Vehicle Weight

[getaway]

I have an elderly Autohomes and I am trying to establish it's MAM. The equally elderly handbook gives the following: MTPLM (whatever that may be?) 3100kgm, a Maximum User payload of 805kg, Mass in Running order 2295kg, Esential Habitation Equipment 113kg. Can anyone please compute my MAM? I have searched DVLA for these abbreviations with no success. I have lost my C! licence and need reassurance that I am not over the 3.5 k mark. Many thanks

[weldted]

There should be a plate under the bonnet, the first 2 lines will be the front and rear axles, the third will be the mam, the fourth will be the max gross train weight. Be aware converters will fit their own plate, that is the one to go by. How much is your road tax? £165 over 3500 kg £225 under 3500 kg

[Keithl]

Dick,

 

MTPLM (Maximum Technically Permissible Laden Mass) is the same as MAM and also the older acronym GVW.

 

So with a MAM of 3,100 kg you are clearly under your driving licence limit of 3,500 kg.

 

Have you ever weighed your MH when fully loaded to confirm it is actually under the stated MAM?

 

Keith.

[Brian Kirby]

getaway - 2021-05-24 11:56 AM

I have an elderly Autohomes and I am trying to establish it's MAM. The equally elderly handbook gives the following: MTPLM (whatever that may be?) 3100kgm, a Maximum User payload of 805kg, Mass in Running order 2295kg, Esential Habitation Equipment 113kg. Can anyone please compute my MAM? I have searched DVLA for these abbreviations with no success. I have lost my C! licence and need reassurance that I am not over the 3.5 k mark. Many thanks

Re MAM, as Keith and weldted have said above.

 

Re payload, mass in running order and habitation equipment, ignore whatever the handbook says.

 

Take your van to a weighbridge (ideally at a builders merchant or other location where bulk goods are handled by the truckload), with no water, waste water, or gas cylinders, on board, and carrying only the bare essentials, i.e. just jack and basic tools, plus items such as EHU cable and levelling ramps, but otherwise empty. That is to say with all storage lockers empty: no clothing, bedding, cutlery, crockery, footwear, books, guides, maps, soaps, shower gels, etc. etc. But with the fuel tank full before leaving for the weighbridge. When weighing the van, get out and stand off the weighbridge platform (ditto anyone with you). That will give you, as nearly as you can achieve, an approximation of its unladen weight. Your actual payload is the difference between the weighbridge ticket weight in that state, and your MAM of 3,100kg. If you want to check the actual unladen axle loads, do as described below for axle loads on the fully laden van.

 

As your van has a relatively low MAM, I would strongly suggest making a second weighbridge visit with it fully laden as it might be at the beginning of a trip (but I would suggest not doing this immediately before setting off on a trip, as you may have to make some adjustments to the load and/or its distribution to eliminate overload).

 

This time, when weighing, make sure you, and any passengers or pets you would carry, are all in the van in their normal travelling places. Again, make sure the fuel tank is full. If you would normally travel with a full fresh water tank, and possibly toilet flush tank, weigh with these full. Also, load however many gas cylinders you usually carry. If you usually have one full as a spare and one partially used and in use, leave out the part used cylinder and weigh the full one (bathroom scales?) and then add back to the weighbridge ticket weight the weight of the full cylinder to give your actual laden weight with two full cylinders on board.

 

When at the weighbridge explain to the operator that you want the weight on both axles plus the actual vehicle weight. The operator should then set the weighbridge for either a delivery, or a pick-up. For a delivery he will ask you to drive onto the platform, stopping as near the centre as possible, which will give the vehicle weight, and then to drive forward until the front wheels are just off the end of the platform, which will give the load on the rear (usually heaviest) axle. The front axle load is then vehicle weight minus rear axle load. If he prefers to simulate a pick-up he will do the opposite, and get you to stop with the front wheels on the platform as far as possible but with the rear wheels just clear, and then dive forward to the centre of the platform for the full vehicle weight. In this case the rear axle load is vehicle weight minus front axle load. As you and everyone on board are part of the payload, you, and all passengers, pets etc. must remain on board throughout in either case.

 

You should then check the vehicle weight against its permitted MAM, but also the front, and rear, axle loads against their respective permitted maxima as shown on the vehicle's VIN plate (see weldted's post above).

 

If the weighbridge totals exceed the permitted MAM, or the maximum load on either axle, you will have to shed or redistribute load accordingly until your load state is legal. To this end you may find it useful to list all items you carry in the van, with their individual weights, plus the total, so that you have a clear view on what difference to expect by removing this or that, and also what difference moving a particular item forward or rearward might have on the individual axle loads. It sounds a bit of a faff, but you should only need to do it the once, and then you'll know - until you change your van! :-D

[getaway]

Many thanks for the very detailed replies, I've probably left it a bit late to go the weighbridge route. As weldted has suggested, my road tax is £280 I would appear to be ok. Again, many thanks