Down Rating a Vans plated weight

[BigSeabass]

Currently i drive a 3.5 ton Merc Sprinter. For the type of work i do which is landscaping and digger driving it would be very handy to own a vehicle which is capable of carrying more weight. Running a vehicle with a plated weight of 7 tons would be ideal for me. However in order to own a vehicle which is over 3.5 tons i would need to have an 'operators licence' and keep said vehicle at a different location to my home address which is both costly and impractical for me.

My question is can i down rate a 7 ton iveco daily to 3.5 tons and still keep it mechanically the same and therefore keep it at my home address?

Are there any other implications to doing this?

[shakotan]

BigSeabass said:

My question is can i down rate a 7 ton iveco daily to 3.5 tons and still keep it mechanically the same and therefore keep it at my home address?

No.

[BigSeabass]

Thanks for reply.

Is there any reason?

I have seen plenty of 5 ton vans down rated?

[Chris32345]

If you down rate it to 3 tone surly it defeats the purpose of getting a larger innings the first place

[lufbramatt]

Presumably an empty 7 tonner will weigh more than an empty 3.5 tonner so the payload will be less* if they are both plated to 3.5t.

• legally ;-)

[scorcher]

lufbramatt said:

Presumably an empty 7 tonner will weigh more than an empty 3.5 tonner so the payload will be less* if they are both plated to 3.5t.

• legally ;-)

Indeed. Don't Mercedes do an uprated towing package to increase towing capacity to 3.5 tons. Dunno what the GTW is after but got to be 6000 Kgs +

[daydotz]

It will have tougher springs & brakes to cope with the increase payload if you down plate it your gaining no extra payload

[powerstroke]

BigSeabass said:

Thanks for reply.

Is there any reason?

I have seen plenty of 5 ton vans down rated?

Yes if you down rate to 3.5 tons thats what the van with you and the load can legally weigh any more and
you would be invalidating your insurance and liable to prosecution for overloading regardless of the technical ability
to carry more ,
the only way you will legally carry more than about 1.5 tons is with a trailer ,and that depends on the train weight
of the towing vehicle so say your van has a train weight of 6 tonnes a MWB sprinter would be about 2 tones empty you might be able to carry about a ton in the van and say a ifor Williams digger trailer weighs 800kg you should be just about ok with a 1.5 ton mini digger and buckets..
The other way is an empty 4x4 pick up could tow 3.5 tons so you could carry 2.5 tons on say an ifor 14 ft flat trailer ..

[shovelheadrob]

As said down rating won't achieve anything helpful, SV Tech can do it but your payload will be miniscule. The rules seem very unfair to one man band type firms, a friend of mine ended up selling his 2 car transporter & going back to a pick up & trailer due to the hassle of the operators licence & all the checks.

[iguana]

Can't understand what you are trying to achieve? Over weight with a 3.5t already, so you want to get a heavier vehicle then down rate so you end up with with less payload?

My 6.5t iveco box is 3.8t unladen BTW.

However-

You can run a 3.5t & trailer with no O licence if it's for own account use & with the right van that will give you your 7t train weight, with thus upto over 4t load capacity van & trailer dependant, but some vans are only 5.5t 6t & 6.5t train however.

Will need a tacho although, is the 100km from base regs that may apply to you.


https://www.gov.uk/being-a-goods-vehicle-operator

=

"You don’t need an operator’s licence if your trailer’s unladen weight is less than 1,020 kg and you only carry your own goods"

And

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/drivers-hours-goods-ve...

=

Vehicles or combinations of vehicles with a maximum permissible mass not exceeding 7.5 tonnes that are used for carrying materials, equipment or machinery for the driver’s use in the course of their work and which are used only within a 100 km radius from the base of the undertaking and on the condition that driving the vehicle does not constitute the driver’s main activity.

This would apply to tradesmen such as electricians or builders carrying tools or materials for their own use.

[Ilovejapcrap]

My dad has an operating license and keeps at home address, why can’t you ?

[Yazza54]

Thought I would bump this rather than a new thread

I am looking at potentially buying an iveco 65c18 ex snap on van because I reckon I could fit my race car inside it which only weighs 470kg.

So as the name suggests the van is a 6.5 tonne vehicle..

Am I correct in saying my two options of running this thing are:

A - do my C1 licence and that's that? Anything more involved than that? I read on this thread something to do with not being able to keep it at home..? Would I need an operators license as this sounds like a extra ballache I could do without... I'm a bit confused by this one as it sounds like it's only for goods vehicles but that's not what I want to use it for.

B - get it down plated, so long as I never load it up more than 3.5t gross weight and I can drive it on my normal licence?

I am looking at using it for a very specific purpose and have no interest in lugging around any more weight than that.

Would it help if I turned it into a camper/race transport vehicle?

This is a bit of uncharted territory for me and I just want to make sure I'm not about to drop a massive clanger so any advice would be appreciated.

Edited by Yazza54 on Saturday 31st October 10:24

[powerstroke]

Yazza54 said:

Thought I would bump this rather than a new thread

I am looking at potentially buying an iveco 65c18 ex snap on van because I reckon I could fit my race car inside it which only weighs 470kg.

So as the name suggests the van is a 6.5 tonne vehicle..

Am I correct in saying my two options of running this thing are:

A - do my C1 licence and that's that? Anything more involved than that? I read on this thread something to do with not being able to keep it at home..? Would I need an operators license as this sounds like a extra ballache I could do without... I'm a bit confused by this one as it sounds like it's only for goods vehicles but that's not what I want to use it for.

B - get it down plated, so long as I never load it up more than 3.5t gross weight and I can drive it on my normal licence?

I am looking at using it for a very specific purpose and have no interest in lugging around any more weight than that.

Would it help if I turned it into a camper/race transport vehicle?

This is a bit of uncharted territory for me and I just want to make sure I'm not about to drop a massive clanger so any advice would be appreciated.

Edited by Yazza54 on Saturday 31st October 10:24

First thing to do is find out it's unladen weight , I doubt it will be less than 3000 kgs which you would need it to be .. otherwise you need C on your licence , you don't need an O licence or
worry about where its kept if you have somewhere that won't create a nuisance ..
assuming you are doing this for pleasure it would be classed as private HGV not for hire or reward ..

[agent006]

Yazza54 said:

A - do my C1 licence and that's that?

Pretty much. Though I'd check how much extra it is to do a full C licence instead. It was only £200 extra (800 vs 1000) when I did mine a few years back and it's a lot more useful having C than C1.

[Yazza54]

Thanks guys, so even if I don't down plate it it's not THAT involved, just a case of doing a test ... It's something that would be good to have anyway I guess

[Nickyboy]

The basic 65c18 unladen weight is 2860kg but that's the panel van, Snap On has custom bodywork which adds a lot more weight so you're going to be very close to or over 3.5t before you add a car, passengers and fuel. You won't need an operators licence, CPC or use the tachograph if you are only using it for private use and not Hire or Reward

[FionaLouise]

@Yazza54 I have purchased a IVECO 65C18. Did you get the one you were looking at? Id love to chat about what you are doing with the conversion. Mine is only 4.2T when I had it weighed and as it has a disabled access lift I can drive it on a regular license.
https://www.gov.uk/driving-a-minibus

[Yazza54]

FionaLouise said:

@Yazza54 I have purchased a IVECO 65C18. Did you get the one you were looking at? Id love to chat about what you are doing with the conversion. Mine is only 4.2T when I had it weighed and as it has a disabled access lift I can drive it on a regular license.
https://www.gov.uk/driving-a-minibus

Hi

Yes I did purchase it, just in the middle of a house move and then I can crack on with getting it home and getting it ready. I'm not going mad with it as it's already well equipped to take a car in the back. Don't want to turn it into a full blown motorhome.

That's interesting about the lift... Maybe I can say my tail lift is a disabled access lift??

4.2t isn't so bad but I think a normal licence is limited to 3.5t, and I was born after the cut off point so I don't have any grandfather rights to drive up to 7.5t

[powerstroke]

FionaLouise said:

@Yazza54 I have purchased a IVECO 65C18. Did you get the one you were looking at? Id love to chat about what you are doing with the conversion. Mine is only 4.2T when I had it weighed and as it has a disabled access lift I can drive it on a regular license.
https://www.gov.uk/driving-a-minibus

Depends on the plated weights Not what it actually
Weighs or the technical weights on the manufacturers
Chassis plate , oh and yes an adaptation for disabled
Passengers is ok until it’s no longer a mini bus for
Transporting disabled passengers!! Then your license
Needs to be C or passed before 1997 ..