yanis Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 Hello All I'm new to here - we just bought a Autotrail Cheyenne 634 (2003) last week - very exciting! Two questions please. Has anyone put a scooter rack on the back of their Cheyenne? If so, any advice? Re: payload, we've got 3700kg (unrated when it was new as has some accessibility modifications). Our problem's that our new lovely 'van is in storage out in Essex, and we live in the middle of London. We forgot to look at the weight plate SO anyone know what the maximum axle loads are for the Fiat Ducato 2.8 JTD 15 LWB are? We've got air suspension on the back axle. It's quite important for us to take our scooter (116 kg) as my wife is disabled and it's the best way for us to move around once we're parked up. Sorry - long post and request for help but would really appreciate input. Thanks, Yanis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 Hi Yanis and welcome to the forum, You can download AutoTrail brochures from their website for a lot of early years, have a look here... http://www.auto-trail.co.uk/downloads/brochures The Technical spec pages give axle weights as delivered from the factory so a good starting point for you. There is also a very useful weight calculator for adding loads such as scooters on tow bars on the SV Tech website, definitely worth looking at as you mention a scooter... http://www.svtech.co.uk/vehicles/motorhomes/ Keith. PS And congrats on purchasing an AT :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yanis Posted September 3, 2016 Author Share Posted September 3, 2016 Hello Keith. Thanks for the welcome and the info. It was useful. We're got a really good calculator that tells us the effect of adding weight on our actual axle loads from Armitage trailers. So we've figured out that we would go over the rear axle weight limit if we added a scooter and rack by about 150kgs. We have got air suspension on there so I'm guessing we could make it drivable but not legal - would others agree? So the next option we have is to ditch the lift, which would give us space on both front and back axles. So, please could you (or anyone else) tell us what the actual weight is on the axles, factory supplied, for a 'normal' 634L??? That doesn't seem to be in the documentation. Ours would be similar to this if we ditched the lift. Thanks again Yanis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbo Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 Suggest you look at your VIN plate, that should give the legal limit for front and rear axles. You might also find a plate on the ALCO chassis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randonneur Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 Robbo - 2016-09-03 12:43 PM Suggest you look at your VIN plate, that should give the legal limit for front and rear axles. You might also find a plate on the ALCO chassis. The original post said that his van is in storage in Essex and they live in London so not very convenient to go and look at the VIN plate, hence his questions, but if no one can help he is going to go and have a look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbo Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 Robbo - 2016-09-03 12:43 PM Suggest you look at your VIN plate, that should give the legal limit for front and rear axles. You might also find a plate on the ALCO chassis. Correction - you don't have an ALCO chassis (or you didn't mention it). I will assume you have the base vehicle chassis. For reference, my previous van could be uprated to 3700kg and I was considering mounting a scooter on a rack at the rear. I did all the calculations and found it was not possible to keep within the maximum rear axle capacity. Even though the vehicle might be drivable in the overloaded condition, if you had an accident and the vehicle was found to be overloaded, the insurance would be null and void and you would incur further severe penalties. Keep it legal and stay out of trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 ...I believe that the "standard" axle loadings on a 2003 "15" would have been 1750F/1850R Since the sum of these is less than the 3700kg you believe the 'van has been uprated to, then it would appear likely that the rear air suspension (and possibly tyre changes) has been undertaken to increase the max rear axIe load from the standard figure. Whatever, your recourse from here is to refer to the (upgraded) VIN plate on the vehicle, load it to normal running condition (without the rack and scooter), and get it to a weighbridge to determine just what margin there is at that maximum over and above the rear axle weight at that point. Possibly inconvenient, but the only way to get a true answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 Reading the 2003 AT brochure, downloaded previously from AT website, the quoted axle weight limits for a Cheyenne 634 (L or U layout) on a '15' chassis with a GVW of 3,400 kg are 1,750 kg Front and 1,900 kg Rear. An upgrade option with a GVW of 3,850 kg on a 'Maxi' chassis was available so it really depends on which chassis you have. Do you have 15" or 16" wheels as I believe this is the simple way to check. If you have the Maxi chassis then your axle limits could be 1,850 kg Front and 2,120 kg Rear. As your AT was uprated to 3,700 kg when new it will almost certainly be on a '15' chassis but without looking at your VIN plate there is no way to tell you for definite. PS The uprate to 3,700 kg would have made use of the 'spare' weight between the sum of the axle limits and GVW when new, it is very unlikely to have mods made to accommodate this increase. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 Keithl - 2016-09-03 5:35 PM PS The uprate to 3,700 kg would have made use of the 'spare' weight between the sum of the axle limits and GVW when new, it is very unlikely to have mods made to accommodate this increase. Keith. Though the truth will only be apparent when the OP has checked the vin, I have to disagree, Keith. Addition of air-suspension to the rear, and an accompanying increase in the max axle weight (sometimes requiring uprated tyres) was a commonly specified mod (often via SVtech) for getting the "15" in 3200/3400kg guise up to 3700kg. Whether the max axle weights are 1750/1850, or 1750/1900, 3700kg is still greater than the sum of the original axle weights. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 Robinhood - 2016-09-03 6:01 PM Whether the max axle weights are 1750/1850, or 1750/1900, 3700kg is still greater than the sum of the original axle weights. ;-) Good point RH, I hadn't spotted that :$ OK Air Suspension was probably necessary! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yanis Posted September 3, 2016 Author Share Posted September 3, 2016 Hello All Thanks so much for replying. A trip to Essex is obviously unavoidable. Will post the outcome when there is one! Yanis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyishuk Posted September 3, 2016 Share Posted September 3, 2016 Plan B ? Tow bar and trailer if within train weight limits. Rgds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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