Where to find Chassis plate and Axle weights?

[doddiebaird]

I have recently transferred my Bongo 2.5 4WD AFT to The Rep of Ireland and they have just introduced a MOT style test for campervans. My van sailed through except the tester could not find the Chassis plate with the axle weights on it. This meant fail. Could someone please shed some light as to where it is and also what the axle weights are?? Also, if anyone has any good tips for any specialist Bongo mechanics in ROI then I would be grateful to hear of them.

Thanks guys.

[mikeWalsall]

The VIN 'plate' is a 'sticker' on the door jam ...



On mine there is no mention of vehicle weight .. so this info is from the handbook ..

[helen&tony]

Hi
VIN plates are on the "B" pillars (rear of door opening on body) passenger side...As there is not so much of a problem with vehicle theft in Japan, they are "stickers", and a pop-riveted plate...if you need a stamping with an ID number on , then it's under the plastic lip in front of the windscreen wipers in the rain channel at the rear of the bonnet...driver's side.
As the Bongo isn't a caravan / camper, then it doesn't have axle weight in the same way as a caravan on the VIN plate.
Further information is in the maker's handbook. This worked for me when registering the car here, as the stamping, plus the plate were accepted, as Japanese riveted plates are inadequate.
The information on weights and power output etc. contained in the manual are sufficient, as it was a scrape without, as I managed to find a real "jobsworth", who fortunately didn't want to get dirty when it came to finding the engine number
Remember , that in Europe you may be required to find a conversion into Kilowatts for engine power...Japanese PS is the old German for Horsepower, and it's easy to find a conversion table to show them.
Any further info. PM me and I'll do my best!
Cheers
Helen

[g8dhe]

Allans has some spec info here; http://allansvehicleservices.co.uk/32132.html

[teenmal]

Hi,

The Mass in Service weight shoud be stated in the vehicles V5C Registration Document.

Cheers,

[doddiebaird]

Thanks for the replies guys. According to the guys over here in Ireland I have to provide axle weights for the vehicle, not just kerb weight or gross vehicle mass. It is a new test for campers that has been introduced and as they know nothing about bongos they are not willing too budge. If there isn't a way round this it looks like I may have to get rid of my baby which doesn't bear thinking about!!!

[g8dhe]

Take it to a weighbridge and give them the accurate figures for your vehicle ?

[Ian]

Take it to a weighbridge and give them the accurate figures for your vehicle ?

I don't think it is quite as straightforward as that. The axle weight is calculated by taking the Gross Vehicle Weight (ie max weight the vehicle can carry including cargo & passengers) and dividing by the number of axles. But if (as happens with the Bongo) there is an uneven distribution of weight over the available axles because of a heavy rear kitchen unit, then it may not be possible to calculate the exact axle weight. You also have to take in to account that the front axle takes most of the load for the weight of the engine. Japanese grey-imports are not required to have official axle weights.

What I would do is quote them the GVW of your vehicle (which is 2360 kg), divide by 2, and tell them that's what the owner's club have told you to use. Let us know how you get on.