Hi Kev. Thanks for bringing this to people's attention. We had this problem being slightly overweight on the caravan, but after removing stuff and moving stuff in the car and what we put in there it was a lot better now. Thanks for sharing. Paul and Sarah
Thanks for sharing. Made me doublecheck our outfit. Ours is a D4-4L which is much lighter than the D4-4 at 949 kg MRO but we can still get a weight plate upgrade to 1300 kg MTPLM giving us about 350 kg of payload. We have two heavy bikes on the A frame (about 24 kg each) but counter-balance that with the awning in the back of the van when we travel. I usually aim for a noseweight of about 85-90kg since my car (VW Tiguan) has a Mass in Service of about 1500 kg. Still going to get a proper weight done though to make sure my calculations are correct!
Thanks for watching! - wow - they are heavy bikes, I presume they're electric? - ours are about 15kg each - yes, defo need to weigh it - I expect you'll need to up-plate it, too.
A friend of ours could never get the nose weight right but after it's yearly inspection it was always spot on, when he finally asked they told him they always empty the truma boiler when it is inspected to check the winter relief valve and off course they never refilled the system. That is why he was always over nose weight as 13 kilos of water was held in his boiler which he always checked before leaving to make sure it was working but he never emptied it again after checking so he lost 13 kg before he even started loading, he always emptied the boiler before loading up after that and never had the problem again.
Hi, thanks for watching! - that was lucky! (that your friend found out the cause of the heavy nose) - we always travel with it empty - should've mentioned that in the vlog.
There's some misunderstanding evident in the narrative. The noseweight limit on the car, towbar and hitch are all limits, not targets. Ideally noseweight should be between 5% and 7% of the actual weight of the caravan. So if it weighs 1280kg that's anywhere between 65kg and 90kg. The lowest of the three limits is the max you can use. The noseweight is borne by the towcars rear axle, not the caravans axle. So if the caravan axle reads1360kg, the actual caravan weight would be 1360kg plus noseweight. However as the noseweight is borne by the car it means the towable mass is the weight that goes through the caravan wheels. Also the only legal limits are the plated weights of the car and caravan. They're the cars maximum weight, the car's train weight limit and the caravan's MTPLM. As long as none of those are exceeded you are not breaking any law. The car's towing limit is the weight that the manufacturer warrants that the car can tow and if they think you've exceeded it they may not honour any warranty, but its not illegal to do so. However some insurance companies may well have limits that are in addition to anything that's legal. Remember that the closer weight is to the hitch the more it impinges on noseweight and the nearer the axle the more it impinges on the axle and the less on the nose. Also, MIRO should not be taken as gospel. It's the weight of one example of the van presented for Type Approval weighing and actual production van weights can vary. This means that the allocated payload may not be correct as the empty van may weigh more than MIRO. Also Bailey allow 10kg for gas cylinders in MIRO. However a full 6kg Calor cylinder weighs 14kg, so two full 6kg Calor cylinders use 18kg of payload. A battery will weigh circa 25kg and motor movers are 35kg. That means those three items can use up 80kg or so before loading a teaspoon. According to Bailey's website an upgraded D4 4 has a 198kg payload but that may be less if the van itself weighs more than MIRO, which is likely. HTH
Brilliant video Kevin! I'm interested to see what ours weighs as in my mind were underweight as we're conscious it's a lightweight van and don't have a massive payload. Great content!
Hi chap, thanks for watching etc, yes, I was just the same, you deffo need to weigh it asap as you saw in the vlog, you can have very little stuff in our Discoveries.
You carry a lot in your caravan. We only tow with the empty water containers and electric hook up cable inside the caravsn. The battery and one gas cylinder also remain in situ. Everything else goes in the car.
Yes, I emptied it for servicing the other week & realised that perhaps I do have a lot, even though it doesn't seem like it (to me)! The bedding (two sets) and all the cushions are quite heavy when you put them altogether - plus Sadie's plastic plants she likes to have everywhere etc. I plan to weigh it again soon to make sure I'm still on top of the situation. Thanks for watching & commenting!
You need to ditch all those plants, It's not a green house, Also any liquids, You have an MRO of 1102kgs and a Factory MPTLM of 1248kgs + 62kgs from the up plating to 1300kgs, So you should have 198kgs to play with You need to empty the Caravan completely leavin just the Motor Mover handle and the spare wheel and the hookup cable and the Battery and then go back to the weighbridge and re-weigh the Caravan again, You need to ditch that inverter because thats another 5 to 8kgs and a 6kg bottle of propane will weigh around 14kgs or if they have over filled it it will weigh 15,0kgs So if your bottle is half full it will weigh 11kgs, YOU must be carefull with the D4 Series because Andrew Ditton borrowed the D4-2 and with what it had in it it should of weighed 928kgs with just the battery and water carrier and the wheel lock and the spare wheel, but when weighed it come to 944kgs So it was higher than what the factory said it is and it only has an MPTLM of 998kgs without an upgrade, You have about 20kgs for the battery and 30 to 36kgs for the motor mover. Empty your Bailey and only keep the things in it that I said and reweigh it and then weigh every thing on proper Postage 100kg Scale from Ebay because they are accurite to 50 grams or less and do not use your bathroom scales because they will always put you over the limit. OK, I hope that helps. Good Luck.
Hi, thanks for watching and the comment - yes, I've pretty much what you said, the plants are in a box in the car, along with the kitchen stuff - they're all plastic & lightweight anyway - the Mrs likes them.
Thanks for sharing - it’s amazing how quickly the kilos add up - quite scary really.
Hi Kev. Thanks for bringing this to people's attention. We had this problem being slightly overweight on the caravan, but after removing stuff and moving stuff in the car and what we put in there it was a lot better now. Thanks for sharing. Paul and Sarah
Thanks for sharing. Made me doublecheck our outfit. Ours is a D4-4L which is much lighter than the D4-4 at 949 kg MRO but we can still get a weight plate upgrade to 1300 kg MTPLM giving us about 350 kg of payload. We have two heavy bikes on the A frame (about 24 kg each) but counter-balance that with the awning in the back of the van when we travel. I usually aim for a noseweight of about 85-90kg since my car (VW Tiguan) has a Mass in Service of about 1500 kg. Still going to get a proper weight done though to make sure my calculations are correct!
Thanks for watching! - wow - they are heavy bikes, I presume they're electric? - ours are about 15kg each - yes, defo need to weigh it - I expect you'll need to up-plate it, too.
A friend of ours could never get the nose weight right but after it's yearly inspection it was always spot on, when he finally asked they told him they always empty the truma boiler when it is inspected to check the winter relief valve and off course they never refilled the system. That is why he was always over nose weight as 13 kilos of water was held in his boiler which he always checked before leaving to make sure it was working but he never emptied it again after checking so he lost 13 kg before he even started loading, he always emptied the boiler before loading up after that and never had the problem again.
Hi, thanks for watching! - that was lucky! (that your friend found out the cause of the heavy nose) - we always travel with it empty - should've mentioned that in the vlog.
There's some misunderstanding evident in the narrative. The noseweight limit on the car, towbar and hitch are all limits, not targets. Ideally noseweight should be between 5% and 7% of the actual weight of the caravan. So if it weighs 1280kg that's anywhere between 65kg and 90kg. The lowest of the three limits is the max you can use. The noseweight is borne by the towcars rear axle, not the caravans axle. So if the caravan axle reads1360kg, the actual caravan weight would be 1360kg plus noseweight. However as the noseweight is borne by the car it means the towable mass is the weight that goes through the caravan wheels. Also the only legal limits are the plated weights of the car and caravan. They're the cars maximum weight, the car's train weight limit and the caravan's MTPLM. As long as none of those are exceeded you are not breaking any law. The car's towing limit is the weight that the manufacturer warrants that the car can tow and if they think you've exceeded it they may not honour any warranty, but its not illegal to do so. However some insurance companies may well have limits that are in addition to anything that's legal. Remember that the closer weight is to the hitch the more it impinges on noseweight and the nearer the axle the more it impinges on the axle and the less on the nose. Also, MIRO should not be taken as gospel. It's the weight of one example of the van presented for Type Approval weighing and actual production van weights can vary. This means that the allocated payload may not be correct as the empty van may weigh more than MIRO. Also Bailey allow 10kg for gas cylinders in MIRO. However a full 6kg Calor cylinder weighs 14kg, so two full 6kg Calor cylinders use 18kg of payload. A battery will weigh circa 25kg and motor movers are 35kg. That means those three items can use up 80kg or so before loading a teaspoon. According to Bailey's website an upgraded D4 4 has a 198kg payload but that may be less if the van itself weighs more than MIRO, which is likely. HTH
Hi. Thanks for watching and thanks for the info!
Brilliant video Kevin! I'm interested to see what ours weighs as in my mind were underweight as we're conscious it's a lightweight van and don't have a massive payload. Great content!
Hi chap, thanks for watching etc, yes, I was just the same, you deffo need to weigh it asap as you saw in the vlog, you can have very little stuff in our Discoveries.
Very informative mate
Cheers, chappy! :-)
You carry a lot in your caravan. We only tow with the empty water containers and electric hook up cable inside the caravsn. The battery and one gas cylinder also remain in situ. Everything else goes in the car.
Yes, I emptied it for servicing the other week & realised that perhaps I do have a lot, even though it doesn't seem like it (to me)! The bedding (two sets) and all the cushions are quite heavy when you put them altogether - plus Sadie's plastic plants she likes to have everywhere etc. I plan to weigh it again soon to make sure I'm still on top of the situation.
Thanks for watching & commenting!
You need to ditch all those plants, It's not a green house, Also any liquids, You have an MRO of 1102kgs and a Factory MPTLM of 1248kgs + 62kgs from the up plating to 1300kgs, So you should have 198kgs to play with You need to empty the Caravan completely leavin just the Motor Mover handle and the spare wheel and the hookup cable and the Battery and then go back to the weighbridge and re-weigh the Caravan again, You need to ditch that inverter because thats another 5 to 8kgs and a 6kg bottle of propane will weigh around 14kgs or if they have over filled it it will weigh 15,0kgs So if your bottle is half full it will weigh 11kgs, YOU must be carefull with the D4 Series because Andrew Ditton borrowed the D4-2 and with what it had in it it should of weighed 928kgs with just the battery and water carrier and the wheel lock and the spare wheel, but when weighed it come to 944kgs So it was higher than what the factory said it is and it only has an MPTLM of 998kgs without an upgrade, You have about 20kgs for the battery and 30 to 36kgs for the motor mover. Empty your Bailey and only keep the things in it that I said and reweigh it and then weigh every thing on proper Postage 100kg Scale from Ebay because they are accurite to 50 grams or less and do not use your bathroom scales because they will always put you over the limit. OK, I hope that helps. Good Luck.
Hi, thanks for watching and the comment - yes, I've pretty much what you said, the plants are in a box in the car, along with the kitchen stuff - they're all plastic & lightweight anyway - the Mrs likes them.
Easily solved leave the wifes clothes at home