How important are weights when converting a van?

When people look inside converted vans often their first comment is "I bet that's heavy" in some cases it's true but with good design, knowledge of the van you're buying and good weight distribution you can ensure your camper conversion stays on the right side of the law when it comes to weights, falling foul on this could see you in front of a Magistrate or receiving points on your licence and may even cause you complications when renewing your insurance policy.

When assessing a vehicles weight, distribution of that weight is just as important as the vehicles gross weight. When choosing a vehicle 'payload' should be an important factor in your decision, this is the weight your vehicle can carry.

Not all vans are created the same, let's take a Peugeot Boxer for example, most people may assume all vans have the same final payload of 3500kg, unfortunately that's not always the case, some variants of the Boxer only have a maximum gross weight of 3000kg or 3300kg to demonstrate this here's a link to Parkers Guide.

Looking at the image below we can see from the top number that the vehicle has a maximum permitted gross weight is 3500kg, this figure has to include fuel, luggage, driver and passenger, everything the vehicle may contain when getting stopped by the Police or DVSA.

Below this is the number of 5500kg, this is known as the train weight, what the vehicle and a trailer can weigh combined so in this case, 5500kg. Below this number we have 1750kg this number may usually have 1 shown next to it denoting it relates to axle 1, so the front axle can weigh no more than 1750kg. Lastly we have 2250kg this relates to the 2nd rear axle. If we add 1750kg + 2250kg we get 4000kg so it's important that both axles are not loaded to their maximum weight as the vehicle would be overweight.

Chassis Plate(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DYoiqFQ_M4)

To locate your local weigh bridge you can search the government's website here, if you don't have any luck with this link call around your local aggregate suppliers or scrap yards, their bridges should be certified by trading standards. If you're worried your vehicle may be overweight before driving it there book an appointment with the owners of the weigh bridge before driving the vehicle on a public road.

A final word of warning, just because a van is big it doesn't mean it can take more, something like a 3500kg LWB Iveco Daily or Mercedes Sprinter may seem like the perfect van to convert into a camper however, because of their extended body sizes their 'payload' is reduced, given they're bigger vehicles it's very tempting to add more kit. An empty vehicles weight is referred to as a kerbside weight. See below for a comparison.

Example between MWB & LWB vans assuming a 3500kg gross vehicle weight (GVW).

MWB Van 2100kg - 3500kg GVW	LWB Van 2300kg - 3500kg GVW	MWB Van 2100kg - 3000kg GVW
2 people 160kg	2 people 160kg	2 people 160kg
Water 50L = 50kg	Water 50L = 50kg	Water 50L = 50kg
Fuel 90L = 90kg	Fuel 90L = 90kg	Fuel 90L = 90kg
Food/Luggage 80kg	Food/Luggage 80kg	Food/Luggage 80kg
Total Weight = 2480kg	Total Weight = 2680kg	Total Weight = 2480kg
1020kg Payload	820kg Payload	520kg Payload

I hope this post has been useful, if you're looking to convert your own vehicle and need help choosing the right vehicle for you don't hesitate to Contact Us as we can offer consultancy as well as conversion work for anyone looking to build a camper van.