Mel B Posted July 3, 2015 Share Posted July 3, 2015 For anyone who's interested I thought I'd mention that I have managed to uprate my camper's MAM from 3500kg to 4250kg without having to use SV-Tech. After a lot of research, ringing around and emailing, I obtained details of other companies who are qualified to do the necessary document/vehicle checks and authorise upgrades. I was then referred to one company in particular and after contacting him and emailing him copies of the documents and photos of our vehicle, VIN etc, he has been able to produce a 'design weight certificate', letter confirming the change, and stick-on weight plate showing the new weights. All that was left for me to do was send a copy of the certificate, V5C, letter and change of taxation class form to the DVLA and wait for a part refund of my road fund licence (£165 as opposed to £230 a year) and a new V5C to be issued. I was able to do this because our camper is on the heavy duty Ducato chassis which was already capable of 4250kg but had been downplated by Globecar to 3500kg. It's been a bit of a slog and many people said it couldn't be done ... but it can and for a fraction of the cost ... £76 instead of £312! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Mel, just a question in case I decide to do similar (doubt I will, but never say never) did you ask Fiat? As it's them that down plate the vehicle, not globecar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Well done girl! your persistence admirable! First for not supporting a monopoly, secondly showing it can be done :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave225 Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Well done, however one can only surmise what you intend to carry that will require such a payload. Horses perhaps?? Take out the table and jam it in. Should work fine and you could stick its head out the roof vent for air. Mind you more seriously you know you are now limited on certain roads for speed?? I also was not aware that Globecar used such a high weight base model, it must make the suspension pretty hard when the unladen weight is only around 3000 kg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 The maxi chassis is more harsh than the light chassis but is very sure footed!! Lots of people who add tons of equipment uprate. I stay legal by carrying 50% water... But have a 120 litre fuel tank..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billggski Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 You can buy a blank VIN plate and fill it in yourself. A number of companies sell them, about £14 for a fiat/Iveco one. If your MH was downplated, a copy of the original specification sent in with your amended V5 could be enough. Worth trying. To be fair, SVtech pointed me to this. (For downplating apparently the DVLA only want a weighbridge certificate) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 For those that don't know. All L4 Sevel panel vans (that's 6.36m long) are built as a Maxi chassis with just over 4tonne max weight, but many like ours are downplated by Fiat/Pug/Citreon to 3.5tonne as a paper excise, the axle capacities remain the same, I vaguely recall that those over 3.5t coming out the factory might have either a speed restrictor or tacho as standard. Mel has a propensity to fill every nook and cranny with all sorts of junk, sorry 'useful items' :D , now that she has a campscout she probably has much greater scope for this than any other van she has owned. What's the odds there's a Corby trouser press in the back :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Collings Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Does she need a reminder about twin overhead belfast sinks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 George Collings - 2015-07-04 5:49 PM Does she need a reminder about twin overhead Belfast sinks. And don't forget the granite trough for t'orse! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dicksob Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 By the time you add full tanks and gas, aircon, satellite and solar on the roof and a couple of electric bikes on the back, payload soon disappears! We regularly weigh in at 3700kgs, and that's before the wine! Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Billggski - 2015-07-04 4:32 PM..............(For downplating apparently the DVLA only want a weighbridge certificate) What on earth for? All it can prove is the weight of the van when weighed - unless they want it weighed empty, as proof that it will still have a workable payload if the MAM is reduced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billggski Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 That's all they want.... Not my problem, they just need to know it can be under 3500k, they don't have to worry about payload. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted July 4, 2015 Author Share Posted July 4, 2015 colin - 2015-07-04 9:40 AM Mel, just a question in case I decide to do similar (doubt I will, but never say never) did you ask Fiat? As it's them that down plate the vehicle, not globecar. That was my first port of call, although they were very pleasant about it all, unfortunately it isn't their policy to do this for private individuals and just refer everyone to SV-Tech! I also asked our dealer and they did try a few times to get something out of Globecar/Dethleffs but again to no avail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted July 4, 2015 Author Share Posted July 4, 2015 Dave225 - 2015-07-04 1:08 PM Well done, however one can only surmise what you intend to carry that will require such a payload. Horses perhaps?? Take out the table and jam it in. Should work fine and you could stick its head out the roof vent for air. Mind you more seriously you know you are now limited on certain roads for speed?? I also was not aware that Globecar used such a high weight base model, it must make the suspension pretty hard when the unladen weight is only around 3000 kg. No horses ... they produce too much manure! As we have yet to fit a solar panel (already has awning, twin refillable gas bottles, 2 folding electric bikes, 2 inflatable canoes and all the gear, 3 dogs (2 small, 1 heffalump), etc, etc plus it has as standard a 100L fresh water tank and a 120L fuel tank) uprating it just makes it more 'usable' fo rus if we want to take more stuff, or if we buy things whilst away, or even use it to move heavy stuff, without any worry about being overweight. The ride is actually better than our previous Fiat so we feel the heavy weight chassis is an improvement. I'm fully aware of the restrictions for speed limits both here and abroad and everything else that goes with increasing the weight as I'd looked at it for a MH previously and just re-checked it all this time before going ahead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted July 4, 2015 Author Share Posted July 4, 2015 Billggski - 2015-07-04 4:32 PM You can buy a blank VIN plate and fill it in yourself. A number of companies sell them, about £14 for a fiat/Iveco one. If your MH was downplated, a copy of the original specification sent in with your amended V5 could be enough. Worth trying. To be fair, SVtech pointed me to this. (For downplating apparently the DVLA only want a weighbridge certificate) You were lucky regarding SV-Tech, apparently they charges someone else £144 for doing this downplating for them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted July 4, 2015 Author Share Posted July 4, 2015 colin - 2015-07-04 5:32 PM Mel has a propensity to fill every nook and cranny with all sorts of junk, sorry 'useful items' :D , now that she has a campscout she probably has much greater scope for this than any other van she has owned. What's the odds there's a Corby trouser press in the back :D Cheeky s*d!!! :D We've actually got a FamilyScout L (L shaped lounge) ... don't do ironing when I'm on holiday ... it's bad enough having to have a shower/strip wash!!! (lol) What we do though when we go away is to go to some car boot sales, markets etc and tend to 'accumulate' bits and bobs to sell when we get back home (hubby does a bit of buying and selling to keep himself busy) so although we will be under 3500kg when we set off I'd bet that by the time we return home we'd be over that! *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Mel B - 2015-07-04 11:11 PM colin - 2015-07-04 5:32 PM Mel has a propensity to fill every nook and cranny with all sorts of junk, sorry 'useful items' :D , now that she has a campscout she probably has much greater scope for this than any other van she has owned. What's the odds there's a Corby trouser press in the back :D Cheeky s*d!!! :D We've actually got a FamilyScout L (L shaped lounge) ... don't do ironing when I'm on holiday ... it's bad enough having to have a shower/strip wash!!! (lol) What we do though when we go away is to go to some car boot sales, markets etc and tend to 'accumulate' bits and bobs to sell when we get back home (hubby does a bit of buying and selling to keep himself busy) so although we will be under 3500kg when we set off I'd bet that by the time we return home we'd be over that! *-) Ah yes, had forgotten it was a Familyscout and not the campscout, so no room for the Corby trouser press then,but I bet there's a load of toys for the dogs. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted July 4, 2015 Author Share Posted July 4, 2015 There's loads of room, I could probably get a hostess trolley in it too if I wanted. Still haven't filled all the cupboards, the tall wardrobe and cupboard underneath are empty! 8-) I've reduced the amount of dog toys as they don't bother with the much whilst away anyway other than to scatter them all of the van floor as a 'mission impossible' test for us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Well done Mel, wished you had done it a couple of months ago before we shelled out £312 to SV Tech. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted July 5, 2015 Author Share Posted July 5, 2015 lennyhb - 2015-07-05 1:05 PM Well done Mel, wished you had done it a couple of months ago before we shelled out £312 to SV Tech. I've been trying to do it since shortly after we got it in May but got the run around from Fiat / Dethleffs / DVSA / DVLA ... you could have tried yourself though and you could've told me how to do it and saved me the hassle!! ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted August 7, 2015 Author Share Posted August 7, 2015 Update - we now have the V5C back from the DVLA and our PVC is now rated at 4250kg! Yippee! :-D We did have a bit of a hiccup as some of the 'admin' at DVLA don't seem to have a clue what they're doing and we were sent a couple of letters from them, first saying they hadn't received our V5C (which was with the rest of the docs!), then another one a few days later from the same person to say they couldn't do it without details of the modifications we'd made ... they obviously had NOT read the paperwork correctly as our vehicle did not need any mods! On Monday morning hubby rang them and was faced with another 'admin' without a clue, who kept telling him our van was registered at 3500kg, in the end I spoke to her as I'd done the 'research' on it all but she just couldn't get her head round it ... she told me I'd have to write in explaining what I wanted to do (already included with the paperwork!) so I insisted on a call back from a supervisor to get it sorted before we go on holiday next week! The supervisor rang back a few hours later and had checked all the paperwork, confirmed with me what I wanted to do and then said that it was all okay! Phew!!!! :-> Now we can go on holiday and not worry if we want to bring back lots of 'goodies'! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halls60 Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 Nice and very informative one. Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancepar Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 Well done. When we bought our pre-used Motorhome we weren’t told and therefore weren’t aware it was on a Maxi chassis. I first noticed later when checking the tyres and wondering why they were 16” and not 15”. A phone call to Autotrail quoting the build number resulted in a letter confirming the vehicle was supplied on the up-rated chassis. This was sent to the DVLA with our letter etc and the V5c came back as a PHG and not a PLG and shortly later a refund of the overpaid revenue. So my costs were negligible. Therefore if you have a Motorhome that you believe has been down-rated or incorrectly registered in the 1st instance, see if you can get a supporting letter from the maker. B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteH Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 Hi Just recently picked up on this thread, Having spoken to SV teck? at the Lincoln Show, Whilst I am still under the 3500kg. A little "leeway" for SWMBO`s "essentials" would be useful, and My Health is such that I suspect I will get my C+1E back OK. Which will give me a 3 Year extension. (I could "rant" about this AGEISM forever, so we will gloss over that!!). According to the Alko website, the Current situation will allow the M-H to be uprated as far as 3850Kg without ANY changes, including the tyres. and will bring down the revenue class. Our Rapido, Being French Built?, would it require me to get confirmation from the French Factory. Or is there another option. Quoting the Alko Specification for instance? Seems ridiculous to pay over £250 quid for something that is basically a Paper Exercise?. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibsy Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 When buying a second hand motorhome how do I know what sort of chassis it has? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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