MAM/Payloads etc

[Kris]

My husband will be 70 in a few months time and has to renew his licence.

which will only allow him to drive up to 3500kg.

 

The motorhome we have just bought has a MAM of 2963kg on the Vin plate. I know that this means the max the van can carry including everything.

The van is a coachbuilt onto a Citroen base. The payload given by the company that made the motorhome etc is 550kg.

 

Can someone please explain does this mean that the motorhome itself including its fixture and fittings - fridge, hob, cupboards etc is less than the 2963kg, and the total extras we can add is the payload of 550kg then making a total of 2963kg.

I know this is a daft question, like how long is a piece of string but can someone give me an idea of how much a fully laden motorhome would be. Ours is 18ftx 6ft 5ins, by 8ft 9ins high 4 birth. (Bed over cab) GRP body, toilet/shower room. We also have a drive away awning of 14kg.

2x 46ltr water tanks. 2 leisure batteries.

 

As I tend to pack everything into the van, just in case its needed, which it never is of course, I would hate to think that we are over the MAM weight.

 

Thanks

 

Kris

 

 

[RonB]

Kris

 

Payload can be a very involved subject including the fact that manufacturers use different criteria to arrive at their payload figures.

 

Quite simply load the van up with everything that you are likely to carry, including fresh water, gas, yourselves, etc, and take the van to weighbridge and weigh it. If it's under 2963 you are OK. If not you will have to find things to offload if you want to comply with the law. Normally you can dump some water, things you think you will need but wont, only you can decide.

 

[lennyhb]

Take a look at this tread.:-

 

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=5998&start=1

 

Also a list of weighbridges in Hampshire:-

 

http://www.hants.gov.uk/regulatory/tradingstandards/publicweighbridges.html

[Brian Kirby]

Kris - 2009-08-04 4:21 PM My husband will be 70 in a few months time and has to renew his licence. which will only allow him to drive up to 3500kg. The motorhome we have just bought has a MAM of 2963kg on the Vin plate. I know that this means the max the van can carry including everything. The van is a coachbuilt onto a Citroen base. The payload given by the company that made the motorhome etc is 550kg. Can someone please explain does this mean that the motorhome itself including its fixture and fittings - fridge, hob, cupboards etc is less than the 2963kg, and the total extras we can add is the payload of 550kg then making a total of 2963kg. I know this is a daft question, like how long is a piece of string but can someone give me an idea of how much a fully laden motorhome would be. Ours is 18ftx 6ft 5ins, by 8ft 9ins high 4 birth. (Bed over cab) GRP body, toilet/shower room. We also have a drive away awning of 14kg. 2x 46ltr water tanks. 2 leisure batteries. As I tend to pack everything into the van, just in case its needed, which it never is of course, I would hate to think that we are over the MAM weight. Thanks Kris

I'll try to explain what it should mean.  The payload is the difference between the maximum permissible weight for your van (the MAM) and its unladen weight.  This is the margin you have to accommodate everything you add to your van, and has to include fixed accessories (awnings etc), food, water, gas, clothing, toys, pets and yourselves. The varying criteria referred to above arise because different manufacturers use different methods to arrive at unladen weight.  However, how your manufacturer did this is now a bit academic, as you have the finished van, and can weigh it.  The MAM is inelastic, and must not be exceeded.  Somewhere on your van will be a plate with the chassis number (VIN) on which you should find, apart from the MAM, the maximum permissible front, and rear, axle weights, plus the Gross Train Weight, which is the maximum permissible combined weights of the van and any trailer.  Exceeding any of the plated weights is an offence, and could have serious repercussions should an excess be discovered following an accident.  It can also get you fined if weighed at a roadside vehicle check.

Having got that bit out of the way, my suggestion would be to find your nearest public weighbridge, and take your vehicle along with a full fuel tank, but otherwise devoid of gas bottles (unless known to be full and unused), water, waste water, and anything else you may have put into it.  Explain that you want a ticket that will show the weight on both axles individually, as well as the overall weight of the vehicle.  Get out of the vehicle yourselves before it is weighed.  They will probably weigh only one axle, and then the whole vehicle, and arrive at the second axle weight by deduction, which is fine.  Comparing this with the vehicle VIN plate figures will tell you what your usable payload actually is, and how much margin you have on each axle.

Then fully load the van with everything you want to take, including full water and gas cylinders etc, and all passengers/pets that will travel with you, return to the weighbridge and get a repeat ticket but this time ensure everyone stays aboard.

With luck, the result will be under the very odd MAM of 2963, and under the maximum permissible load on each axle, and you will have nothing further to do.  If the result is that you are exceeding the MAM, or either axle maximum, you'll have to do some weighing and head scratching, to decide what to leave out to get the load down to the permissible level. 

However, I am very suspicious that your 2,963 MAM is either an error, or the product of some re-plating exercise.  Good luck.

[602]

Hi,

 

Two questions......

 

How do you locate a public weighbridge? I know a salvage yard that will weigh me, but it all seems a bit informal. They have always given me a figure rounded to 100kg (Land rover = 1400kg. Trailer = 400kg) but I don't know if that was rounded up or down. On the other hand, they have never charged me.

 

How much does a public weighing cost?

 

602

[sirhandel]

To find your nearest public weighbridge go to your local authority website e.g.

www.wiltshire.gov.uk

and do a search on 'public weighbridge'.

 

My local weighbridge is part of a scrapyard (they call themselves recycling centres these days!) and charged me £7.50 when I last went about 4 weeks ago. They were very helpful and provided a ticket recording total weight and individual axle weights.

 

I went fully loaded up ready for travelling on hols with full fuel tank, 20% fresh water (for emergency pit stops), scooter, mountain bike, awning, food and clothes etc etc. and it came to 3430kg. My MAM or MTPLM is 3500kg so I was OK with a little to spare.

 

The Maximum Authorised Mass (MAM) that the motor home can be loaded to is also known as MTPLM or Maximum Technical Permissible Laden Mass, including fuel, passengers etc; in short, everything and you cannot exceed this without breaking the law. This website tells you all about it:

http://www.motorhome-chooser.com/bg-weights-plates-payloads.php

 

Good luck.

[Derek Uzzell]

Kris's motorhome is a Nu Venture Rio Quattro.

 

MMM's Buyer' Guide gives its MAM as 2900kg and payload as 550kg. Apparently there was a test-report in "Which Motorcaravan" December 2008.

[lennyhb]

To locate a public weighbridge go to your local council website and do a search.

 

The results are not always accurate as a lot of weighbridges have closed over the last 10 years so don't just turn up give them a ring first. Searching a council websites gives more accurate results than a general google search.

 

A lot of trunk roads have them where the MOT do roadside checks they are often free & available 24/7, I have one a couple of miles from home on the A27 at Lancing. If I've changed the loading of the van or off for anything longer than a weekend I do a check on it as we are always running right on the plated limit.

[colin]

I think dave posted this.

http://www.chrishodgetrucks.co.uk/pageweighbridge/weighbridgeshome.htm

[Kris]

Thanks to Brian for explaining about Mam/Payloads etc, and to everyone else who replied.

 

The figure I quoted for the MAM is correct, I thought it was a funny number too, but it is the same on the VIN plate, and the Citreon book for the "original" van (before it was converted) and the van registration papers.

 

We took the van to a weighbridge, (didnt charge us anything as we didnot want a ticket). It was only 2669 fully laden, so well under the MAM. Thank goodness.

 

Thanks again everyone.

 

Off soon for the Country & Western weekend. Hope the weather is better than the Newbury Show.

 

Kris

[M.Harrison]

Hi,

 

Something else to remember (sorry if already mentioned above and I've missed it..) - Individual axle weights are also very important...

We recently had our Autotrail Dakota weighed. We came in at total weight of 3500Kg (with a Max of 3800Kg permitted) - So initially thought great plenty of spare then we had the individual axles weighed the rear was only 80Kg below it's max permitted... So even though we've got 300Kg available on the total in practice it's not that usable as we would have to get aprox two thirds of it over the front wheels which is virtually impossible... :(

[Kris]

Received the new updated registration papers now showing as a motorcaravan, but quoting the MAM as 2900kg, (I did think it read 2963 before, but I must have been wrong). This makes it 63kg less than I first though.

 

The vin plate on the door of the van, and the vans book, both quote 2963kg. So be on the safe side we will go by the Registration document of 2900kg.

 

I wonder why the different figures , if it should be 2900 MAM why is the VIN plate and the vans own book (before it was made into a motorhome) different from the Registration document, the MAM load should still be the same, shouldn't it?

 

Kris

 

[Derek Uzzell]

Kris

 

You need to take up the apparent weight discrepancy with Nu Venture.

 

Whatever MAM datum there is on your motorhome's V5C registration document will be overridden by the MAM figure on the 'most recent' VIN-plate fitted to your vehicle You say that there's a VIN-plate on the door that reads 2963kg MAM and, if that's the only VIN-plate fitted to your motorhome, then that's the MAM that counts.

 

I notice that MMM's Buyers' Guide states that a Rio Quattro has an Al-Ko chassis and a MAM of 2900kg. It's possible, therefore, that the addition of an Al-Ko chassis might have limited the MAM to 2900kg, but, if that were so, there should be another VIN-plate (normally fixed to the rear chassis) that shows the 2900kg datum. As an Al-Ko chassis is normally fitted after a vehicle has left its original manufacturer's factory, an Al-Ko chassis VIN-plate would override Citroen's original plate. However, this is pure speculation and I'm doubtful that a Rio Quattro actually has an Al-Ko chassis.

 

I note that the low-profile Nu Rio model reported on by Andy Stothert in MMM May 2008 was said to have been built on a Citroen Dispatch platform-cab chassis with a MAM of 2932kg, and the Romahome R40 (reported on by Jonathan Lloyd in MMM July 2008) was also said to have been constructed on a platform-cab Dispatch chassis, this time with a MAM of 2963kg. On that basis, it seems likely that your motorhome is also on a platform-cab chassis and, consequently, the MAM should be as originally specified by Citroen (ie. 2963kg as shown on the door VIN-plate).

 

The accuracy of the data shown on a vehicle's V5C registration document is largely down to the care taken by whoever provided the information to the DVLA. Sometimes the DVLA makes mistakes, but V5C errors can usually be traced back to the person who gave them the data. It sounds like a MAM figure of 2900kg was passed to the DVLA when your vehicle registration details were changed to reflect its conversion to a 'motor caravan'. I believe Nu Venture sells directly to buyers of their conversions and, thus, will deal directly with the DVLA regarding vehicle registration. If that's the case, then the 2900kg datum will probably have originated from Nu Venture and they will be the people you should ask about this.

 

I see from your earlier posting that your fully loaded motorhome would still be well under a MAM of 2900kg, but, if its MAM should be 2963kg, then it would be logical to have the correct figure on the vehicle's V5C.