Deal done, caravan to motorhome

We had caravans for 30 years and switched to a Motorhome last year. As we rarely use Club sites and do most of our touring in mainland Europe we tend to have very different ways of doing things than the traditional British caravanner.

Generally we are used to hedged sites and a fairly laid back attitude to waste disposal. Our waste is "grey" water and not food contaminated so it goes in a bucket then in the hedge whenever possible. We fill bottles with tap water and put them in the fridge or use mineral water for drinking.

I have an emergency container for filling the water tank but have never used it. We fill up on the way into a site if needed and empty waste on the way out, again, if needed. Occasionally we fully fill the water tank and have fully filled the waste tank BUT if you do that you will get smells so not recommended.

So, no waste container, no Aquaroll, no nothing really!

We're brand new MH'ers and got our MH in March. We've never had a caravan or anything prior to buying our MH.

We arrive with an empty fresh tank & fill upon arrival. Our fresh tank is 93 litres & there are 2 of us and we use water as we do at home. Mrs FB doesn't use site facilities for anything so showers & toilet get used every day. We find that our water lasts us 2/3 days & on site I top up via a 5 litre water container from Tesco that originally had mineral water in it. We consider our MH to be our 2nd home and have kitted it out as such with proper crockery etc. 

Very good idea to have width & height on a post note where you can see it whilst driving. 

Good advice that I was given prior to collection was don't buy anything until you've had a few trips. I'd say stick to that with the exception of levelling blocks. 

Right, among all the advivce above was a mention of weight of water...

notwithstanding this per se, the 196 is a big van, with 6 berths, 6 seat belts and mountings with fold out travel seats, and upto 4 extra people over and above you and your partner.....

all of the above weighs a lot.....a large lot....

the quoted payload is 506......take this with a kilo of salt....

i guess you have chosen a 6 berth van as you have a family to transport?

if they are youngish, its likely you dont have the license to drive over 3.5t and you haven't mentioned upgrading the MTPLM....possibly, because you dont have the license for this??

running a 6 berth van with four (or more) people in it at 3.5t will be extremely difficult....

your partner, four med/small kids and a full tank of water will eat 375kg of the 500 before you even put anything in it..... ramps, hoses, containers for fresh/waste, windbreaks, bikes, food, clothes, books, games, pcs, toiletries, other fluids, etc, etc.....

just the items that fit in my MH garage weigh over 150kg...
not trying to dampen your enthusiasm in any way but i strongly advise that you get the dealer to weigh the van (your actual van) in a known state prior to paying any deposit.....or further monies.

you also need to weigh the OH, the kids, the bikes, the ......everything else that you will put in the van.

then add that lot together (not forgetting the water) and see where you stand.

YOU are responsible for running within the MTPLM and you need to be sure you can do this safely and legally with this van.

i have just moved down to a 3.5t van and made the dealer weigh the van prior to signing, i also weighed everything that i knew was going into the van. we are just a couple, yet we are close(ish) to the limit, fully tanked and kitted (just enough left fot the wine trips....).

please think about doing this before parting with your hard earned, as finding out later you cant run the van at 3.5t down the line will break your heart......and more.

also check the individual axle weights as its likely the rear axle will be overloaded (2000kg) before you hit the 3.5t limit.....this is due to the long overhang on your vehicle and where the storage is (under the rear beds).

this post is placed as genuine advice as running family vans at 3.5t (legally) is incredibly difficult.

good luck.

Hi BoleroBoy, lots to think about here. I purchased the 196 as the layout is what we were looking for with plenty of room for the two of us. Only occasionally we will be taking a couple of grandchildren with us so not going to be 6 travelling at any one time. I have a license that allows me to drive up to 7.5 ton. The 196 has 6 belted seats but are not the fold out ones. I suppose if the weight is going to be an issue I could run with just enough water that would see us to our next stop. Not sure how I go about it but increasing the MTPLM may be an option.

thanks again 

thats good news....you have options...

the easiest way to proceed is to load up fully (for you two) including water and weigh the van....bearing in mind 'roughly' what extra weight will be loaded when taking the g'kids...

if this total is under 3.5t as plated now, then no problem.

however, it may be that running for two is fine, but you might be pretty close or even over when you make the allowance for the gkids...

if this is the case, (if your dealer wont do it for free.....) you can contact a company called SVtech who specialise in helping customers up/down grade their van MTPLM.

3650kg should be just a 'paper' exercise, 3850kg might need a tyre change...

at least you have the option.....many dont and run (plenty) overweight.

good luck.

Good advice from BoleroBoy. Hope to weigh our outfit for tthe first time next week, partly so that I can get the correct tyre pressures.

If you upgrade to above 3500 kg I guess there may be a slightly smaller market if you come to sell as many people keep to under 3500 kg due to the licence restrictions. Once you have replated I guess you can't go back.

hitch, for info, yes you can go back. the 3500 to 3650 scenario is a common one but does not preclude a 'paper' return to 3500 if reqd.

our van (as do most 'light' chassied Carthagos) came plated at 3650. as the van was specced with the 'tougher, higher load rated 16" wheels, it had another plate for 3850.

but as we wanted to keep the van at 3500, we get that plate....fun, eh?

our fully loaded weights (incl full water, gas, fuel, clothes, food, bikes, and everything i could find at home) were 1600 front and 1820 rear.

Doug, its this rear axle weight (max 2000kg on a std 3.5t Fiat/Peugeot chassis) that is vulnerable and is likely to be breached prior to reaching 3500 overall weight, especially with vans with longer rear overhangs and load capacity at the rear.

if this happens then (despite appearing to have plenty of weight left 'overall) then 'something' physical needs to be done to uprate the rear axle.....tyre change and/or chassis mods, but youre a long way off any of this yet, just visit a weighbridge, get both axle weights and work from there.

Hitch, i spoke to Continental re tyre pressures and (incredibly) sent me back their 225/75 16 CP pressure table and recommendations...

Continental tyre pressures as follows.....
Front Axle: 1600 Kg - 3.0 bar/ 43.5 psi
Rear Axle: 1820 Kg - 3.75 bar/ 54.3 psi 

This seemed very low but got them changed for this Devon trip and all seems well.

certainly a mile away from most dealers' efforts of 80 psi all round, hence rock hard ride.

let me know how you get on, good luck.

That's a gorgeous looking van Doug, but blimey is that a long overhang at the rear....!!

I notice you are up in bonny Scotland, be careful on some of the ferry ramps....!

....and have just seen that the tall fridge/feezer is also behind the rear axle line, all adding to the thought that the rear axle will go overweight well before you reach 3.5t....

Wow what have I done. You've got me thinking now as to regards the weight issue and the large overhang behind the rear axle.

I would like to think that when we are on our own the weight issue should be okay. Not sure when we take our 2 very young grand kids with us if we will still be within the weight limit. I was the same about if we increase the MTPLM when we do eventually sell will we be limited to  who can buy due to the MTPLM being over 3.5.

Yes I did notice the large overhang behind the rear axle and I will have to watch out for ferry ramps etc, but surely it must be okay or they wouldn't be built this way.

i had a good look about the MH and there's doesn't seem to be much in the way of heavy items behind the rear axle. The fridge is just slightly over the axle but it's the small under worktop one not the tall large fridge/freezer.

I will definetly speak to the dealer regarding the MTPLM and see what the possibility of increasing the MTPLM.

I do appreciate all your comments and advice so keep them coming 👍🏼