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Have you weighed your caravan recently?

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Old Apr 8th, 2018, 10:34   #11
Tannaton
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Quote:
Originally Posted by harveys View Post
You say no points , Well sort of You can still get points for operating a vehicle dangerous condition namely overloaded. A chap I know did .
To be charged with the offence of operating a vehicle in a dangerous condition the police or DVSA would have to demonstrate that it posed an immediate danger of injury to the public. The offence is not fixed penalty - you have to go to court and a discretionary ban can be issued.
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Old Apr 9th, 2018, 14:45   #12
Ern
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I bought a Reich CWC so that I could do the caravan and also the car.
When we got the new caravan (Swift Challenger 480Alde) I was concerned that the design was very badly off side heavy. With the battery and gas and motor mover all in place, I weighed the left and right wheels and found that the off side/fridge side was nearly on the limit for the caravan with the fridge empty. Adding food and drink to the fridge and pots and pans in the kitchen took it right to the limit (half the MTPLM), and this is a 50Kg uprated caravan.
Having had some experience of weighing vehicles and knowing what silly results are possible with this type of weighing equipment, I was careful to ensure that my Reich CWC results are accurate and repeatable.
We now put more in the car and less in the caravan than we have ever done before.
By the way, weighbridges are useless for the accuracy we need when weighing caravans. Weighbridge operators think the 10Kg graduation used for the digital load display is the accuracy of the weigh bridge - Not true. No where near it!
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Old Apr 9th, 2018, 17:06   #13
37 RUBY
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In answer to the original question "Have you weighed your caravan?...you really should as the caravan manufacturers MIRO will likely be different from that as stated on the VIN plate and is quite often heavier. (There is no governance on this and the figure should be taken as a rough guide only) So even if an owner makes their calculations based on MIRO and MTPLM for the van then diligently weighs everything they put inside with bathroom scales, they will likely still be over weight if going to the max of the available payload.

With regards weighbridges and having worked on one for several years Ern is on the money. The discrepancies that can be found on a commercial weighbridges between calibration checks can vary somewhat and it should be borne in mind that weighbridges can often have a minimum load at circa 500kg and will be probably be less accurate at the comparatively low weight of a caravan, considering a commercial bridge can be rated to measure a max weight of 60,000kg.

I too have a Reich CWC which has proven invaluable in keeping us safe and legal. If you use one of these make sure the surface the gauge and wheel is on is smooth and even to ensure consistent results. You can also use it to weigh your tow car using the Motorhome setting as it is no good throwing everything into the car to make the caravan legal but then making the tow car overweight or overloading the axles. I've seen so many people towing with set-ups that are clearly unsafe with headlights in the air and tow bars almost scraping the floor.... I suppose the steering will be nice and light though.
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