Ray starkins Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I have a Rapido 7099F 2007 with a Alko chassis Gross weight 3700Kgs Front Axle 1700Kgs Rear 2000Kgs Does anybody know if it is possible to upgrade the rear axle to 2300Kgs and have it re-plated. We would like to carry a scooter on a detacable rack weight 130Kgs on our towbar We are at 1980Kgs on the rear at the moment. Regards Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike 202 Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Getting a bit heavy and a lot of downforce on the tow bar and not going to be safe even if you uprate the rear axle. Probably best to tow a trailer. I am sure some more experienced motorhome owners/engineers will concur with my thoughts. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Try SV Tech they maybe able to help.... http://www.svtech.co.uk/ Thats the trouble with the fiat (amongst others*-)) the standard rear axle is a bit light where as the a standard Ford Transit rear is 2250kg. you have to specify a heavier chassis to get a better spec axle on the Fiat.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Clive. M. G. switched to a trailer a couple of years ago, I expect he will arrive and tell us all about it and why very soon, so will be the way to do it, a trailer. Back axles are more fragile than you think, plus 'seesaw' effect of lifting weight off the front axle is not a good thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Ray starkins - 2008-06-25 2:45 PM I have a Rapido 7099F 2007 with a Alko chassis Gross weight 3700Kgs Front Axle 1700Kgs Rear 2000Kgs Does anybody know if it is possible to upgrade the rear axle to 2300Kgs and have it re-plated. We would like to carry a scooter on a detacable rack weight 130Kgs on our towbar We are at 1980Kgs on the rear at the moment. Regards Ray Ray, I to have been looking at scooter on back, I refuse to tow might as well buy a caravan. If you look at Watling engineers website they have a free calculator to work out your axle loading, depending on your rear overhang a 130kg scooter and rack could add 300kg to axle loading. Now I cannot help with uprating axle but would like to know what you are carrying at rear to bring it to within 20kg of maximun, can you not lighten the load a little at the back. I to have a Fiat based van, smaller than yours but I have a maximun rear loading of 1900kg and it is at 1580 fully loaded but without the scooter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob b Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I tow a motorbike and you really wouldn't know its there. With the rear view camera, I can keep an eye on it and have no problem reversing when I have to. With the panniers, I can go shopping and carry my waterproofs. Had a couple of brillant trips in Europe using the motorhome and bike. I much prefer this combination to a car & caravan as I can get into towns, explore and park easily.....plus the fact, its good fun ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenewellhome Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 JudgeMental - 2008-06-25 4:27 PM Try SV Tech they maybe able to help.... http://www.svtech.co.uk/ Thats the trouble with the fiat (amongst others*-)) the standard rear axle is a bit light where as the a standard Ford Transit rear is 2250kg. you have to specify a heavier chassis to get a better spec axle on the Fiat.... If you bothered to read the OP fully you would have seen that it is an AlKo chassis. This means the original Fiat axle is thrown away and an AlKo replacement fitted whgich COULD have a higher loading than standard. Best bet for OP is to check with SVtech but seriously consider if a rack is sensible, especially if the intention is a towbar mounted one, they have been known to break under the load of a scooter rack. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 Ray: Logically, your first port of call for advice should be AL-KO itself. I've found the technicians at AL-KO(UK) to be helpful in the past and contact details are on: http://www.al-ko.co.uk/alko-contact.htm AL-KO axles employ torsion-bar springing within the axle itself and it may be possible to adjust the springing to cope with a heavier than standard load, though uprated shock absorbers might also be required. I'm slightly surprised that the total of the permitted front and rear axle-loads of your Rapido exactly equals the vehicle's maximum permitted gross weight. Normally one might expect the permitted gross weight to be somewhat lower than the combined axle-loads. My English-language 2007 Rapido brochure states the standard gross vehicle weight of a 7099F as 3500kg. This suggests that this model was constructed on a relatively light-duty chassis (ie. a 'non-Maxi' chassis) and that the gross vehicle weight has been 'plated-up' to 3700kg for the UK market to provide some extra payload for what is by no means a small motorhome. If this assumption is correct, then (even if it is technically practical to uprate the rear axle's maximum load-carrying capability beyond 2000kg) you may run into trouble regarding tyre choice. Lighter Fiat motorhome chassis tend to use 15" tyres with a load-index of 109, equating to a maximum axle-load of 2060kg ('single wheel' axle). To cope with a 2300kg axle-load, you would almost certainly need to go to a 16" wheel/tyre combination as used on Fiat Maxi chassis. As has already beeen mentioned, if you are already at 1980kg on the rear axle, then adding the weight of a rack + scooter at the end of a 7099F's considerable rear overhang is likely to push you right to the limit of your projected 2300kg loading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rupert123 Posted June 26, 2008 Share Posted June 26, 2008 davenewell@home - 2008-06-25 6:46 PM JudgeMental - 2008-06-25 4:27 PM Try SV Tech they maybe able to help.... http://www.svtech.co.uk/ Thats the trouble with the fiat (amongst others*-)) the standard rear axle is a bit light where as the a standard Ford Transit rear is 2250kg. you have to specify a heavier chassis to get a better spec axle on the Fiat.... If you bothered to read the OP fully you would have seen that it is an AlKo chassis. This means the original Fiat axle is thrown away and an AlKo replacement fitted whgich COULD have a higher loading than standard. Best bet for OP is to check with SVtech but seriously consider if a rack is sensible, especially if the intention is a towbar mounted one, they have been known to break under the load of a scooter rack. D. Regardless of chassis the weights will be stamped on the plate, I would agree the towbar needs carefull looking at. As I am going down this route myself and if towbar is specially built for purpose fail to see differance between this and a specially fitted scooter rack. I intend fitting air bags at the rear but with an alko chassis I would guess you do not have rear springs so an alternative may be needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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