Motor homes and payloads

I wonder if the OP's ideal motor caravan (and licence) could allow the towing of a small trailer and thereby have a third axle to spread the load?

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It would be for me Derek as I am turned 67. 

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I've put together a list of the items our Motorhome carries when in 'holiday' mode.

These are only approximate weights but probably are similar to things most people take with them.

The Water tank could be only partially full saving around 100kgs but we prefer it full and it saves us worrying about finding somewhere to top up for the first few days abroad.

Does this reflect the 'stuff' and weights you carry ?

https://i.postimg.cc/bwVc296n/MOTORHOME-PAYLOAD-6.jpg

 

 

 

 

Keith, without being too politically incorrect, some couples weigh a blooming site more than your 11 stone each these days (nominal 75kg allowed for each within most manufacturers allowances) and this is surefire way to make a big dent when grappling with payload...(OH and i weigh 120kg together soaking wet.....)

add in water and grey waste hoses (and myriad connectors), ehu cable(s) (we have two), electrical adaptors for continental bollards, electric socket 'flylead' for outside cooking, reverse polarity switching cable (if thats your thing), ipads, pc, charging leads for these and phones if different, warning triangles, vests, water 'management' kit (wastemasters etc), awning tie down kit, books, maps, magazines, even carpets (and extra mats/runners) aren't part of the base spec and eat payload...

i keep most of the smaller above bits in a plastic 'box' and, although each item is light enough, the box when full is pretty heavy. 

the only true way (weigh) of knowing how heavy one's van is (in race trim) is to load it as such and weigh it like that...

that when you get the 'bloomin' heck' moment.

 ..(OH and i weigh 120kg together soaking wet.....)

ask no questions 😯😱🤐😂

Perhaps a bit more than a quick bit. On paper our MH has a humongous payload. However, the figure quoted is only for the base specification. So ther are add ons for the UK type cooker that is in ours, the large fridge, extra plug sockets, door fly screen, alloy wheels (which are heavier than the standard  steel) metallic paint. etc, etc, etc.

At the end of the day we end up with an OK payload and don't have a problem keeping within the 3.5 limit or axle loading. However, I was well aware of the need to add up everything very carefully to arrive at a realistic payload. Plus we had a friend who bought an almost identical van a year ago, who we could get advice from.

Personally I think there should be some requirement that payloads have  a greater relationship to the vehicle you are buying. The current system is just smoke and mirrors.

Perhaps they are both only 4ft 2ins tall. 

know, I what you mean Steve....

the 'basic' figures for our van are...

Unladen weight in standard condition 2640 kg 

Weight in running order 2825 kg

So a massive 860kg spare at 3500kg (over 1.6 tonnes on the 4250 chassis).....

However, moving upto MIRO (add OH, water, gas etc) steals 185kg.

add in the 'packs' deemed 'essential' and this adds going on 100kg, then there are twin leisure batteries, sat system, awning, inverter, bike rack in the garage, solar panel etc....all these are fixed to the van and probably bring the base weight level up close to the minimum 500kg 'real payload' mentioned in CY's post, even in a slim (2.12m), short (6.4m), light van like ours.

this is the point where we start adding all of our 'stuff' listed many times in threads like this....

vans that 'start heavy' (7m-7.5m coachbuilts) will be tricky to run in full 'long continental holiday mode' at 3.5t yet converters (and some dealers) seem happy to keep telling us isn't a problem...