# overweight?



## nafricasurfer (Jan 22, 2014)

Hi all -

We are ready to set sail from Hungary to the UK tomorrow. 

However, I'm realizing that weight may be an issue.

I've never actually weighed the camper. It is a 7.2m long 3.3 meter high Euramobil on a Fiat Ducato. The dealer guessed it's weight at around 3000 kg. I bet it'd be closer to 3100.

That means we have just 400kg for us, water, and all things?

I calculate about 600 kg for us, water, fuel, solar panels, bikes, and everything else.

What does this mean? 

Does it mean we could be randomly weighed on our way to the UK... and if we are over, then we could be fined? Or car impounded?

Are we allowed to drive a camper over 3500 kg with a normal car license? My license is from the USA and I've been driving since 1990 or so. My girlfriend's license is a standard car license & she has been driving less than 10 years. 


Thank you for clearing this up!
Matt


----------



## coppo (May 27, 2009)

What it means is that you havn't a clue what you weigh or what payload you have to play with. You should have weighed the van as part of testing it before purchase, then you have known exactly what you had left.

The dealer guessed the weight and told you what he estimated. A dealer once said to me''Good morning''. I looked outside and it was chucking it down. Lesson, don't believe a word any dealer says regarding payload.

Paul.


----------



## 91502 (May 1, 2005)

Does it mean we could be randomly weighed on our way to the UK... and if we are over, then we could be fined? Or car impounded? 

YES and YES

Are we allowed to drive a camper over 3500 kg with a normal car license? My license is from the USA and I've been driving since 1990 or so. My girlfriend's license is a standard car license & she has been driving less than 10 years. 

NO I believe any US license will only allow you to drive up to 3500kg in the UK

I think it is a bit late for these questions


----------



## alexblack13 (Feb 10, 2013)

Go get weighed and take out the guess work. Then do what you need to do to stay legal.

Could you do without filling the watertank for EG? That would be 80 -100 kgs alone.

Good luck with it and stay safe.

AB13.


----------



## alhod (Nov 1, 2010)

Weight is the hidden pitfall of motorhoming! First thing (and there may be someone else along to counter this statement) in general experience, it is unlikely that you will be stopped on a spot check. Not impossible but unlikely.
Second, you should get the weight checked soon as you can and you will probably be shocked! 
The van you have bought should have somewhere a manufacturer's plate showing the various weight limits (front axle, rear axle, total max weight and train weight, that is max rated including trailer). It should not be necessary for the dealer to guess - that information should be somewhere on the vehicle, usually on the chassis under the bonnet (hood) or maybe tucked inside one of the doors or somewhere similar.
Regarding licence validity, for European (EU) licenses there are classes of vehicle specified on the licence. Class B covers vehicle up to max 3.5 tonne, Class C1 is vehicle up to 7.5 tonne. Older drivers on UK licence have C1 automatically, drivers who passed their test after (I think) 1987 have only B. But if you have a USA licence I guess that you are entitled to drive the same class vehicles here that you can in the States so it would depend on that. 

It is very common for motorhomes to have quite tight payload capacity and once you have fuel, water, driver, passenger etc on board to find little spare for anything more. Could be that you will find yourself in that position in which case you have to decide how to proceed. One solution might be to add a towbar and buy a trailer to take the surplus. That way you could stay legal and still take all that you need. But do include the weight of the towbar in the weight calculations! 

Alan


----------



## GEMMY (Jun 19, 2006)

You know what it means, Illegal, no valid insurance, and if stopped are likely to have the proverbial book thrown at you.

tony


----------



## Jimblob44 (Oct 26, 2013)

I read somewhere on here that part of the ethos on MHF is that "there is no such thing as a silly question", no one will shoot you if you have a query about anything, judging by the replies of some people they seem to have little time for the less knowledgable re MH's.
Not everyone knows, or thinks about weight issues when they buy a vehicle, I certainly didn't, I just knew that I wanted a MH to get out and about and see a wee bit more of this country before I croak.

If someone posts a question or query you think is stupid or that you have no real answer other than to make them feel even more stupid wouldn't it be better to just ignore the poster rather than alienate them with pithy "you should have known better" quips?

Jim.


----------



## Stanner (Aug 17, 2006)

Jimblob44 said:


> wouldn't it be better to just ignore the poster rather than alienate them with pithy "you should have known better" quips?
> 
> Jim.


You really haven't been keeping up with this saga have you........ :wink:


----------



## nafricasurfer (Jan 22, 2014)

Hi All -

Thanks for the replies, even if a bit hard. I know it's all meant to help.

We are still in Hungary, the country of registration. The plate under the hood says 3500 / 1850 / 2120.

So, this means I have two, possibly three things against me? Not only do I not have a C-class, so cannot drive a car over 3500. Also car cannot legally hold more than 3500? And I do not understand this: the car cannot physically hold more than 3500 (doing so is dangerous?)

Our plan is to drive to the UK. Is weighing the camper something routinely done at the Calais ferry terminal?

We could get it uprated? This means we up the weight plate under the bonnet? But then we'd need a class C?

Yes it has been a saga & no I do not trust a thing the dealer said. Sold me a camper with a broken electroblock charging unit.

Jim, your camper looks very similar to ours. Ours is a Euramobil 655 Sport. What does your camper weigh filled up?

Thanks 
Matt


----------



## nafricasurfer (Jan 22, 2014)

Hi All -- 

Did some reading. My US license in the US (from washington state) entitles me to drive vehicles up to some ungodly weight. 23,000 pounds or something like that.

Also, my license was granted about 6 years ago. However, in the US we move around a lot. My first license was from Georgia & that was 24 years ago.

Will these laws be recognized.. or is the foreign car license transferred into a UK car license & hence all the previous statements hold true?

I guess a call to the UK DMV and the Hungarian DMV are in order.

Thank you-
Matt


----------



## 91502 (May 1, 2005)

Unless things have changed recently any US license is only valid for 3500kg in the UK, as your license was not issued in the EU you don't get like for like entitlement so without taking a test in an EU country you cannot upgrade your motorhome to a heigher plated weight.
There are some exceptions for foreign lorry drivers if they drive their vehicle into the UK but I am not sure if this would include a motorhome.


----------



## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Hi Matt.
I have always known that US driving licenses indicate you can drive a Motorhome (RV) up to 20 odd thousand pounds. Or around 10 tons. But I believe this is an exemption in most states purely for RVs. 
My Montana license says 'CAR' or class 'D' but Montana law permits me to drive an RV up to 26,000 lbs.

I doubt that any European country would allow you to drive over the 3,500kg. so unless you gain a class 'C' or shed weight it looks like you will be illegal.

But again depending on when you did pass your test a call to the DVLA might point you to a rule allowing you to drive up to 7,500kg.

Ray.


----------



## alhod (Nov 1, 2010)

Matt,

If it is correct (and I'm sure JP is speaking from experience) that your licence is valid only for 3500 kg max there is no point in getting the van replated, even if that is possible. You are limited to that max weight! 

I come back to my earlier suggestion about the trailer as maybe the best alternative, but not sure how the licence validity works with that. It needs investigation.

I had our van replated last year, which is relatively straightforward in UK if the capacity is there in the chassis. It has a nominal payload in the manufacturer spec of about 400 kg but after adding awning, solar panel, 2nd hab battery that is already reduced. Add all the garbage we carry around, two slightly obese pensioners and two dogs and it's getting tight! In fact I weighed it a couple of weeks ago, before coming to France, and it was already 3540 before adding fuel, passenger, dogs and stuff for friends. Even with the new 3850 max we might have been a little over by the time we left. Weight is a minefield :roll: 

Alan


----------



## barryd (May 9, 2008)

So you know the max is 3500kg then. Get it weighed as soon as possible. You may find your under that and have nothing to worry about but your going to worry like mad until you do.

Ive not seen or heard of anyone getting weighed at Calais.


----------



## Ian_n_Suzy (Feb 15, 2009)

If I recall correctly you also have a tolerance of +/- 5% i.e 175kg


----------



## coppo (May 27, 2009)

Jimblob44 said:


> I read somewhere on here that part of the ethos on MHF is that "there is no such thing as a silly question", no one will shoot you if you have a query about anything, judging by the replies of some people they seem to have little time for the less knowledgable re MH's.
> Not everyone knows, or thinks about weight issues when they buy a vehicle, I certainly didn't, I just knew that I wanted a MH to get out and about and see a wee bit more of this country before I croak.
> 
> If someone posts a question or query you think is stupid or that you have no real answer other than to make them feel even more stupid wouldn't it be better to just ignore the poster rather than alienate them with pithy "you should have known better" quips?
> ...


Disagree.

No offence whatsoever to the OP was intended by anyone, just a sharp reminder to everyone buying a motorhome and not believing what a dealer tells you.

In fact Nafricasurfer was asking loads of questions over the last month or so in his run up to buying a motorhome. He seemed to be doing his homework and he does seem like a lovely fellow.

Paul.


----------



## alhod (Nov 1, 2010)

Very important to keep all doors locked around Calais or you could acquire an extra 80kg and find yourself in trouble for people smuggling :lol: 

Alan


----------



## wakk44 (Jun 15, 2006)

Jimblob44 said:


> I read somewhere on here that part of the ethos on MHF is that "there is no such thing as a silly question", no one will shoot you if you have a query about anything, judging by the replies of some people they seem to have little time for the less knowledgable re MH's.
> Not everyone knows, or thinks about weight issues when they buy a vehicle, I certainly didn't, I just knew that I wanted a MH to get out and about and see a wee bit more of this country before I croak.
> 
> If someone posts a question or query you think is stupid or that you have no real answer other than to make them feel even more stupid wouldn't it be better to just ignore the poster rather than alienate them with pithy "you should have known better" quips?
> ...


I have some empathy with your point of view,however the main reason for exchanging knowledge and information on a public forum is to hopefully help members make informed choices.

There is a vast searchable information database on MHF which usually provides a solution to any motorhome related query.If it doesn't then a thread on here normally does the trick.

If members don't do their homework then this type of thread will continue to pop up,the forum has saved me such a lot of money and hassle in the past and even though I have made mistakes they have not been too costly as seems to be the case here.

The best thing is it has brought the whole motorhome weight issue into the spotlight again which I think is a potential minefield and needs focusing on.I believe the majority of motorhomes in the UK are travelling on the road illegally,risking potential fines and are also possibly uninsured.


----------



## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

The OP obviously has a lot of questions that need to be asked and hindsight is a wonderful thing - oh to have it earlier.......

All you can do now is weigh the vehicle and try to get it below the magic 3,500kg. You are not likely to get stopped BUT it could happen anywhere, and is more likely to happen if the vehicle LOOKS overweight.....

practically, only take as much water as you need and keep the waste water tank empty, if you only have say 20kg of fresh water for the day you can always top up when you stop..... and that 20kg should be enough for hand washing, drinks etc.

Your licence probably does not cover you for over 3,500kg UNLESS you took a driving test in the UK BEFORE 1997 (the same applies to anyone).

In the long term you should investigate the C1 entitlement - taking a test to give you that extra qualification - it is not cheap and requires a medical etc. but otherwise you are risking a heavy fine, and no insurance cover.........

Good luck, there are bound to be other questions that you need answered, please ask - it is better to find out in advance but not always possible.....

Dave


----------



## Jimblob44 (Oct 26, 2013)

nafricasurfer said:


> Hi All -
> 
> Thanks for the replies, even if a bit hard. I know it's all meant to help.
> 
> ...


Matt, I don't have a clue what it weighs filled yet as I have still to get out in it for the first time, I am still at the kitting out stage and have a reversing camera and solar panel to fit, I am totally ignorant as to what weight I have to play with so I plan to find out when I get to the van at the weekend.
Jim.


----------



## grizzlyj (Oct 14, 2008)

Hi

Just to clarify a little on EU licences, Class C is over 3500kg, Class C1 is between 3500kg and 7500kg. So if you wanted to drive perhaps a rigid 8 wheeled lorry of 20plus tons you need Class C, if you want to drive a medium sized horse box/camper/small lorry then C1 would suffice.

If you had neither (and wanted or needed to) then perhaps you may as well go for a Class C since the difference in cost may not be huge, but the test and lessons would be in a big truck. If you only need up to 7500kg (C1) then the lessons and test would be in something much less imposing. Trailer weights are different for these classes too and may need checking first.

BUT find out what you actually weigh (we've stopped at any weighbridge we happened to be passing until one said yes), see IF there is a problem, try and reduce what you carry IF needed, and a trailer may be a good solution.

Motorhomes seem to be built to the 3500kg licence limit, a day at any motorhome show will soon reveal 6 berth vans with enough carrying capacity for the driver and a sandwich if you're lucky, no mention made of where the extra kg from guests to make use of the other beds, and their gear, will go, until months after cash has changed hands and the owner discovers what they actually bought. How dealers and manufacturers are allowed to do this I just do not understand.


----------



## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

I have read of MHs being weighed near Austrian motorway toll booths to check that they are paying the right toll,either via a vignette for under 3500kg or by an electronic 'GO' box which charges per km.

Some authorities are equipped with portable weighing plates, so it is no guarantee that avoiding all weighbridge locations will protect one from a weight check.

Geoff


----------



## nafricasurfer (Jan 22, 2014)

Just got back from the weigh station here. We are 3650 with both of us in and about 110L of water inside. However, we want to add some bikes and another suitcase of clothes. And gf's father is insisting to give 5 liters wine and 3 kg cured ham!

Another bureaucratic roadblock: We registered in Hungary and they copy pasted the dutch registration papers. So our Hungarian papers say max 3500 and there is no mention of front / rear axle maximums on the Hungarian papers. ALSO... the official says there is no way to have this raised in Hungary. LOVELY! 

I have the original German papers & they show a raised weight limit to 3850. However, the plate under the hood reads 3500 max 1850 front, 2120 rear.

Our weight is under the axle weights, but we are over total max weight. but the total max weight makes no sense as it is less than the combined front & rear axle weights. 

The idea of hauling a trailer to get around this rule is fully ridiculous. Certainly more dangerous to do so and these laws are meant to make things safer. Thank you for the idea & could save us. But I'm pretty hard headed about not doing silly things to satisfy an official. Though in this case it may mean re-registering the car somewhere else who will replate the car up to 3850.

If the poster who said +/- 5% is OK, then we may be OK. Can we dump water when they weigh us?

We'll start without the bikes, those are heavy. We'll get some bromptons!  I have 10L diesel spare. Can do with 5L. Two big solar panels, I can take the metal frames off. I wonder what 200Ah of lithium ion batteries would cost. 

Matt


----------



## grizzlyj (Oct 14, 2008)

Hi

The weight limit will originally be from the vehicle manufacturer not some official. From what you say there may be some leeway between the limit your vehicle was built to and the one it was registered as. This I think is where the likes of SVTech in the UK come in, to up the paperwork to suit the manufacturer maximum.

Also, have you looked at the weight limits on the tyres? Pressures required for those loads?

Axle limits should not match the total to allow for how you load the vehicle. 

Hopefully not continuing to be ridiculous.


----------



## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

Hi Matt,

if you are stopped and weighed then yes, dumping water would save 100+kg, so why carry that much to start with?

Water is fairly easily obtained in most places, an ordinary tap is sufficient with bucket or watering can or hose to allow some to be put in for overnight and then dumped before moving off....

Why carry spare diesel? Surely, there are plenty of filling stations around so you can fill up when perhaps it drops below 3/4 full?

Keeping the waste water empty as well will reduce the weight being carried......

There are reports that in the UK they are now able to weigh vehicles as they drive along - not sure how, but if that can happen in the UK, can it be done elsewhere?

Dave


----------



## nafricasurfer (Jan 22, 2014)

I've seen the weigh plates on the highway in CZ and I think HU too.

After reading 
http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopicp-1549465.html#1549465

It sounds like in the UK we may be OK, by limiting liquids. If the +5% leeway is true. Sounds like it is. I'd prefer a Brompton anyhow.

I wish I could know more about the other country's & their leeways.

Also, which countries are more likely to weigh. Those with budget crisis? Spain, Italy, PT?

The camper certainly does not LOOK overweight. just one bag on top. camper riding up high over the wheels.

Regarding the wheel capacities. I'm not sure. They filled to 5.5 bar. Big heavy looking 4 season tires. How to tell their capacity? Bought this Eura Mobil in the Netherlands. Hopefully they control these things??

Just a quick survey here: Anyone reading that ever was pulled over for a weight check?

Thank you-
Matt


----------



## nafricasurfer (Jan 22, 2014)

GF is specifically worried about Dover. Someone said he has not heard about being weighed in Calais. What about Dover?

Also she & me are worried about being in an accident & not having insurance cover. Is it routine to weigh a camper when in an accident? As I write this sentence I'm thinking of all different EU countries. And I'm realizing... there is nothing like normal, or usual... so many different laws, right?

Matt


----------



## TheNomad (Aug 12, 2013)

Dave - re: weighing vehicles in the UK as they are driving along.

I think what actually happens is that VOSA people cruise around and look for vehicles that LOOK too heavily laden: tyres splayed/sitting low on their axles etc, and then pull them for a proper weighbridge check.

My brothers Company runs a lot of lorries which shift earth etc, and several have been pulled over to go for proper weighing because they look suspiciously heavily loaded as they drive along.


----------



## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

Hey up.

We pulled into an Aire in France coming home a couple of weeks back. As we sat there drinking our tea a great big Artic with a load of steel girders came in near us escorted by the Police, the Police weighed the lorry by driving it over air bags under each wheel which they inflated when the wheel was over it, and presumably gave a weight reading somehow.

So they carry equipment in the back of the traffic Police vehicles that is totally mobile and easy to carry out spot weight checks, in the UK you are never far from a weigh bridge and they will take you to one of them if you "Look" overweight.. I got pulled in my transit van with a pack of bricks in. I knew if I took the top 3 rows out of the pack I would be legal, so the Police didn't make a sale of an overweight ticket that day :roll: ..

Keep ahead of the game and keep legal, that applies to all of us on here, no point moaning when you get caught, the ball is "Always" in our court and there is never any wriggle room when it comes to the Police, you are legal or not!.


ray.


----------



## grizzlyj (Oct 14, 2008)

Hiya

The tyre sidewall will say maximum load at maximum psi/bar.

My camper can have a great deal more weight on the front axle and is nose up, but to look at you might think its rear heavy. I did get pulled on a French autoroute by French customs who were very forceable in a polite way, thinking I had a ton or two of vin rouge in the back. There was nothing for them to be worried about and off I went. That was a big temporary operation in a service area, a large number of Police cars and bikes ready a junction or two beforehand to escort people off for inspection. I've not heard of anyone else though outside the UK. Police here I'm told pull vehicles that look heavy and slow on the climb out of Dover, and if not too overweight can remove whatever they like to become legal and continue.


----------



## alfredthegreat (Dec 12, 2005)

You can weigh a motorhome at Dover, but only when departing for Europe. Just follow the truck signs as you enter the port and it will send you over the weighbridge. I did ask permission a couple of years ago and was told it was okay, but not when busy.


----------



## alhod (Nov 1, 2010)

Pragmatism rules! A couple of points which may be helpful to reassure:
1. The total plated weight is what it says - not necessarily a total of the two axle weights which only relate to the specific axle. BUT in getting the vehicle re-plated that is relevant. Hence presumably the discrepancy between the plated weight in Hungary and the original plated weight of 3850 in Germany.
2. If you can reduce the load to max 3500 without too much inconvenience that seems the obvious route to take. So dump the water, carry less fuel in the tank and do not carry any spare fuel in separate cans which is anyway certainlynot necessary anywhere in Europe.
3. After taking the sensible steps as above and as you have already said yourself, don't get stressed! You are unlikely to get pulled over at either Calais or Dover unless it appears that you are horrendously overloaded so relax and enjoy the journey  

The 3500 limit has come about because of the European regular driving licence taking that as the normal; motorhomes have just followed that to retain the market potential. There are fewer of us now with the old style licence and automatic entitlement to 7500kg. 

Manufacturers just seek to optimise their sales by making it easy for folk to buy but there is certainly an issue with payload which is usually not even mentioned by the salesman in the showroom extolling the virtues of the van you are looking at :evil: 

Alan


----------



## 91502 (May 1, 2005)

Vosa will often use an infrared thermometer to measure tyre temperature to give a good indication as to a vehicles weight, so I guess this may be able to be done on a moving vehicle?
In the UK an overweight vehicle is an absolute offence for the driver except certain types of vehicles such as some carrying a cargo that could gain weight en-route such as crops getting wet but a MH doesn't fall into this.
There is no 5% leeway, if you weigh 3501kg you are over weight but sometimes (not always) a traffic officer may give you a warning if you are slightly over but your vehicle would not be able to move until you were below the limit. I once saw a driver dump loads of food, clothes etc in black bags in a lay-by at a check site once to get below his weight limit only to be fined by the environment officers also on the check for littering.
Although you won't find many on this forum who claim to have been weighed I used to work on country wide acton days where forces across the country had a day of action and we would have several MH's a day pulled in. They were usually large RV's looking at license offences or large 7m+ MH's for weight and foreign MH's for drug/illegal tobacco searches. Every vehicle pulled in had the full works documents, weight, full VOSA inspection and a search.

The best advice is get your weight down.


----------



## nafricasurfer (Jan 22, 2014)

No mopeds on the back of ours. We are debating taking the bicycles. 

Just a surfboard on top of the camper. Camper is 7.2 meters long. 3 meters high. Nothing looks too weighted. 

I don't understand the axle weights & how those relate to the overall maximum. Hungarian officials say they will weigh each axle to determine if you are overweight in either. Supposedly then you won't be fine if your total weight is over the total for the van as long as each axle is not over.

But then again, the Hungarians don't print axle weights on the official documents. 

But then I read in that thread I just posted that someone was fined three times. Once for each axis and another for the total.

Just now reading about Lithium Ion batteries. Maybe we can jettison the whole solar / battery rig for a single li ion battery charged quickly by the alternator. That'd save 100 kgs between batteries and 2 solar panels.

Matt


----------



## alhod (Nov 1, 2010)

Reference the apparent discrepancy between individual axle weights and total weight. The rule is that all three must be in compliance. So you can be up to eg the rear axle limit but in that case the front axle load would have to be lower in order to get you within the 3500 total. It won't wash to claim that each axle is within its limit and therefore you are legal at over 3500 total - NO WAY!!!

The safest is to make sure you are under 3500 - axle loads can usually be adjusted by redistributing the load. Perhaps put the girlfriend in the rear locker?? (Only joking :lol: )

Alan


----------



## dalspa (Jul 1, 2008)

All the above is good sound advice.....................and, if you are still wanting to bring back some wine into the UK, consider nipping into Aldi or Lidl in/near Calais and get some 3ltre boxes of their Merlot etc at a fraction of the price when bought over here. The boxes are considerably lighter than bottled wine.

DavidL


----------



## Webby1 (Mar 11, 2012)

*Overweight*

We have been replated to 3850 but still the back axle is overweight.......we are lucky that changing from 215 to 225 tyres will allow Svtech to increase the rear axle (within the 3850 total)

BUT to me the issue is not about being stopped and weighed......it's about increased risk of accident AND insurance companies trying to wriggle out of any claim as you are overweight.


----------



## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Matt. Your not far off really. Did you have a full tank of diesel though?

If so then it should be reasonably easy to stick around 3500KG. The vehicle is probably safe enough as it seems like it was once plated to 3850KG.

Just dump the water and anything else you havent used for a month!

Are the wheels steel or Alloys? I think alloys are a lot lighter than steel. Is there a spare wheel? They weigh a lot. 

The only time we were weighed was at the Swiss border. They didnt beleive a 7.5 metre van with a scooter on the back was under 3500KG but we were!  Just. Every time we crossed the Swiss border we got questioned but I think this was mainly a Vignette thing.

I would say the chances of you getting into bother are slim but its best to get it down if you can. At least your not 500KG or more over which really would be a worry.

Might be worth getting a second weighing somewhere as well on a different machine. Not sure how accurate these things are. Once you get one, get a print out of all the weights (assuming its under) and just flash that at plod if he pulls you over and asks. That seemed to work for us in Switzerland.

Good luck

I think we should have some sort of sticky about this in the newbies section.


----------



## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

I've never seen anything about a 5% allowance on plated weights. that seems to be at odds with the general principal of plating a vehicle and specifying weight limits.

I can see where a weighbridge result might be out, but you'd need to find a bad one. Our scrapyard bridge weight to 2kg or better accuracy, and kerbside weighing devices are pretty accurate, they have to be or a prosecution for overweight could fail.

Does anyone have any firm evidence of the 5% allowance? Govt website etc?

As far as being stopped and weighed, generally you need to be doing something to attract the attention of the Police or VOSA in the UK. If you look as though you are overweight they may pull you over, but generally they tend to check on commercial vehicles coming out of the ports rather than cars or motorhomes. 

We've never had a pull yet in 20+ years of towing and going overseas with the trailers, but there is always a first time.

We will checkweigh the trailer before we go off the the NRM Shildon event, just to double-check that we haven't put on any weight over the winter  

Peter


----------



## 747 (Oct 2, 2009)

listerdiesel said:


> I've never seen anything about a 5% allowance on plated weights. that seems to be at odds with the general principal of plating a vehicle and specifying weight limits.
> 
> I can see where a weighbridge result might be out, but you'd need to find a bad one. Our scrapyard bridge weight to 2kg or better accuracy, and kerbside weighing devices are pretty accurate, they have to be or a prosecution for overweight could fail.
> 
> ...


I have read that Manufacturers are allowed something like a 5% tolerance by an EU Standard on new vehicles. They declare what the weight of a conversion should be and I suspect they know fine well the vehicle will be right on the stated weight + 5%. This is probably because of the 3500 kg limit they are working to, while building big vans. It is also the reason why new vans have no payload.


----------



## robbosps (Mar 10, 2014)

I can't comment for Europe, but I know from my mate , that Motorhomes are very rarely taken for weighing. 

The Police have a 5% allowance for non prosecution to allow a small amount of discrepancy. 
After 10% the fines are on the spot and hefty. 
Diesel and water could be kept to half full easily enough. 

If you are weighed in the UK, AND YOUR OVER YOUR WEIGHT LIMIT, THE POLICE WILL SEIZE YOUR VEHICLE FOR YOU BEING UN LICENSED. 

Kent have a very small number of officers for taking you for a weigh. VOSA only look for commercial vehicles, unless your stopped by police as part of an operation. 
Surrey occasionally weigh MH's. 

I'd always advocate being legal, especially as you only have a class B license.


----------



## nafricasurfer (Jan 22, 2014)

Hi all -

On the road now. Nobody has bothered us yet. 

Feeling rather bummed about the whole thing. I now own a camper that is 3100kg empty. And it is registered in a country that has no method for increasing the plated weight. 

There is nothing that I can do now but try to lighten the load.

Thinking of creative things like a lithium ion battery instead of the lead acid batteries. Not sure how this will work with the CTEK D250S charger I've purchased though.

I had considered smaller campers.. but opted for a slightly bigger one as our plans were to live out of the camper. Too many things to consider all at once, meanwhile my Schengen zone visa was running out & so I bought this one. Now I've realized the problem with it. 

Not sure how much of what I read here to believe though.


The 3630 was weighed with 100 Liters of water and a half tank (tank is 70L) of diesel.

Matt


----------



## nafricasurfer (Jan 22, 2014)

Robbosps --

Thank you for the advice & guidance about the various jurisdictions in the UK.

Would you say that if we stay off the main highways, we'll have a better chance of not being weighed?

Getting impounded sounds terrible. Do you know someone this happened to?

Anyone heard of this happening before?

Thank you-
Matt


----------



## robbosps (Mar 10, 2014)

nafricasurfer said:


> Robbosps --
> 
> Thank you for the advice & guidance about the various jurisdictions in the UK.
> 
> ...


The UK is very different to the US, there aren't as many available weigh stations as you'd think. As a rule of thumb. If you don't look heavy, they won't weigh you. 
Have you got your original weight ticket that you spoke about earlier?

My point about being over the 3500kg, should have read, if you re plate it, you would have it impounded. And yes I know someone who has had this happen to them, albeit on a flatbed van.


----------



## robbosps (Mar 10, 2014)

If it's got a Hungarian number plate, it's very very un likely you'd get stopped in the uk.


----------

