That am afraid is a fact!!!!!!!!
So i would safely say, that people on this forum, like to think they are legal, but in truth most are more than likely not to be!!
I do, my livelihood depends on it. Whenever I am unsure about the weight of a trailer I always stick it on a weighbridge. I also know that I can carry up to a 1000kg load plus myself and one passenger in the vehicle and be certain I am under the vehicle's max gross weight. I also make sure I adhere to all commercial towing rules such as tacho regs and driver hours when towing for work purposes. The trailers I usually tow with my Land Rover include a small 3/4 ton Sankey, a 2.5 ton twin axle tipper, a 3.5 ton flatbed plant trailer, a triple axle 3.5 ton livestock trailer and a 4 ton air-braked agri tipper trailer. And soon I will occasionally be towing a 750kg Conway trailer tent.
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Topic: Do you stay within your MTPLM?
via mobile 18/9/2020 at 6:15pm
