Quick couple of questions…
Is fitting draw beam to a 7.5 ton truck a notifiable alteration.
Does it have to be an approved kit. The trailers only 5 ton all up. We’ve done all the fabrication, pipe work and electrics but now realise it may all be of no use if its a notifiable alteration 
Any thoughts would be gratefully appreciated.
It must be a good 7.5 tonner ,I don’t recall seeing any that were plated for more than a 3.5 tonne trailer .
cheers
Im looking to take the 5th wheel off and down plate my fl6 urban artic. Ive got all my Artic license so I dont have a license issue. Trying to avoid using a tacho if unladen. Its for private use to tow my boat.
Steve
not sure if down rating the unit will help as when you add the trailer that increases the train weight back up which will put you back into the tacho band as the combination is over 7.5tonne. which is the limit whether for private use or not.
yeeup, happy with the idea that when I use it empty I’m off the hook. That as soon as Im over 7.5T I’ve got to use the tacho and have with me my
last 28 days work and tacho hours. Its the best I can get.’
What I need to know is if fitting a drawbeam is a notifiable alteration ?
cheers , Steve
Go along to your nearest authorised testing station and explain very briefly what you want to/have do/ne. Get the phone number for the Technical office which I think is in Bristol, they will give you chapter and verse. From what you have said, my immediate impression is that as some air brake work has been done it would be classed as notifiable, but it depends on what you have actually done. An increase in GCW would also be notifiable and I would assume since this is achieved by the chassis alteration of adding a drawbeam crossmember, that would be notifiable because you will be altering the ‘body code’.
The manufacturer will have published a technical drawing for the design of a drawbeam cross member. The brake system plumbing diagram may look similar, but the actual valves are quite likely to be different.
Should tell you on the plate the maximum train weight.
On most seven and a half ton trucks its eleven thousand kilos gross.
Ok ,
Its quite clear now you’ve explained it that I have to use their design or get mine drawn up, submitted and see if its approvable.
Again as the brake pipework has changed it has to be submitted for clarification.
Re reading this there is something not ringing quite right here. Are we talking about two different core vehicles?
A 7.5 tonne truck from the original query will have a GVW of 7.5t and if suitable on the manufacturer’s plate a GCW of usually no more than 11tonnes.
An FL6 urban artic will have a plated GCW of somewhere between 17 and 26 tonnes, I would assume its GVW to be around 9 tonnes, although I suppose it could be less than that.
A 5 tonne trailer behind a towing vehicle with a running rear axle weight of probably 1.5 tonne sounds lethal to me. The tractor will need to carry substantial ballast, which will mess up your tacho plans. Whether they stack up is another matter.
Speak to Vosa, or at least a chassis converter.
Haven driven fl6 urban artics regular, would it not be alot quicker an therfore easier to sail the boat there 
Might run out of hours !
I took it to the weighbridge today and it weighed in at 4360KG with 1/4 of a tank. It was a hairy drive with no ballast or 5th wheel on the back. It would be lethal with a draw bar trailer.
I spoke with VOSA who said if I do away with the 5th wheel it becomes a motor tractor and it becomes beyond their remit.
No Plating, No MOT testing and no notifiable alterations. But musn’t exceed 45MPH.
I also spoke with them about driver hours and if I’M not driving commercially then the tacho doesn’t apply to me either.
So the concrete ballast weight I added and got told to remove at the test, I now can refit.
So tomorrow we have to fill in V112G for tax exemption and get our road tax from which point we can start putting together the outift.
cheers
steve