Can i put a 400 litre tank in a van with max payload of 600 kg

[spruce]

In the early days (2000 to 2003) Citroën excluded 75kgs from the payload of their Berlingo 600 and 800kg vans. The facelift version added extra body weight. The 600kg Berlingo still retained its 600kg payload, but things got confusing with the 800 as that was derated to a payload of 788kgs. We never got clarification from Citroën about their new driver's weight allowance.

On the next version of the Berlingo and Partner, PSA reduced the driver's weight allowance to 50kgs.

The driver's weight allowance and vehicle fluids were the only exclusion to the van's payload figures when I was in the trade. Everything else, fuel, all additional accessories and anything over the driver's weight allowance had to be taken from the payload figures. (If the driver weighs 100kgs and the allowance is 50kgs, then the extra 50kgs is taken from the payload.)

My son has a 2002 Berlingo 2.0hdi 800kg van. We fitted a 500 litre tank. At 500 litres full, his weight, leisure battery, pole, stepladders and hose reel, he is very close to maximum payload. If I get into the passenger seat, he will become overloaded.

 

[Iron Giant]

You got there before I did @Iron Giant

I might have just been up a tad earlier than your good self

 

[WindyinNorfolk]

My vans are filled up at the end of the day - so far so good no issues after 6 years

 

[dazmond]

Best to make it the first part of your day because leaving a van fully loaded overnight isn't always advisable, but it's entirely up to you

Personally I think this is BS.ive always filled up the night before.i couldn't be arsed to do it in the morning.i just get in my van and drive to my first job.ive never had suspension or spring problems from leaving my van on the drive with a full tank of water!sometimes I've left it for 2 weeks when away on holiday!

 

[Master Jedi Alejandro]

Let's face it. The quality of springs made these days is very poor when compared to 50 or 60 years ago.

I don’t know if it’s the quality of the springs have dropped but rather the quality of our roads. At this point it’s like a third world country out there.

 

[Iron Giant]

Personally I think this is BS.ive always filled up the night before.i couldn't be arsed to do it in the morning.i just get in my van and drive to my first job.ive never had suspension or spring problems from leaving my van on the drive with a full tank of water!sometimes I've left it for 2 weeks when away on holiday!

Your van must have better springs than my previous van then because I replaced all the springs on mine over time plus arm ball joints etc, it was a 64-plate and had around 75k on the clock when I sold it

 

[spruce]

I don’t know if it’s the quality of the springs have dropped but rather the quality of our roads. At this point it’s like a third world country out there.

From experience, we travelled some really bad dirt roads in central Africa, full of corrugations and potholes that we classed as bone shakers. We never heard of failed springs in the 1950's and 1960's.
Our local motor factors showed me a long shelf which had just replacement springs on them. He said that he never sold replacement springs 20 to 30 years ago.
Our Citroen Xsara goes through front springs. I've lost count how many I've replaced. Same with the previous Xsara we had. And yes, each spring replacement included the replacement of the top strut bearing.

 

[Master Jedi Alejandro]

From experience, we travelled some really bad dirt roads in central Africa, full of corrugations and potholes that we classed as bone shakers. We never heard of failed springs in the 1950's and 1960's.
Our local motor factors showed me a long shelf which had just replacement springs on them. He said that he never sold replacement springs 20 to 30 years ago.
Our Citroen Xsara goes through front springs. I've lost count how many I've replaced. Same with the previous Xsara we had. And yes, each spring replacement included the replacement of the top strut bearing.

Oww fair enough then! My local mechanic told me 10 years ago it was all engine, electronics that he worked on. Now days it’s all suspension!

 

[spruce]

Personally I think this is BS.ive always filled up the night before.i couldn't be arsed to do it in the morning.i just get in my van and drive to my first job.ive never had suspension or spring problems from leaving my van on the drive with a full tank of water!sometimes I've left it for 2 weeks when away on holiday!

Please don't take offence daz.

My impression of you over the years is that you are a very black and white guy.
Everything is white until it fails or breaks. It then becomes black. Very little grey area. My wife is the same.

If you had to look at my van from a distance before I changed the springs, it looked normal. It's only when I took a closer look of what was happening to the mono leaf spring under load that I recognised an issue.

I'm not saying there is a problem with your van's springs. It could be that ford uses a better spring manufacturer than fiat does. However, ford transits have the same spring issue as the others when it comes to the long wheel base used as a motor home with continual weight on the back axle.

Fiat do supply a 3500 van with heavy duty springs as an optional extra. But it costs more. It would appear that most MH converters choose the standard duty van and leave the spring issue with the purchaser to sort out a few years later down the line.

Before our Citroen Xsara went in for it's mot a year ago, I did a thorough inspection of it. I noticed the offside front spring was fully compressed but not broken. I sent it in for MOT and it passed. I couple of days later the spring broke. If you looked at the car with the compressed spring, you wouldn't have been able to tell there was an issue.

We have a couple of new lwb Citroen Relay vans delivering parcels in our area. The last one I saw the other day was a 24 plate. It had heavy duty springs fitted to the rear. So whoever that van belonged to (the van was unlettered,) recognised the fact that the single rear spring upgrade was worth the extra cost. You can tell the upgraded springs are fitted as the van looks like the A Team van did.

My van is well within it's payload capacity. When I fill the tank now, the back only drops by a couple of millimetres.

My van runs downhill all the time now, but it hasn't improved my fuel consumption.

 

[dazmond]

I bet most window cleaners don't fill up their vans in the morning and I certainly wouldn't because I was worried about breaking springs on the van...the real issue is often wrong size tank for the payload

Fitting a 500l tank is probably not wise in a van with a payload of less than 900kg IMO