how many know the loaded weight of their vans, talking to the local tyre shop today and he reckons most vans on the road are over weight for the running gear, tyres, springs etc
cheers
blaze

We weighed ours as it was a requirement for the towing course we did. I dont think we would have got around to it otherwise, but I recommend that everybody does. Its a surprise to find those "few" things you put in a van weigh so much!!!

He's quite likely right but does he have evidence to back up his claim or is he just "shooting from the hip". My Goldstream on the weighbridge weighs about 120 kg more than the tare on the compliance plate. This is "ready to go" weight except for water and battery and with all storage space empty.

He is using blown tyres as part of his evedence, appently more common than we think. He is also a caravaner. Mines fine with empty water tanks but depends on water carried to how much too heavy I am. We have only towed short distance before and were running cross ply tyres and our weight issue showed up when I fitted radial tyres. cheers blaze

A lot of tyre failure on vans is due to age, not kls
A van that sits for a long  time without turning a wheel will often have tyre failure once it hits the road.

I dont disagree with whats being said but my source of infomation has been changinging tyres for 45 years, managed the store for the last 25 years, been a life long caravaner. I have no reason to doubt his observations. cheers blaze

I bet the tyres were dunlops, the tyre guys here are mates and they see more blown dunlops than anything. I had two collapse. The Caravan compliance plates lie too, I broke a spring and when I pulled them out they were 500kg lighter than what the van was rated.

Further to my previous post, I guess if I'd taken out the stove, fridge, permanently installed microwave, seat cushions, permanently installed battery charger, curtains, gas cylinders, spare wheel etc it may have come in closer to the placarded tare. (the tool box on the back bumper was not fitted at the time).

My local tyre wallah says that the life of a tyre is 6 years.  Maybe it's a case of "he would say that wouldn't he",  I'm not in a position to judge.  Mine are 8 years old so I intend replacing them (including unused spare) before my next trip.

-- Edited by jimricho on Thursday 9th of December 2010 07:45:48 AM

I change my van tyres including the spare every 5 years and have not had any problems fo far. 

It also gives me peace of mind when travelling knowing that the tyres are in good condition and barring some unforseen occurrence the knowledge that my tyres will not let me down.

Fairly cheap insurance I believe.

JRH wrote:

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I change my van tyres including the spare every 5 years and have not had any problems fo far. 

It also gives me peace of mind when travelling knowing that the tyres are in good condition and barring some unforseen occurrence the knowledge that my tyres will not let me down.

Fairly cheap insurance I believe.

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I'm with you John in regard to peace of mind.  I got a quote today, $750 to replace all three with Goodyears (235x75x15).  There are cheaper ones with strange brnad names available but again the "peace of mind" factor.  I still intend going ahead despite the cost.

 

jimricho wrote:

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JRH wrote:

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I change my van tyres including the spare every 5 years and have not had any problems fo far. 

It also gives me peace of mind when travelling knowing that the tyres are in good condition and barring some unforseen occurrence the knowledge that my tyres will not let me down.

Fairly cheap insurance I believe.

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I'm with you John in regard to peace of mind.  I got a quote today, $750 to replace all three with Goodyears (235x75x15).  There are cheaper ones with strange brnad names available but again the "peace of mind" factor.  I still intend going ahead despite the cost.

 

 

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Jim that quote for $750 is not too bad, divide that figure by 5 and you get $150 per year for peace of mind, worth every cent in my opinion.

 

we no longer have a van traded it last saturday on a motor home. but i thought most people would know the loaded weight. if they didn't , how do they know they have the correct towball weight. if you don't have the towball weight with in spec you are accident waiting to happen. we used to get ours weighted at a local private weight bridge for about $20 if and when we made any siginificate changes to the packing of the van (eg moving spare from front to rear, adding house batteries adding bikes) . this also gave me a lot of confidence when being passed by b doubles and feeling the van twitch a bit. knowing the weight was right and with slight application of the trailer brake all should stay straight. we also be off to the weight bridge when we get the motorhome setup how we want it just to ensure we have the weight correctly placed for the best drive and fuel ecom. brian & kerry 2010 avan ovation motorhome l

There are lots of indications of numerous vans out there in overloaded conditions. Probably there are not many amongst those who have the standard van as delivered and have not optioned it up for travelling. These are mainly the holiday makers who load their vans every time they go on a holiday trip. By loading the van for every trip they do not accumulate much excess junk. However when it comes to the travellers things change. They load their vans and most of the stuff resides there permanently. They have a tendency to install battery systems and hang extra storage devices off their vans.. I reckon these would be the main ones to overload their vans. I reckon that the over-loaders in this class of people could be around 50%. I base my observations on 12 years on caravan forums, Talking to vanning neighbours and looking at their vans. There have been many times this subject has come up on forums. There are many examples of members starting threads because they have weighed their vans and found them overweight. Some have found them near the ATM before they load them. When members ask about increasing their battery numbers in their vans I urge then to weigh their vans first. It is surprising how many come back and say they are not going to fit a second battery, in fact they are then going through a weight reduction process. When the subject comes up, many are prompted to weigh their vans, they come back and ask how to upgrade their weight capacities. I have upgraded my van as we wish to carry 200 kg more than the RVMAA 300 kg weight allowance. Caravan park neighbours. When I talk to neighbours in parks I find that extremely few have weighed their vans. There is a greater number who say they are not game to weigh their vans because they do not want to have it confirmed that they are overweight. When you take into account the few vans that have been weighed loaded and the number that have been overweight, you ask how many overweight vans are out there. There is a proprietor of a large respected repair firm who posts in another forum. He sees a considerable number of overweight and badly built vans. When you consider that he only sees a few of the total number of vans produced, when you compare with the number of overloaded vans he looks at and proportion that to the total production you realise how many overloaded vans potentially are out there.