sprinter/crafter exhaust

[whiskers]

The exhaust on my Volkswagen Crafter based motor caravan finishes under the centre of the floorpan. I would have thought that by law it should exit the side or rear of the vehicle. Has anyone got any information on the regulations?

[Barney123]

Hi, My van is LHD and exhaust goes out in the middle under the van, hence it dos'nt blow fumes out onto the pavement. When I queried this some years back, I was told RHD vehicles push fumes out to centre of road away from the pavement etc, and LHD vans in UK which push out fumes onto the pavement are frowned upon (to be polite). So with your van pushing out in the middle you have the best of both worlds

 

[Robinhood]

...the relevant requirements will be contained in The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations.

 

This question cropped up at least once before, and I believe I found that there is little restriction on where an exhaust exits (except in the case of minibuses, where it must be at the rear, or on the offside).

 

There is, however, plenty about the exhaust noise levels. :-S

 

I've had another quick look, and searching on "exhaust" doesn't throw up anything different to the above.

 

Whilst your exhaust is probably legal, for a motorcaravan that may have underfloor ventilation, it is not necessarily good practice.

 

edited to add:

 

It may well be that in the course of conversion, it has been found necessary to remove a tailpipe in order to clear underfloor equipment.

 

It isn't particulalrly difficult to pull up a diagram of a full exhaust system for your vehicle using the year of manufacture and engine type, and compare the various options available (there are likely to be a few).

 

 

[whiskers]

Thank you. I agree that it is not ideal on a vehicle that has vent holes in the floor. Although, fortunately, I am not aware of any fume entering the van.

[George Collings]

The main concern would be when standing with the engine running. Once underway the rush of air underneath would dilute the fumes and flush them away.

 

My van exhausts to the right and I on the continent am always concious of this when passing cyclists flogging their way up hills. Usually I ease the throttle for a second or three as I pass.

[lennyhb]

I noticed Carthago's exhaust exits under the centre of the van, I think they do to increase ground clearance as you don't need to have a pipe going low to clear the chassis side frame.

[whiskers]

Thank you folks for your comments.

[motorhomejoe]

my fiat based coachbuilt exhaust has a short extention to the exhaust so that it clears the body. When replacing the exhaust I had to buy a standard exhaust and transfer the extention . On a previous van I bought an extention piece separately. I did not want the risk of exhaust fumes entering the vehicle. If your van is a coachbuilt I would suggest you try to find out if the short exhaust was a standard fit. If in doubt fit an extention.