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[Entwood]

I'm trying to help someone out who has a problem with the weight of a caravan... It's been weighed 3 times at 3 different places.. once by the dealer, once by the manufacturer and once he paid for it... all 3 weights are different.. by quite an amount - and spookily the one he paid for comes out the lightest !!

Been "googling" like mad but cannot find out what the "tolerances" are on public weighbridges ... rumours abound in forums of +/- 50 kgs or +/- 5% but nothing factual... 

As some of you guys regularly "weigh in"  stuff of around 1700 kgs .. can anyone shed any light on the actual tolerances .. common sense says a facility that can weigh up to 40 tonnes won't weigh 1700 kgs to the nearest kilo !!!

[PhilRich]

I found this Mr. Entwood, it seems to bear out your findings!


http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=what%20weight%20tolerances%20do%20weighbridges%20have&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&ved=0CE0QFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ukwf.org.uk%2Fiqs%2Fdbitemid.267%2Fsfa.view%2Frp.3%2FIndustry_news.html&ei=IX2_UbyUJcbN0QWn6YGIDA&usg=AFQjCNHOBV42OYQMNdxd5WfqSJqDaoPm3w

[Taxi_Driver]

Easy answer Mr E .....don't know....

But why the weight of the caravan is important? .....ok i know within limits of the tow car....but if the limit of the tow car is say 1700kg and the van weighs 1600 or 1800kgs....will that make a difference??? unless perhaps your friend has been pulled by the old bill....and taken to a weighbridge and told he's pulling overweight??? and facing a fine for it??

[PhilRich]

Found this also. Post no.5 elaborates

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=what%20are%20the%20legal%20tolerances%20for%20weighbridges%20in%20the%20uk&source=web&cd=9&cad=rja&ved=0CHUQFjAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.caravantalk.co.uk%2Fcommunity%2Ftopic%2F50627-maximum-weight-tolerances%2F&ei=tH-_UYbuIqPB0QWd-4DICg&usg=AFQjCNGVrpX2rtgKbu-r5OY_3h2EDCYxHA

[Entwood]

Easy answer Mr E .....don't know....

But why the weight of the caravan is important? .....ok i know within limits of the tow car....but if the limit of the tow car is say 1700kg and the van weighs 1600 or 1800kgs....will that make a difference??? unless perhaps your friend has been pulled by the old bill....and taken to a weighbridge and told he's pulling overweight??? and facing a fine for it??

His new van, less than 6 months old has a crack in the skin ... warranty has been refused as the manufacturer reckons it has been used "overweight" ...  manufacturers weighing it was over by 97 Kgs, dealers weighing it was over by 15 kgs ... his weighing it was under by 25 kilos ... so on a 1700 kg van the weights vary by 122 kgs top to bottom ..   which is a 7% variance. ....

I'm helping him write a letter which may end up being the basis of a claim in Court under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 - unfit for the purpose for which sold - so I need to get definitive facts, not forum rumours.

I'll be phoning the weighbridge companies involved tomorrow, just wanted some "ammunition" before hand ..

[Entwood]

Found this also. Post no.5 elaborates

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=what%20are%20the%20legal%20tolerances%20for%20weighbridges%20in%20the%20uk&source=web&cd=9&cad=rja&ved=0CHUQFjAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.caravantalk.co.uk%2Fcommunity%2Ftopic%2F50627-maximum-weight-tolerances%2F&ei=tH-_UYbuIqPB0QWd-4DICg&usg=AFQjCNGVrpX2rtgKbu-r5OY_3h2EDCYxHA

Interesting .. that is a very high degree of accuracy on 40 tonnes !! 0.1% !!!!! Further down the thread it talks about 5% .... 

[Kevin Wood]

If you can find a place that sets up race cars you'll find they've got a set of "corner weight" scales. One pad under each corner of the car.

If you catch them at a slack time and offer a few beer tokens they might be persuaded to measure it, and it'll be a lot more accurate than a public weighbridge.

This is the type of kit...

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorsport/corner-weight-scales/intercomp-professional-model-wireless-computer-scales

[05omegav6]

Could a VOSA testing site be any use? The ones you might take a bus or truck to for an MoT rather than the roadside ones

[Kevin Wood]

Could a VOSA testing site be any use? The ones you might take a bus or truck to for an MoT rather than the roadside ones

The stations that do IVA testing will have corner weight scales as the result is required to calculate the brake bias.

They are the worst type of jobsworth you will ever imagine, though, so can't see them breaking them out in the car park for a bit of beer money.

[05omegav6]

True, but if an accurate check is needed

[hotel21]

I would contact local trading standards.

When I was in the business of nicking overweights we had to use bridges that were withing TS certification. If it was out (6/12 month certs, can't recall for sure ) then it could not be used.

Also recall (its over 6years since my last shift remember!) if overweight was within 5% it was a warning and allowed to proceed, 5 - 10 a booking but allowed to proceed and over 10% nicked and prohibited.

Given the last para that may have been to encompass variances between bridges?  Would still be checking local TS, especially if they are public bridges.

[mantahatch]

I take scrap to a yard a couple of times a year. Ypu park on weighbridge fully loaded then drive off and unload. Then go back on weigh bridge and unit is weighed. If slightly out it wont really matter asthe delta will be correct.

Not much help from me I am afraid. But I wonder if the scrap yard ones are more or less accurate than anyone elses  I mean if the sellersthink they are being ripped off I would imagine there would be quite a lot of trouble. The place seems to attract people with a certain "traits" or at least the one I use does 

[Taxi_Driver]

Hmmm..... i wonder if it varies because of when the weighbridge was last calibrated....if at all....i know of a MOT test station whose headlamp aim equipment is wildly inaccurate but until he gets an inspection from VOSO gets away with it......and he's been told by other MOT stations that its inaccurate but doesnt do anything about it.....perhaps same attitude......

[YZ250]

Can't help with the weigh-bridge issue Nige but just wondering what drew the dealers attention to the weight. I had the rear panel replaced under warranty on my Bailey, when it was five years old, and they never mentioned weights. Similar with the front on our previous Swift as well. I always remove most of the items when I take it to the dealers anyway. 
Just curious really as my warranty claim has been honoured each time. 
Is the chassis 'plate weight' that tight a tolerance as I'd have thought that they would have aired on the cautious side. 

Sorry I can't be of more help. Question for the Caravan Club maybe, a bit of publicity may swing the scales so to speak. No pun intended.

Regards
Alan

[Kevin Wood]

I would contact local trading standards.

When I was in the business of nicking overweights we had to use bridges that were withing TS certification. If it was out (6/12 month certs, can't recall for sure ) then it could not be used.

Also recall (its over 6years since my last shift remember!) if overweight was within 5% it was a warning and allowed to proceed, 5 - 10 a booking but allowed to proceed and over 10% nicked and prohibited.

Given the last para that may have been to encompass variances between bridges?  Would still be checking local TS, especially if they are public bridges.

I guess if you ask trading standards for the most local certified weighbridge, take it there and it's within tolerances it will stand up better in a legal dispute than the manufacturer's figure which may or may not be from a weighbridge calibrated to traceable standards.

I can understand that there might be pressure on manufacturers to plate caravans pretty close to the empty weight. The higher they are plated the fewer vehicles can tow it, but are they really arguing that less than 100kg makes the difference between a legal towing weight and structural damage, on 1700kg of van? Strikes me that you could find an expert witness who'd debunk that pretty quickly!