Weight Plate Upgrade

[FrintonMike]

Upgrading the weight plate has been discussed before and most manufaturers seem to do the upgrade for free or a nominal sum but the Eternity Caravan price list shows the cost of an upgrade to be £499.00.
Unless they use a different chassis, I assume that they do at least replace the normal plate with a solid gold one for that price.

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

I would assume for that sort of price, it is one of the caravans that require major modifications to the suspension. ect, as it has to be understood that the normal upgrade, consists of no more than issuing a new plate, not all vans are the same however and depends on the construction it could be that the MTPLM of a standard trim model may well be close to the max load of the chasis, and therefore requiring heavier units and tyres,
it would also depend on the ammount of extra weight gained for the upgrade, typically this is in the range of 35 to 65 kg, not a great deal however quite usefull if the van has a mover or the awning is carried in the van,
if however 1 or 2 hundred kilos was added the price may well be worth it, at least the manufacturer would attempt an upgrade some just refuse to do so,

 

[ProfJohnL]

Good reply Colin.

 

[Parksy]

There is an article about the Eterniti Genesis IB4 on page 70 of the April edition of Practical Caravan magazine and it mentions that a weight upgrade from a MPTLM of 1999kg to 2100kg is free of charge.

 

[Willi-Wonti]

After buying our Burstner I noticed that the gross weight in the brochure said 1600 / 1700 kgs. On contacting my dealer I was told to check what was stamped on the chassis & on informing them that it was 1700 kgs they said that if I wanted it up rated to 1700 kgs they would order me a new plate from Burstner F.O.C.
My caravan is now uprated to 1700 kgs

 

[Surfer]

The payload in the Eternitis seem to be lower than average. Once you add a 110amp battery and a motor mover it goes below 100kg. Add an awning plus poles and that is about it for the payload.

 

[FrintonMike]

Parksy, I have the Eternity brochure in front in me and it shows upgrade from 1999kg to 2200kg to be a cost of £499. Has the magazine or the brochure got both the size of the upgrade and cost wrong.?
I did like the Eternity Genesis BB5 but the wardrobe space for 5 was almost non existant. It does have some new ideas such as a second door into the bathroom so that if you are muddy you do not have to go through the caravan to get clean.
When changing I would consider this van if only for the extra room the slide out gives.
I wonder how many of the ideas,such as the slide out, in the Etenity range will be copied by the other manufacturers

 

[Surfer]

Parksy, I have the Eternity brochure in front in me and it shows upgrade from 1999kg to 2200kg to be a cost of £499. Has the magazine or the brochure got both the size of the upgrade and cost wrong.?
I did like the Eternity Genesis BB5 but the wardrobe space for 5 was almost non existant. It does have some new ideas such as a second door into the bathroom so that if you are muddy you do not have to go through the caravan to get clean.
When changing I would consider this van if only for the extra room the slide out gives.
I wonder how many of the ideas,such as the slide out, in the Etenity range will be copied by the other manufacturers

I don't think many manufactuers will go for the slide outs as they are heavy and with cars getting lighter and in the future not many cars will be able to tow them. A niche market in my opinion. Also did not like the layout of the one with the supposedly island bed. I think they will be following the Stealth into oblivion with a few years unless they revert to normal caravans.
After the Stealth debacle I would avoid any new manufacturer until they had been around a few years, had established service centres and built up a solid reputation. In addition, you need to think of future trade in values. At the moment, no dealer will accept a Stealth caravan as a trade in as they know they can't shift them. IMHO Dunster House with the Stealth caravan has ruined it for any new manufacturer.