# Has anyone uprated their argos Burstner 747?



## Snunkie

If so, what did you manage to get it up to?
got all the forms from svtech but haven't got around to sorting it yet.


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## 747

I don't know why I bother answering any of your posts because you continually blank me and I am always the one who is left out of the 'thanks' etc.

Nobody else has done what you are trying to do because it appears either impossible or not worth the expense.

Try asking burstner, after all they are the company that designed and built it.


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## VanFlair

Hi Lucy

You seem to answer your own question at the start of your previous uprating thread, I think it was 200 or 300kg but all on the back axles.

Martin


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## Snunkie

747 said:


> I don't know why I bother answering any of your posts because you continually blank me and I am always the one who is left out of the 'thanks' etc.
> 
> Nobody else has done what you are trying to do because it appears either impossible or not worth the expense.
> 
> Try asking burstner, after all they are the company that designed and built it.


I'm so sorry 747, I wasn't aware of that. I'm sure I've thanked you before? Please don't take offence, it hasn't been intentional.

It is possible, svtech have done many, I just wondered what other members experience had been if anything

Sorry


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## 91502

Hi
I don't want to sound negative but in my opinion you are fighting a battle you will never win with your weight issues. You have a MH like many that was never really capable of doing what the manufacturers were selling it as. Like so many others you presumed that because there are beds and seats for you and all your family you have the weight capacity to carry all of you and your kit for a holiday. 
You need to remember that every trip the kids will grow, so will their clothes and therefore weigh a little bit more. 
You also seem to have plenty of extras and awning+sat dome+Solar panels+TV's+washing machine+canoe= a lot of weight. 
Then those extras each child brings like laptops and phones and chargers all add up. 
Have you ever weighed fully loaded with you all on board as you would be the morning you set off for your extended trip to Spain ? Most weigh but never in actual running order with all the extras we throw in last minute for that long trip, the drinks for the journey, snacks, extra maps and books with all of you I bet you could all carry a few extras and add another 20kg no problem. 
Those extra couple of hundred kg you may be able to upgrade to are likely to be expensive to obtain and will soon be used up. 
Personally I think the only way you are ever going to solve your problem is a trailer. 
Alternatively fill your gas bottles with helium, stop the kids from growing and make them wear one set of clothes for a month and ditch the washer (I'm told they stop smelling after a while), join some religious sect who don't believe in electricity, TV etc and go foraging for your food to fill your time. 
James


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## fdhadi

We have a Burstner A747-2 Active which has a massive 1250kg payload. 

We manage. 

What's the payload on an Argos?


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## ob1

Be very careful about adding more payload to this particular model. Burstner have already had to fit stronger, non Fiat, springs to the front end to cope with the weight and on mine these still failed and had to be replaced. And no, I wasn't overweight.


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## 747

fdhadi said:


> We have a Burstner A747-2 Active which has a massive 1250kg payload.
> 
> We manage.


Sorry fdhadi, I have the same model and cannot carry any cargo at the front as it will be overweight on the front axle due to its design.

To stay legal (with only one passenger in the cab) I travel with minimum water. I also removed the Ultra King Size mattress to save weight.

In a nutshell, it is impossible to use the payload fully and stay legal. If you have not done so yet, get it on a weighbridge. Ideally, you should get your front nearside wheel weighed, as it takes more weight than the offside due to all the heavy kit it carries (ie Fuel, Water, Gas bottles, Batteries etc.). Remember that VOSA will weigh each axle with individual weigh scales.


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## fdhadi

747 said:


> In a nutshell, it is impossible to use the payload fully and stay legal. If you have not done so yet, get it on a weighbridge. Ideally, you should get your front nearside wheel weighed, as it takes more weight than the offside due to all the heavy kit it carries (ie Fuel, Water, Gas bottles, Batteries etc.). Remember that VOSA will weigh each axle with individual weigh scales.


Would agree with you here 747. This is also where the 4 x travel seats are located. This may also explain why I had to change the front near side wheel bearing last year.

We carry anything of any weight in the garage underfloor storage over rear wheels. We also try to run light and have learnt over the years that you don't need / use half the extras you take anyhow. Also helps with the fuel. We keep the speed and weight down and get around 22mpg. Not bad for a brick lol.


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## Snunkie

I got it all weighed last year. We were 60kgs under which is not much really.

We won't be carrying the kayak, we don't carry an awning other than in the winter if we go somewhere for more than a couple of days. I've cut right down on what we carry actually so will be going to the weighbridge again fully laden before we head off just to confirm we are legal


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## 747

fdhadi said:


> 747 said:
> 
> 
> 
> In a nutshell, it is impossible to use the payload fully and stay legal. If you have not done so yet, get it on a weighbridge. Ideally, you should get your front nearside wheel weighed, as it takes more weight than the offside due to all the heavy kit it carries (ie Fuel, Water, Gas bottles, Batteries etc.). Remember that VOSA will weigh each axle with individual weigh scales.
> 
> 
> 
> Would agree with you here 747. This is also where the 4 x travel seats are located. This may also explain why I had to change the front near side wheel bearing last year.
> 
> We carry anything of any weight in the garage underfloor storage over rear wheels. We also try to run light and have learnt over the years that you don't need / use half the extras you take anyhow. Also helps with the fuel. We keep the speed and weight down and get around 22mpg. Not bad for a brick lol.
Click to expand...

We are thinking of changing our van to something a bit smaller, possibly an A Class van. After nearly 5 years of trouble free motorhoming, I will be sorry to part with ours as I have got quite attached to it. Our circumstances have changed and a smaller van will suit us better especially as it is parked in full view of our neighbours who have put up with it for a long time. It was considered too long by the local storage places which is why it's at home.

I have averaged over 22 mpg (long term) but I did a check recently when we had done most of the mileage on Motorways and Dual Carriageways and brim to brim (over 900 miles) I got 26.4 mpg.


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## peribro

I thought that this had been discussed at least once before - if not twice. I'm certainly experiencing a strong feeling of déjà vu.

As I'm sure I posted before, I think my van is on the same chassis as the 747 and SV Tech uprated it from 5,000 kgs to 5,200kgs with each of the rear axles going up from 1,500kgs to 1,600kgs. The main reason that I did the uprate was because I was routinely overweight on the front of the rear axles.


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## fdhadi

Ok, question 

How many members have been stopped at a weigh bridge, found to be overweight and charged?

I know a chap who worked at weigh bridges for vosa. He told me virtually every MH is overweight. His words: put a sack of spuds in a MH and it's overweight. We tend not to bother with MHs as they are most peoples pride and joy, driven sensibly and between 50 to 100kgs overweight. Lgv's running at over 44t, working 15hrs a day with less than 9hrs rest and are on the clock for deliveries are the biggest dangers on the roads.


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## Snunkie

fdhadi said:


> Ok, question
> 
> How many members have been stopped at a weigh bridge, found to be overweight and charged?
> 
> I know a chap who worked at weigh bridges for vosa. He told me virtually every MH is overweight. His words: put a sack of spuds in a MH and it's overweight. We tend not to bother with MHs as they are most peoples pride and joy, driven sensibly and between 50 to 100kgs overweight. Lgv's running at over 44t, working 15hrs a day with less than 9hrs rest and are on the clock for deliveries are the biggest dangers on the roads.


I've often wondered that too. How many on here have actually been pulled over out of interest, what country were you in and what were the consequences?


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## 91502

Not been stopped myself but been present when about 30-50 have been, and I would say 10 or 12 of them were over, most got tickets and made to unload (usually managed this with fluids and passengers) one couldn't get anywhere near and was recovered on a truck and 2 also had major defects and were impounded.


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## Snunkie

Eeek!


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## Snunkie

We've finally taken the plunge and booked on with AS air suspension to have air assist put on the tag axle in a couple of weeks.

We've started the paperwork with SVtech too. They've advised us that they can uprated the rear axles from 1500kgs each to 1800kgs each once we've had air assist fitted (or 1600kgs each without any physical work being done) 

We will no longer need to worry about being on the edge of our 5000kgs where an extra bottle of wine would push us over :lol: and the air assit should raise the back end a bit so we don't ground so much when going up steep drives


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## Snunkie

Just an update on this for anyone wishing to do the same in the future. 

We were extremely pleased with the service we received from AS Air Suspension. The system has raised our back end by almost 5" which is perfect. We had it uprated to 5500kgs via SV Tech and we can now carry our scooter on the back as our back tag axle rating is 1800kgs per axle and the ground clearance is high enough.

The cost was approximately £3031 for the rear air suspension and £320 for the SV Tech part of things. We now have a decent payload for the 6 of us. Very pleased!


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## Imbiber

Hi Snukie,

I'm interested in something similar on our van and mentioned it to our local garage the other day whilst having the MOT done.

He mumbled something about brakes, front-wheel drive Fiat, Alko, 5000kg and him getting it through next years MOT!!

I didn't pursue the conversation as he was fiddling about adjusting the handbrake, so thought it best to leave him alone.

Do you have an idea as to what the issue might be, or was anything said to you prior to fitting?

Cheers

Andy


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## teensvan

We managed to fulltime in our 748 for over 7 years. 1250 Kg should be enough for anybody. We even had a 250 honda in the garage 

steve & ann teensvan


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## Mrplodd

Did you really mean that the air suspension was in excess of three thousand pounds??? (Or was it a typo) 

That's an awful lot of money for an increase in payload. What load rationed tyres do you have to fit??


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## Snunkie

No it wasn't a typo, but it wasn't just for extra payload. We sat way too low and it wasn't much less to have the torsion bars replaced so we went for the air suspension instead. Yes it's a lot of money but we had no choice, with 6 of us and 4 of them still growing our weight will only increase. Changing the motorhome wasn't an option as it is perfect for us apart from the lack of useable payload so this was what we had to do as we intend to keep it for several years yet and in some cases the air suspension can be transferred to another vehicle.


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## Snunkie

teensvan said:


> We managed to fulltime in our 748 for over 7 years. 1250 Kg should be enough for anybody. We even had a 250 honda in the garage
> 
> steve & ann teensvan


Yes, 1250kgs would have been fine for us, but we have the 08 plate and unfortunately the payload was only 725kgs when new whereas the earlier model Argos burstner had the 1250kgs payload, and the previous owner added full tow bar, aircon, camos dome, twin large gas low bottles, 3 large extra water tanks (now removed), spare wheel etc and we had a tiny payload left which, once the 6 of us were in left no payload for food and clothes so we had to follow this route to keep the MH. There aren't many MH's out there that would suit 6 of us payload wise so we decided to keep and do this instead.


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## Snunkie

Imbiber said:


> Hi Snukie,
> 
> I'm interested in something similar on our van and mentioned it to our local garage the other day whilst having the MOT done.
> 
> He mumbled something about brakes, front-wheel drive Fiat, Alko, 5000kg and him getting it through next years MOT!!
> 
> I didn't pursue the conversation as he was fiddling about adjusting the handbrake, so thought it best to leave him alone.
> 
> Do you have an idea as to what the issue might be, or was anything said to you prior to fitting?
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Andy


Hi Andy

I'm not aware of any complications and we did go through everything with AS beforehand. Our tyres were checked for compatibility, handbrake, brakes etc and all were fine to do what we did


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