New Bailey 75-2 Autograph

Hi BB

Dethleffs Esprit I 7150 EB.  Knaus now coming up to 3 years old.  Went for Dethleffs as its a local dealer and the van had just about everything we wanted with the dealer fitted options.  Picking up next Thursday fingers crossed.

lovely van, just saw it on the Pullingers website....looks great, enjoy

Hi PJMEG, BoleroBoy has given you a lot of food for thought. To answer your initial question about ground clearance. We have a 2017 75-4 and have just completed 10k miles. Yes the low clearance is something to be considered. I have heard slight grounding noises a couple of times, but think this is more the middle and rear mud flaps rubbing, or my spare wheel carrier which is slung at the rear underneath.

Only damage I’ve had is the waste pipe which is low slung. I’ve knocked it off twice, once on the previous 745, when I lost the tap, and then driver error getting on ramps on this model, so I’ve adapted it to raise the whole pipe work out of the way. It is on a flexible hose now and much more convenient.

I do try and plan ahead looking at the roads to avoid humpback bridges, but we can get into Chatsworth which has a hump bridge at the arrival point.

Turning to BB’s points. You can download the manuals for the 75-2 to get all the weights they include on their payload calculations. From memory, A 70 kg driver, 20 litres of fresh water, no waste and 80% fuel.

The new Baileys come with a fix and go tyre repair kit. If you pay for a spare and the Alko wheel carrier you are adding a lot of weight eating into your payload. We have a second leisure battery as well as a spare and fully loaded with me and the wife, food (we always take too much!) etc with two bikes on the rear our 75-4 came in at around 3800kg. I was glad I asked the dealer to upgrade the weighting’s which they did as part of the package.

First things first .. Check out the Dealer. See what people are saying about them. They never change their spots and once they have your cash some would not even give you the time of day. We have had problems with a couple of Dealers both local so bought one on recommendation from Dealer 200 miles away. The level of service over the three years has been exceptional. Nothing is to much trouble and they have even sorted a problem out after the 2 year warranty expired.

As for payload it's a very important factor. You will be surprised how much goes in and it all adds to the weight. Build quality which IMPO is sadly lacking in Uk built Motorhomes should always be considered. No point in buying something with all the bells and whistles if it falls apart as you drive down the road. I used to carry a toolkit with our NEW Swift to screw bits and pieces back on and do repairs along the way. You certainly cannot keep taking them back for the niggles as the Motorhome spends more time at the Dealers than on the road.

...A, yes the driver will be included (usually 75kg) and if the manual says 20kg then my calculations are just 20kg out....not enough to make any difference IMV....and if the fuel tank is full or there's any waste in the tank this will negate that....

do you know each axle actual weight?

you (dealer) may have upgraded the van to 3850kg but it's still on the light chassis, isnt it?

if so, this means the rear axle is still limited to 2000kg and the front 1850kg....hence the 'ability' to upplate to gain payload....but it's only usable if the extra weight can be distributed appropriately.

with the rear weight bias of this type of van, I reckon the rear axle is in serious trouble...

2000kg (the rear max) expressed as a percentage of the all up weight of your van (3800kg) is just under 52%.

IMHO, its nigh on impossible for this van to be split 48/52 weight wise, especially as you have a rear bike carrier and bikes.

my own van (A class, shorter rear overhang) has a less rear bias but is still 46/54.

i would make sure I know the rear axle loading as overloading this is the same offense as overloading the van, which the upplate has mitigated against.

ill gladly eat my 'words' (and start believing in fairies) if you tell me the rear axle is legal

We like the look of some of the Bailey models but none of them are provided with auto transmission.  I cannot understand the logic of that.  If my memory is accurate, Rolls Royce and Bentley stopped offering cars with a manual transmission in 1948.  My wife and I gave up on manual transmission cars years ago when less costly auto boxes became the norm.  Come on Bailey - wake up!

For some reason Bailey use the Peugeot chassis v the other 90% of mainstream manufacturers who use Fiat and the rest that us Merc or Iveco (may be others) I do not understand this except not having Auto saves about 17kg of weight on an already overloaded van?

17kg seems hardly worth it for the bother of a manual box but point taken.

AS offer the auto Fiat as an alternative base vehicle on their Peugeot models. There must be a reason Bailey don’t do the same.

Whilst I agree with you about automatic gearboxes, my last four cars have been auto's there must be a reason why Bailey only use Peugeot cabs. The only thing I can think of is cost. Anyone who has looked at Bailey motorhomes will have realised that Bailey don't really offer any optional extras apart from bedding. So it seems they want to keep the production line focused on producing standard motorhomes. (may also apply to caravans?) If you want options you either have to have your dealer fit them or upgrade the model you buy. Perhaps the reason for this is this keep things as simple as possible and as such keep prices down? Surely also Elddis only use Peugeot cabs except for their new van conversions?

David