MTPLM - crikey

[Buckman]

The MIRO is definitely not the actual weight of your particular caravan as it left the factory. It is the weight of a caravan that the manufacturer submitted for type approval and may have had a slightly different specification. For a start, MIRO, by definition, doesn’t include any factory fitted options.

Of course it does not include any options, but on all our caravans the spare wheel has never ever been an option so included in the MIRO along with 20kg of gas and some other odds and ends like wastemaster and steps.! Wastemaster is included if you have an onboard tank.

 

[Hutch]

Further to my post, after a bit of research that I perhaps should have done before, I've just gleaned that the spare wheel attached to the underside of my caravan, might not be included in the stuff Bailey consider as 'part of the caravan' - is this right?

I don't think the spare wheel is part of the MIRO. Seriously think about removing it from the under side of the van and remove the carrier, the carrier weighs about 6 to 7 kg.
Try removing the spare wheel, it is incredibly difficult. You will find the carrier has rubbed into the sidewall of the tyre. I have the side "French" bed and our spare wheel fits in almost the same place but above the floor.

 

[Hutch]

I'm pretty rubbish at working these things out, but would it not make sense to weigh it 'fully laden' and then see by how much it exceeds the MTPLM (or is hopefully a few kg under the MTPLM) as that is the figure beyond which I'm going to be travelling illegally?
Hopefully that doesn't sound too stupid.

I talked my brother who has just bought a caravan to put everything essential into the van except clothes and food. And take it to the weigh bridge, he was 10 kg under.

 

[Lutz]

Of course it does not include any options, but on all our caravans the spare wheel has never ever been an option so included in the MIRO along with 20kg of gas and some other odds and ends like wastemaster and steps.! Wastemaster is included if you have an onboard tank.

Don't take that for granted.

 

[Buckman]

Don't take that for granted.

I do when it is in writing.

 

[Hutch]

I do when it is in writing.

The caravan brochure might state it has a spare wheel, but does it state it is part of the MIRO,

 

[Lutz]

I do when it is in writing.

It depends on where it's written. Handbooks aren't documents. A weight only has any documentary value if it's linked to the chassis number of the respective vehicle.

 

[Buckman]

The caravan brochure might state it has a spare wheel, but does it state it is part of the MIRO,

Both the Lunar and Buccaneer hand books included spare wheel as it was standard from factory. I wasn't particularly bothered if we exceeded the MTPLM by a few kgs although in reality we were just under it as carried the minimum stuff in the caravan. Also removed the table so 8 kgs and only using a Safefill bottle saved another 9kgs.

 

[otherclive]

My last Swift had a spare wheel in the front locker as the standard kit, and it’s predecessor from Bailey came brand new with an under slung spare, and either it was standard or a gift from the dealer. As I certainly did not pay extra for it.

But unless a car is marginal in towing an unladen caravan, then the best option is to weigh it fully loaded for a long holiday in bad weather in an area with no grocers or pubs. 😂

 

[Lutz]

Even if you didn't order your caravan specifying a factory fitted option, that doesn't necessarily mean that no option was fitted. For production control purposes, manufacturers sometimes fit items as mandatory options, but which never appear as such on the invoice and are therefore considered as standard fitment by the customer. For that reason, a trip to the weighbridge is the only safe way to establish the actual weight of your caravan accurately.

 

[Hutch]

Even if you didn't order your caravan specifying a factory fitted option, that doesn't necessarily mean that no option was fitted. For production control purposes, manufacturers sometimes fit items as mandatory options, but which never appear as such on the invoice and are therefore considered as standard fitment by the customer. For that reason, a trip to the weighbridge is the only safe way to establish the actual weight of your caravan accurately.

A spare wheel supplied as "Standard" could be an extra, 26 kg wheel and ALKO carrier. Just be sensible, load your van as you would normally / tour, get it on a weigh bridge. And take it from there. .