Delica - the next challenge - help please me re weight issues

a plastic water bottle fill to top of label then stand on floor if it not level then you can see as it goes over label
 
Gf would often disagree with my sense of level, so I brought a 'bullseye level' off the bay which I place on table, less than £2 inc p&p. It is slightly inaccurate and I was going to correct it with a bit of tape on one edge, but then I realised that if the van isn't 100% level I can always spin the level to show it is. :banana:
 
colinmd said:
Gf would often disagree with my sense of level, so I brought a 'bullseye level' off the bay which I place on table, less than £2 inc p&p. It is slightly inaccurate and I was going to correct it with a bit of tape on one edge, but then I realised that if the van isn't 100% level I can always spin the level to show it is. :banana:
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I do have one of these baby triangular spirit levels which I look at when parking up - but they only give a guide.
 
To be fair, nothing is truly level; we are sitting in a van that is sitting on a ball spinning in space in a universe that’s probably on its side. That should motivate some interesting answers.:lol-061:
 
invalid said:
To be fair, nothing is truly level; we are sitting in a van that is sitting on a ball spinning in space in a universe that’s probably on its side. That should motivate some interesting answers.:lol-061:
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Irriot.....:lol-049::lol-049::lol-049::lol-049:
 
invalid said:
To be fair, nothing is truly level; we are sitting in a van that is sitting on a ball spinning in space in a universe that’s probably on its side. That should motivate some interesting answers.:lol-061:
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Are you Professor Brian Cox or are you just tickling our asteroids?
 
we seem to have lost the plot a bit

levels were introduced to attempt to determin how saggy and hence how overloaded or not the rear end actually is , theory being that overweight will sag down considerably at the back. unladen may be a tad rear high, but a reasonable safe load shouldnt cause to much sag.


come on people get a grip.
 
ricc said:
we seem to have lost the plot a bit

levels were introduced to attempt to determin how saggy and hence how overloaded or not the rear end actually is , theory being that overweight will sag down considerably at the back. unladen may be a tad rear high, but a reasonable safe load shouldnt cause to much sag.


come on people get a grip.
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Ricc do you think that the measurements I put up yesterday (of the distance between ground and the top of the front and rear wheel arches) mean that we could be looking at an optical illusion in terms of how much "apparent rear sag" the van has when full ?

am off to get it weighed empty now....
 
The front wheel arch is Mitsubishi original, rear is by converter, so you cannot say they are comparable.
Your photos appear to show back well down, and I noted Trev though it looked overloaded in the flesh.
 
delicagirl said:
Ricc do you think that the measurements I put up yesterday (of the distance between ground and the top of the front and rear wheel arches) mean that we could be looking at an optical illusion in terms of how much "apparent rear sag" the van has when full ?

am off to get it weighed empty now....
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If I were you I'd get it weighed first, then I'd see how level the van floor is with a spirit level, on of course, level ground!!

Phill
 
I have a Lot more information for us all to consider after this afternoon's jaunt ......

I took the van to my local tyre specialist (who knows the van well) - and he said that the blow out was caused by a 20 year old tyre !!!! and it shredded because of its age. I still have one other 20 year old tyre on the van, and two 10 year old tyres, and I brand new tyre (fitted after the blowout). So I need to sort this out quickly.

I went to the weighbridge again - REALLY empty this time (except for half a tank of diesel). It weighs 2330 kgs.

I told him all about the weight saga.

We discussed tyres at some length, and the types of terrain I will be going on, and how to calculate safe user payloads.

To summarise what he said : -

If I change all 4 tyres for regular camper-van tyres (which are a stronger type of tyre than 4WD tyres) - I could inflate these tyres up to a maximum of 65psi which would give me a potential user payload of 1800kgs. (So 2330kgs empty weight + 1800kg "stuff" = 4130 kilos in total)

If I continued with 4WD tyres I would only have a user payload of 870 kgs, as the maximum psi would be 44psi - so that would be 2330 empty weight, plus 870 kilos user payload = 3200 kilos.

So I now don't know what to do - it seems to boil down to 2 choices : -

if I get rid of the 4WD tyres, and go with standard 65psi tyres, it will be much riskier for me to go into non-tarmac terrain, because they wont have the grip I get from my current 4WD tyres - but I will be able to take more stuff.

If I stick with 4WD then - how much "stuff " can I take once I have accounted for diesel and water - being in mind that I don't know my fuel tank capacity - £50-£55 to fill it up.

He recommends the standard 65psi tyres (which are cheaper for me than 4WD tyres) - so he is not trying an upsell.

Your thoughts gentlemen and ladies please ?

If I
 
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delicagirl said:
I have a Lot more information for us all to consider after this afternoon's jaunt ......

I took the van to my local tyre specialist (who knows the van well) - and he said that the blow out was caused by a 20 year old tyre !!!! and it shredded because of its age. I still have one other 20 year old tyre on the van, and two 10 year old tyres, and I brand new tyre (fitted after the blowout). So I need to sort this out quickly.

I went to the weighbridge again - REALLY empty this time (except for half a tank of diesel). It weighs 2330 kgs.

I told him all about the weight saga.

We discussed tyres at some length, and the types of terrain I will be going on, and how to calculate safe user payloads.

To summarise what he said : -

If I change all 4 tyres for regular camper-van tyres (which are a stronger type of tyre than 4WD tyres) - I could inflate these tyres up to a maximum of 65psi which would give me a potential user payload of 1800kgs. (So 2330kgs empty weight + 1800kg "stuff" = 4130 kilos in total)

If I continued with 4WD tyres I would only have a user payload of 870 kgs, as the maximum psi would be 44psi - so that would be 2330 empty weight, plus 870 kilos user payload = 3200 kilos.

So I now don't know what to do - it seems to boil down to 2 choices : -

if I get rid of the 4WD tyres, and go with standard 65psi tyres, it will be much riskier for me to go into non-tarmac terrain, because they wont have the grip I get from my current 4WD tyres - but I will be able to take more stuff.

If I stick with 4WD then - how much "stuff " can I take once I have accounted for diesel and water - being in mind that I don't know my fuel tank capacity - £50-£55 to fill it up.

He recommends the standard 65psi tyres (which are cheaper for me than 4WD tyres) - so he is not trying an upsell.

Your thoughts gentlemen and ladies please ?

If I
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My guess is your tank holds approx 50 ltrs based on your fill price, this weighs approx 45 kilos.

New tyres all round is a must, whether they be 4WD or camper tyres, I will leave to the experts.
 
Forgot to add, your payload figures look pretty iffy to me, again, I would be guided by the experts on here.
 
so far you have only told us what the vehicles weighs .
we know what weight the tyres can go up to if you tell us the load rating .
but what you still dont know is the vehicles capabilities .
without proper info its just risking your licence . etc .
regardless of how high a load the tyres can go can the vehicle officially?
seems the tyre fitter knows abit about tyres but not very smart on vehicles .
dangerous person to talk to i think.
 
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vwalan said:
so far you have only told us what the vehicles weighs .
we know what weight the tyres can go up to if you tell us the load rating .
but what you still dont know is the vehicles capabilities .
without proper info its just risking your licence . etc .
regardless of how high a load the tyres can go cant the vehicle officially?
seems the tyre fitter knows abit about tyres but not very smart on vehicles .
dangerous person to talk to i think.
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Couldn't agree more. The start point remains - what is the legal weight limit for the vehicle?
 
vwalan said:
so far you have only told us what the vehicles weighs .
we know what weight the tyres can go up to if you tell us the load rating .
but what you still dont know is the vehicles capabilities .
without proper info its just risking your licence . etc .
regardless of how high a load the tyres can go cant the vehicle officially?
seems the tyre fitter knows abit about tyres but not very smart on vehicles .
dangerous person to talk to i think.
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And everything so far points to 2.5Tonnes GVW. A 170kg payload with I think, with some equipment already removed. The original weight reading was probably pretty accurate @ 2490kg. Leaving 10kg payload.
 
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