Revenue weight increase

[brickmenda]

Hope this is of help to anybody who wants to increase Motorhome Revenue Weight. Just to start off it was easy for me as the Motorhome had been Downplated by its first owner from 3800KG to 3500KG. There is a Company who will do the paperwork for you for a fee of £250 plus VAT a lot of money and you would still have to do the DVLA bit . I wanted to return it to 3800KG. I started off by phoning VOSA who were just fab and told me to download a VTG10 form , fill it in , send it to them with £26. After sending my VTG10 Form to them i had a slight delay when VOSA wrote to me to say i needed a design weight certificate which i obtained from Autotrail who were rearly speedy and helpful and even sent me a new Revenue Weight Plate to fix under the Bonnet to confirm Weight, the certificate was faxed to VOSA and within 3 days the paperwork from them was in my post . This morning I went to my local DVLA Office with all the paperwork and came away with a new tax disk as Private Heavy Goods , a refund of £12 as road tax is lower . Now for me this was easy and it was as no Vehicle alterations were needed but anyone trying this might have to present the Motorhome for inspection by VOSA which is where it gets complicated

[david lloyd]

Glad you were able to navigate the process with ease.

 

You probably already know the implications of having your motorhome over 3500kgs but if you haven't already done so this thread may be of interest:

 

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=18534&posts=33

 

David

[Andy_C]

Not sure why you would need a VTG10, which is an application for a change of plated details on a goods vehicle.

 

If the motorhome's original design weight was 3800Kg all that should be necessary is to get a replacement VIN plate from the manufacturer. DVLA should be happy with that.

 

It's slightly more complex if you want to replate to above the original design weight, that's when you need someone like SVTECH to certify that the vehicle is safe to operate at the increased weight.

 

Andy

[Mel B]

Just trying to get my head round this ...

 

We have a Transit based motorhome, the chassis was manufactured originally to take up to 3950kg, but the converter plated it to 3500kg.

 

Soooooo .... do we need SVTech to do the necessary, or can we do it ourselves through the DVLA?

 

Confused of Cottingham! 8-)

[Brian Kirby]

Mel, has it got the Ford VIN plate still on it showing 3950Kg?

If it has, subject to a visit to a Ford commercial dealership to confirm it is all standard below the floor (suspension, tyres etc all as the standard spec), I can see no reason why you can't get a replacement plate at that MAM.  It should come from Rimor, as they "finished" the build, and are technically responsible for adding the final plate.  I do not know what the legal position would be if the Rimor plate were just removed, leaving only the Ford plate visible, but I suspect that may not "tick all the right boxes" and a Rimor plate is required.

The dealer should be able to get a proper one from Rimor, by quoting the Rimor build number and the Ford chassis number to them.  Provided they will co-operate, they should then check their own records of the build and, provided they did not make modifications that are not readily apparent, which I doubt, a new plate should be a formality.  There will probably be a charge as, if Rimor do the job properly, they will then amend their record of the van to show the increased MAM. 

Initially, I think, Ford, for a quick check, and then speak to your friendly local Rimor dealer.  If that all looks feasible, then see what DVLA need to issue a revised V5C.

[Mel B]

I'll have to wait until we take the van out of it's cubby hole as I can't get at the plate at the moment.

 

However, I have already been in touch by email and fax with SVTech about having it up-plated and they have indeed confirmed that it is upratable to the 3950kg which the original chassis would have been as a paper exercise. That's taking into account the air-assisted suspension modification we had put on the rear a couple of years ago (although they said it wouldn't have needed it to be uprated).

 

We are still contemplating whether to go down this route, weighing up all the pros and cons, so hadn't actually done the deed yet and, whilst I don't want to be mean to SVTech, if I can do it myself and save £200 I'd rather do so.

 

We are on good terms with our local Rimor dealer (not the original supplier), so I'll get hubby to give him a call and see what his take is on it I think.

 

Just think of all the booze we can bring back from France (and de-ionised water for my iron!! :D ).

[Clive]

The instrucions from SVTech say to fit the new rating plate alongside the vehicle manufacturers original. This I have just done. Then send of the log book (old term, sorry) filled in with the new revenue weight together with the SVtech certificate to DVLA. Estimated time 2 weeks. One week has passed so far.

C.