Weight Distribution On Converted Vans

[Philip Lewis]

Evening all,
I have been intrigued for a while on the safety of all camper conversions with regard to weight distribution within the van. All conversions (to my limited knowledge) in the UK have the units fitted to the rear of the driver including the fridge and leisure battery, sink and hob, also some people store large water containers under sink. My question is does this uneven weight distribution compromise on the safety/handling of the vehicle?
Regards Phil

 

[Davenjo]

There has to be an impact on stability/handling with all of the added weight on one side of the vehicle but I'm not sure whether this is sufficient to compromise safety or not - one saving grace is that the bulk of the added weight is all low down and most of it fixed so unlikely to pendulum. I try to mitigate by putting as much extra weight on the other side as I can, e.g. passengers and dogs sit on the near side, but when on my own it's not always possible.

Another consideration is the bulk of a camper's added weight is toward the rear of the vehicle which, depending where luggage is stored, bikes, trailers, etc., even if overall weight is well within limits, could mean you are inadvertently exceeding the weight limit on the rear axle.

 

[Pete C]

Don't underestimate how heavy the bed is, which of course is on the opposite (near) side. I don't see much lean to the drivers side in my van.
We do try to put equipment towards the front if we can.

A lot depends on what the van's starting weight is after conversion. Ours weighs 2.2 tons, with a 3 tonne gross limit. That's a lot of spare capacity, which we don't get near to when loaded with what 2 of us need for longer trip. Vans carrying a family of 4 will be getting a lot closer to the limit of an axle, or the whole van.

Pete

 

[Davenjo]

Bikes, towbar, trailer nose weight, etc. add about 200kg behind our rear axle - full on camping mode we are close to T30 limits, hence having to consider weight distribution.

 

[Ads_Essex]

Bare in mind that VW were happy to build the van with the fuel tank mounted on the same side as the driver (for the bulk of the vans that are built for the LHD market) so we can assume that they are not overly concerned about a bulk of the weight being on one side of the vehicle.

 

[stuart-t6]

For what’s its worth I have a LWB T32 and when I had a SCA roof fitted I did notice the difference in handeling with the extra weight on the roof I certainly would not want to put roof bars on there

 

[MikeB]

I suppose our experience may be invalid as we never drove the wagon before having it converted, so it's impossible to make an informed comparison, but I can safely say I have no concerns or issues after the conversion. It started life as a 204 Highline T32, and has an Exploria conversion which includes a Reimo pop-top and a 60 ltr water tank which is mounted underneath, pretty much in line with the rear wheels. It's also got a pair of leisure batteries, which Exploria hide neatly under the units, just in front of the rear wheels on the drivers side. We had it lowered 40 mm on H&R springs during conversion, but it's still on standard wheels and tyres (and is likely to remain so).

We've added a specialist roof rack to carry a couple of f/glass sea kayaks, so there's a fair bit of weight up top when they're on board. This was added some weeks after we got the van, and I honestly can't say I notice any difference in handling since it was added. Adding the boats puts another 50 kgs up there, but even then it's barely noticeable.

We wanted the 204 engine to give a reasonable level of oomph on long, fast A road journeys and this also means the thing has to have decent road manners as neither of us are inclined to dawdle. While not in the same league as a car, we find it's got more than acceptable road holding and even fully loaded can be hustled along without concerns. I guess this is to some extent down to having been lowered. But for what is after all essentially a commercial van, we're pretty pleased with the outcome.