Yup. effectively any weight (there is actually a maximum weight a Motor Caravan can legally be in the UK - something like 24 tonnes or something from memory)
I was crawling around underneath my motorhome yesterday afternoon and I was struck by the difference in appearance of the metal chassis parts that was original and the metalwork such as the various straps and clips and what have you that get added for the various pipework, cable hangers, etc either for the vehicle or as part of the motorhome side of the construction.
The under-chassis's on Vans seem a lot lot better than they used to. My 2003 VW LT and 2008 Fiat Ducato both look very solid still. It's the bodywork that tends tp be the let down.
Stainless against steel is a big mistake. The stainless has a galvanic reaction with the steel if it gets wet or damp. I was horrified when cutting into my plaxton cheetah. The stainless was fine, but the steel touching it crumbled in my hand.
It has to be 316 marine grade
There not dipped, its a electro plate which is not molten, bit like chroming.
Our garage floor is aluminium checker plate over ply-board, not most ideal but kind of does the job for bolt through tie downs with big washers underneath.
We have some fitted in our moho garage but would not trust them for anything more than just bungee attachments, as only held on by wood screws. Also the screw in track loops can loosen dependant upon angle of attachment.
If they are fitted badly, anything can fail. If the rails are fitted correctly you could hang the van off the load rings.
Just as aside to the above comment, most modern if not all MOT station rolling roads now weigh the vehicle axle weights automatically for brake weight purposes, this has been so for a few years. I am not sure if these weights are officially sent to the DVLA on recording MOT pass or failure tests but certainly could be used in the future to be used as an over axle weight issue. I know this because last time I had an mot for the van he advised me that my vehicle was 3610kg, which surprised me as previously I had weighed it at a public weigh bridge fully loaded, including full water and fuel tank for a trip to France and it had come in at 3475kg, after he told me that I immediately went round to the local weigh bridge and had it weighed again it came out at 3336kg upon which I returned to the mot station and showed him the the weight sheet, some weeks later I had another bike mot and he told me he had the Rolling brake tester re calibrated for weight, so be warned although it is not shown officially on an MoT fail/pass your vehicle is infact weighed. PhilFor the MOT we always remove our scooter from the moho garage just to avoid any potential hassle. But guess that an MOT tester would never look in there or even weigh the back axle?
It all sounds a bit desperate if their argument is that you are carrying goods in what they have classed as a private goods vehicle! It's all gone quiet so guess it was maybe a non-issue really? But agree that the vague definitions would not stand up. A great topic well worth standing up for.
No, it's at this present point in time just used to check the brake percentage against the axle weight, you do not see this shown on anything that is given to you. I only know about it because the MoT station I use was the station I used to own, I sold it in the year 2000 to the present owner who has become a personal friend over the years, he was warning me as it showed at the time all be it wrong that my vehicle was over its mass laden weight and he felt he should tell me. Phil
