Very comprehensive run through and some good food for thought especially when considering options - I do think it would be so much better if there were better rules ahead of purchase so you know as even the manufacturers have I think 5% tolerance on the weights which is a lot on that weight - should be supplied with it for honesty and transparency where there are extras. Bet you’re glad you’ve sorted it - sounds like it wasn’t too much hassle - thanks for sharing and hopefully not get stuck behind you lol 😂 All the best, David 👍
Excellent vlog Rick. We up plated the Motorhome as our payload was only 330kg to start with. Easy paper exercise for us too. We were pleasantly surprised the first time we weighed the van (prior to up plating), but we knew we would have to add weight for longer trips so we took the action to increase. This was a very helpful info vlog. The only thing I would add, is that we get reminded not only about overall weight limits, but also individual axle limits. As you're now at 4,250kg, your maximum axle weights must be very high and not of concern I would think 👍👍
Great review. One thing that I found confusing looking on line was finding the unladen weight. My CV40 has a mass in running order weight that is less than 3050kg. This I believe is heavier than unladen weight as MIRO includes a 70kg driver and a full tank of fuel. What I’m hoping is that the plate that ELDDIS fitted is the weight with all their fixtures and fittings but I am going to get the van weighed anyway. The other thing I believe as my MIRO is less than 3050kg that I can be compliant with car speed limits providing I dont exceed 3500kg fully loaded including passengers. As you say it’s not expensive to get weighed so I’m planning to get an unladen weight done and a fully loaded weight done.
Hi Rick - nice video - good information clearly presented. We up-plated our 6.4m Boxer in November 21. Also used VWE - it was £150 back then. Our van was bought new and converted professionally - inc airbags on the back axle. It was re-plated to 4500kg without any mods. Worth it for the £165pa road tax and no worries about being overweight. It has cost a bit more on tolls such as the M6 toll and Tyne tunnel but that's no problem.
Interesting, does it automatically charge more using the registration and knowing you’re PHGV? Our tyres let us down going higher but we’re ok with 4250
@@RickandHeather The tolls with ANPR know your vehicle taxation class and charge accordingly. The manual ones such as at the Tamar road bridge toll, the kiosk collector just charged us as a normal van not an HGV.
Nice video Ric with clarity and precision. We will be going through the process shortly once our new van arrives. Our current Burstner 680g unusually comes standard at 4,250kg.
Excellent vlog. Thank you for sharing your experience. I was shocked by the available user payload. Guess we will be off on a quick jolly down to the local weight bridge soon.
The standard of 450kg from S&L is comparable with Consort and Vantage etc Wildax had a payload of 380kg on the 6.3m one…. I can’t imagine what the IH are with all the quality wood etc…as I said if it makes people check it’s helped
Appreciate your honesty. Van weight should be a legal requirement at point of sale or transfer in my humble opinion, with all the gizmos and gadgets attached.
Having bought a Fiat Ducato based campervan this year, I'm finding your vlogs really useful. I'm similar in that I want to make modifications on my van so it is perfect for us. Re: The upplating, can you confirm that you didn't have to make any further modifications to the suspension etc. Thank you.
The suspension has airbags fitted hence us being able to go to 4.25t without modifications 3950 is your limit. Our tyres were our limitations or we could have gone to 4.5
Good insights we have done the same we never go very fast anyway. But we updated the front suspension also, but the weird thing with all this up plating is like you say in other markets the van would be 4000kg without any mods like wheels or suspension so why did we need to make the changes ??
A very good and comprehensive vlog. I do think personally that all manufactures/converters should give you a better indication of weights etc for options you may have fitted at the factory so to speak.
Nice one Rick, think your spot on with the speed limits although I'm not sure how a camera would differentiate between a standard camper and an up plated one. Cheers K.
Just watched this video Rick which is very informative can you tell me if tall this information applies to coach-built motorhomes ? Safe travels and keep the camera rolling
Hi Rick, so if 4000kg is the standard out the factory before UK registration, does the extra 250kg come from your airbags? Reason i ask is that my van is on the heavy chassis with dual leaf springs so is rated at 4250 without the bags, so i am guessing putting bags on would potentially give me 4500kg.
Hi Rick. really interesting video. I have been doing a similar exercise because I am considering fitting rear air suspension. We have a Malibu Van Charming 640 LE and I put it over the weigh bridge on our way back from a long break so the van was as fully ladened as it will ever be and included a full tank of fuel and 100 litres of water. We remained in the vehicle while it was weighed and the total weight was 3460kg. In fact we went over the weigh bridge twice because both axles weighed 1720kg which was quite a coincidence. I have spoken to an up-plating company who said that our van is the lighter of the two versions that Fiat produce so we could only up-plate to 3650kg without doing any modifications to the vehicle. Fitting air suspension to the rear would get us to 3800kg and to get up to 4000kg we would also have to fit up-rated springs. The reason I am thinking about air suspension is that the rear springs are flat when fully loaded and the bump stops are touching the rear axle. All the best Dave
Yeah I’m guessing you’re not on a maxi chassis then. Maxi with 2 rear springs are 4250 standard mines maxi single spring so 4000 the air gave me the 250, tyres stopped me going to 4500
I also have a Malibu 640LE fitting of Air Suspension to the rear was the best modification the van has, no more body roll or the feeling of understeer. If you have the Maxi chassis my thought was that is the stronger version.
Thanks Rick, that was very informative. But still a little confused... So basically you are driving a small HGV on the same suspension/brakes but can now carry more weight but must go slower.??
Pretty much. As I said these vans are down rated at 3.5t they’re more than capable of handling the extra weight. Slower speeds than a car but the same as a van now.
He said he would have liked individual weights but i couldn’t get them, I did however give the individual weights of the bike rack and wheels etc so I’m going to guess he worked his maths somehow. We’ll never use all the payload anyway
Thanks Rick , i have a fiat ducato autotrail expedition 68 arriving in 4 weeks time , and although i would have to get a class 1 due to my age , i am thinking about up plating. Did you have no work done to the suspension whatsover ? Here was me thinking i was potentially due a £2000 plus bill ! Thanks Ben
Good question and who knows…. They might! I’m happy now I’m totally legit is all I know. Incidentally the insurance company were informed and no charge in the price
I recently watched a UA-cam video from Motorhome Matt on up-plating and he interviewed a representative from Svtech (Up-plating company). I understood the representative to specifically made the point that any insurance company would refuse to cover any claims in the event that you were overloaded.
No HGV's allowed at Oxclose Farm 🙂 🙂 Very interesting video and certainly does make you think how many of us are driving around in over weight vans !! Has anybody been fined because of this, are the police not really that bothered though? Still always best to legal. Take care Trev Debz and Tyler
A very good question! I honestly don’t know…. I’d imagine yes as it’s a PHGV and still a Motor Caravan, HGV’s are limited to 56mph so probably that’s why they can’t… happy to be corrected although in fairness I rarely go in the outside lane.
As far as I’m aware nothing changes there because emissions aren’t altered and it’s euro 6s anyway but that said you won’t catch me in that there London anyway 🤣
@@RickandHeather ahh yeah, yours in new, wonder how’d it affect an older van like ours. Not that we’d go to London ever, but there’s lots of places with similar charges popping up now.😊
Very comprehensive run through and some good food for thought especially when considering options - I do think it would be so much better if there were better rules ahead of purchase so you know as even the manufacturers have I think 5% tolerance on the weights which is a lot on that weight - should be supplied with it for honesty and transparency where there are extras.
Bet you’re glad you’ve sorted it - sounds like it wasn’t too much hassle - thanks for sharing and hopefully not get stuck behind you lol 😂
All the best, David 👍
Thanks 🙏 it’s definitely a thing that a lot of manufacturers brush aside especially where the extras are concerned I think?
Excellent vlog Rick.
We up plated the Motorhome as our payload was only 330kg to start with. Easy paper exercise for us too.
We were pleasantly surprised the first time we weighed the van (prior to up plating), but we knew we would have to add weight for longer trips so we took the action to increase.
This was a very helpful info vlog.
The only thing I would add, is that we get reminded not only about overall weight limits, but also individual axle limits.
As you're now at 4,250kg, your maximum axle weights must be very high and not of concern I would think 👍👍
Yeah individual are also something to point out, we got an increase in the rear but yeah plenty to play with
Great review. One thing that I found confusing looking on line was finding the unladen weight. My CV40 has a mass in running order weight that is less than 3050kg. This I believe is heavier than unladen weight as MIRO includes a 70kg driver and a full tank of fuel. What I’m hoping is that the plate that ELDDIS fitted is the weight with all their fixtures and fittings but I am going to get the van weighed anyway.
The other thing I believe as my MIRO is less than 3050kg that I can be compliant with car speed limits providing I dont exceed 3500kg fully loaded including passengers. As you say it’s not expensive to get weighed so I’m planning to get an unladen weight done and a fully loaded weight done.
It’s definitely confusing and probably for a reason…. If all the manufacturers were open nobody would buy anything 🤣
Hi Rick - nice video - good information clearly presented. We up-plated our 6.4m Boxer in November 21. Also used VWE - it was £150 back then. Our van was bought new and converted professionally - inc airbags on the back axle. It was re-plated to 4500kg without any mods. Worth it for the £165pa road tax and no worries about being overweight. It has cost a bit more on tolls such as the M6 toll and Tyne tunnel but that's no problem.
Interesting, does it automatically charge more using the registration and knowing you’re PHGV?
Our tyres let us down going higher but we’re ok with 4250
@@RickandHeather The tolls with ANPR know your vehicle taxation class and charge accordingly. The manual ones such as at the Tamar road bridge toll, the kiosk collector just charged us as a normal van not an HGV.
@jimb7406 gotcha cheers
Nice video Ric with clarity and precision. We will be going through the process shortly once our new van arrives. Our current Burstner 680g unusually comes standard at 4,250kg.
That’s a decent amount! Cheers 🙏
Excellent vlog. Thank you for sharing your experience.
I was shocked by the available user payload.
Guess we will be off on a quick jolly down to the local weight bridge soon.
The standard of 450kg from S&L is comparable with Consort and Vantage etc Wildax had a payload of 380kg on the 6.3m one…. I can’t imagine what the IH are with all the quality wood etc…as I said if it makes people check it’s helped
Appreciate your honesty. Van weight should be a legal requirement at point of sale or transfer in my humble opinion, with all the gizmos and gadgets attached.
Yeah I think most manufacturers pass the buck onto the end user unfortunately
Having bought a Fiat Ducato based campervan this year, I'm finding your vlogs really useful. I'm similar in that I want to make modifications on my van so it is perfect for us. Re: The upplating, can you confirm that you didn't have to make any further modifications to the suspension etc. Thank you.
The suspension has airbags fitted hence us being able to go to 4.25t without modifications 3950 is your limit. Our tyres were our limitations or we could have gone to 4.5
@@RickandHeather , Great, thank you for the clarification. Do you have a vlog for the air suspension installation? Sorry to be a pain.
@BlackVanAddict ahh no worries but no, original owner fitted the air!
Good insights we have done the same we never go very fast anyway. But we updated the front suspension also, but the weird thing with all this up plating is like you say in other markets the van would be 4000kg without any mods like wheels or suspension so why did we need to make the changes ??
Ducato Maxi? That’s the difference
Very informative, interesting stuff, it throws the outside lane question to me too 🤔
I’m guessing it’s ok, the only reason “real” HGV can’t go in the outside is because they’re speed limited. But it’s a guess
A very good and comprehensive vlog. I do think personally that all manufactures/converters should give you a better indication of weights etc for options you may have fitted at the factory so to speak.
Agreed but I suppose that would scare off potential buyers if they knew….
@@RickandHeather very true - just the day and age of responsibility so to speak then down to the end user. Glad you got everything sorted btw 👍
@timw2973 all good now plenty of beer payload 🍻
Very informative. You didn't mention insurance. Did yours go up by much?
No change in the price at all.
Nice one Rick, think your spot on with the speed limits although I'm not sure how a camera would differentiate between a standard camper and an up plated one. Cheers K.
Nor me but I’m sticking with the lower ones simply because I know…. Also I need to save fuel 🤣 she’s a thirsty gal
Just watched this video Rick which is very informative can you tell me if tall this information applies to coach-built motorhomes ? Safe travels and keep the camera rolling
It’s pretty much the same yes, check the link in the description there’s a load of faq’s on van weight engineerings website 👍
Hi Rick, so if 4000kg is the standard out the factory before UK registration, does the extra 250kg come from your airbags? Reason i ask is that my van is on the heavy chassis with dual leaf springs so is rated at 4250 without the bags, so i am guessing putting bags on would potentially give me 4500kg.
Yes the bags gave me the 250, I only have single spring on the rear
Hi Rick. really interesting video. I have been doing a similar exercise because I am considering fitting rear air suspension. We have a Malibu Van Charming 640 LE and I put it over the weigh bridge on our way back from a long break so the van was as fully ladened as it will ever be and included a full tank of fuel and 100 litres of water. We remained in the vehicle while it was weighed and the total weight was 3460kg. In fact we went over the weigh bridge twice because both axles weighed 1720kg which was quite a coincidence. I have spoken to an up-plating company who said that our van is the lighter of the two versions that Fiat produce so we could only up-plate to 3650kg without doing any modifications to the vehicle. Fitting air suspension to the rear would get us to 3800kg and to get up to 4000kg we would also have to fit up-rated springs. The reason I am thinking about air suspension is that the rear springs are flat when fully loaded and the bump stops are touching the rear axle. All the best Dave
Yeah I’m guessing you’re not on a maxi chassis then.
Maxi with 2 rear springs are 4250 standard mines maxi single spring so 4000 the air gave me the 250, tyres stopped me going to 4500
I also have a Malibu 640LE fitting of Air Suspension to the rear was the best modification the van has, no more body roll or the feeling of understeer. If you have the Maxi chassis my thought was that is the stronger version.
That’s right it is and you’re right about the air, really helps.
Thanks Rick, that was very informative.
But still a little confused... So basically you are driving a small HGV on the same suspension/brakes but can now carry more weight but must go slower.??
Pretty much. As I said these vans are down rated at 3.5t they’re more than capable of handling the extra weight. Slower speeds than a car but the same as a van now.
Really interesting video, which weigh bridge did you use.We live in Nottingham
Wards in Woodvile
Interesting video, what about the Mot how does that change ?
It doesn’t. I’m still a motor caravan so class 4 but might need a class 7 station due to size.
Hi Rick Did you inform your insurance company, I'm guessing it would be classed as a technical modification rather than a physical one,
Yes we did, no change to policy at all 👍
Good video 👍 Did you manage to get individual axle weights at the weighbridge. I imagine most of the excess weight is on the rear.
He said he would have liked individual weights but i couldn’t get them, I did however give the individual weights of the bike rack and wheels etc so I’m going to guess he worked his maths somehow. We’ll never use all the payload anyway
Thanks Rick , i have a fiat ducato autotrail expedition 68 arriving in 4 weeks time , and although i would have to get a class 1 due to my age , i am thinking about up plating. Did you have no work done to the suspension whatsover ? Here was me thinking i was potentially due a £2000 plus bill !
Thanks
Ben
The van had already been fitted with airbags. If it hadn’t 4000kg was the limit
If our insured campervans are heavier than 3.5 ton would an insurance company try a get our clause in the event of an accident?
Good question and who knows…. They might! I’m happy now I’m totally legit is all I know. Incidentally the insurance company were informed and no charge in the price
I recently watched a UA-cam video from Motorhome Matt on up-plating and he interviewed a representative from Svtech (Up-plating company). I understood the representative to specifically made the point that any insurance company would refuse to cover any claims in the event that you were overloaded.
We all know they try to get out of anything so I’m not surprised
No HGV's allowed at Oxclose Farm 🙂 🙂 Very interesting video and certainly does make you think how many of us are driving around in over weight vans !! Has anybody been fined because of this, are the police not really that bothered though? Still always best to legal. Take care Trev Debz and Tyler
Not the Police it’s the DVSA (Vosa) but imagine if in an accident and overweight the 5-0 will get involved
As nothing physically changes to the van, why do they not just give the higher rating from the start. Very confusing, but an interesting subject.
Because not everyone has a C1 license
Rick , are you allowed to drive in the outside lane of the motorway?
A very good question! I honestly don’t know…. I’d imagine yes as it’s a PHGV and still a Motor Caravan, HGV’s are limited to 56mph so probably that’s why they can’t… happy to be corrected although in fairness I rarely go in the outside lane.
@RickandHeather I don't know I was just watching your vlog and it came into my head lol
Brilliant round up Rick. Did it require any changes to the insurance cost at all?
We informed them and no charge or change
Well explained, how does effect any ulez charges? Em 💜
As far as I’m aware nothing changes there because emissions aren’t altered and it’s euro 6s anyway but that said you won’t catch me in that there London anyway 🤣
@@RickandHeather ahh yeah, yours in new, wonder how’d it affect an older van like ours. Not that we’d go to London ever, but there’s lots of places with similar charges popping up now.😊
Just checked online and it’s free
Good information 👍😊👏
Thanks 🙏
Did your insurance go up or down ? Good video
Stayed the same
Our old van dreams of getting to 60.... =D
My old VW T2 was the same! Smiles per hour 🤣
Doesn't this take you into a Higher Class MOT?
Should still be class 4 but may need to use a class 7 mot station purely because of the van size over the change
You went to the weighbridge with no clothes. I bet they had a shock when you turned up!🤣🤣🤣
Yeah… big in many ways 😉
I bet you most vans are over loaded even the white van crew
Absolutely! Ignorance is bliss for many