Gvw

BrenCooney

Hi all,
I had been searching for a camper for a number of weeks but after seeing what 3ps had bought I knew what I wanted a Knaus 608K.

Now that I have it here I noticed that in the Registratin Cert that no GVW is given. Just the figure 1. I contacted the people in Shannon who directed me to my motortax office but they said that no GVW is given for motor homes.

My question is, is this correct ? as I have read somewhere that the police on the continent are sticklers for correctness and the form should have a GVW in it.

peasant

Never mind the Reg cert ...(a German policeman would have a major crisis looking at that ..the German equivalent contains about 10-20 times more details)

The GVW and the maximum axle weights should be stamped onto a plaque somewhere on/in the vehicle ...that should do for Mr. Controlletti.

Check your door frames or inside the bonnet ..you'll find that plaque somewhere.

BrenCooney

Hi peasant,

There is a Knaus label on the bulkhead between the cab and the rest of the camper but no details have been entered. Is the GVW specific to the camper van make and model or is it attached to the make and model of the donor vehicle, in this case a Ducato Maxi (230). Thanks for your help with this and all the other info i have gleened over the past few months.

BrenC

peasant

THE GVW should be specific to the base vehicle really. It should be marked on the same label that gives the vehicle identification number (or at least it is on mine)
Because the frame and suspension/brake setup of that is what decides it.

Sometimes, by fitting stronger springs or so, the conversion builder (like Knaus) may upgrade the GVW by another 200 -500 kg ...I'm not sure right now if that has to be marked on the vehicle (plaque) or just gets noted in the paperwork only.

Some people also buy aftermarket upgrading kits and get the new weight limit changed in the (German) paperwork.

In case of the Ducato, some chassis have max GVW of 3400 kg or 3500 kg and both can be uprated to 3850.

The Maxi chassis can go up to 4200 afaik (with different brakes)

At the moment I'm not sure if any upgrade would have to be marked on the vehicle itself ...I'll try and find out...

peasant

Ok ...some more info on this

There are three weights that we are talking about here:

1) The maximum weight that the vehicle can safely handle from an engineering point of view

2) The weight that the vehicle is licensed for (mostly for driving licence/tax reasons)

3) Any changes to those weights, either technical or just "on paper"


Any commercial vehicle produced for Europe should have a plaque somewhere stating the VIN number, the licensed weight and the permissible max axle loads.

1) the design GVW can be calculated by adding up the two axle loads
2) the license GVW should be stamped into the plaque
3) I did a quick survey on a German camper forum and the result is that changes to the GVW *should* be entered on the plaque but it's not rigidly enforced.


So, in the case of your Ducato with a Maxi chassis, it's most likely capable of carrying 3850 kg straight from the factory (add up the axle weights) but also most likely limited to 3500 kg licensewise
Some previous owner (with a C/C1 license) may have decided to avail of the full weight capacity. They would have had the paperwork changed, but it may not neccessarily show on the plaque.
That owner may also have decided to change springs/brakes and upgrade the vehicle to its max capacity (4.2 tons afaik). This would most certainly show on the plaque as technical alterations usually have to be shown on the vehicle identification plaque.


What are the implications?

a) license
If you only have a "B" license and your camper says 3850 kg (as the licensed weight) on the plaque, you can't drive it ...no matter what the actual weight is

If you have a C/C1 license, it says 3500 on the plaque but it actually ways more and you get stopped: you can't be done for driving without a licence but you can get fined for driving an overweight vehicle. It will get really expensive if you also exceed the max axle loads. (You can also get into trouble for exceeding the load on one axle only, even if the total is under the
limit!)

If you have a "B" license, your vehicle is limited to 3.5 tons and weighs in significantly above that ...you're focked:D . You could get fined for the excess weight and done for driving without a license

b) insurance
As soon as you find yourself driving an overweight vehicle or worse, driving without the appropriate license your insurance will probably try to wiggle out of paying up (or rather take you into regress) should you happen to have an accident and be found out.

So it's not straightforward and riddled with pitfalls

BrenCooney

Hi peasant,

Just back form an excusrion to the West, and looked under the bonnet. The Knaus I have was stamped for 3500 kg but this was crossed over and 3850 kg put in a new blank space. I have a C1 and E+C1 licence so am Okay there.

My worry was if I was coming back from France and was stocked up with a few cases and was stopped or as you rightly said if I had an accident. I could imagine the insurance company doing more than wiggling out of its obligations. Thank for all the help.

BrenC

peasant

You're grand so !

Inform yourself about different speed limits in different countries for vehicles above 3.5 tons (wouldn't know where at the moment:o ) and make sure you don't exceed the 3850 kgs when you're fully packed, as the French police is rumoured to be quite strict in these matters. (Also on some of their tolled motorways they have built in weighbridges at the toll booths (to calculate your fee) and they might get a bit suspiscious if you arrive with five tons:D )