Carrying a Jet Ski & Quad Bike on back of Sprinter!

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I am about to pickup a 65 plate XLWB sprinter in the next week or so with the idea of converting to a camper to tour all around Europe. I have a number of abstract and maybe slightly unrealistic things to ask!

Firstly I love jet-skiing and wakeboarding and would love to take it along with me, but with the van already at 7m long and my trailer being 4.5m it would make the full rig 11.5m and not ideal for travelling around, parking up etc. My friend has a tail lift on his sprinter for work capable of lifting 500kg. If I was to get one of these second hand, and modify it to carry the jet ski sideways, with a trailer board on the back would this be breaking any laws?

Very similar to a big artic carrying a forklift on the back. The jet ski is a seadoo spark and weighs 160kg. It is longer than the van is wide and would overhand by about 200mm either side but probably no more than the wing mirrors. Securing the jetski to the tail lift, and getting on and off wont be an issue. My main questions are

  • Would the tail-lift take 160kg bouncing around on it? It is only a fraction of its rating but understandably this is lifting briefly whilst stationary not constantly.
  • Any laws that would prohibit this?
  • Can the van handle 160KG hanging off the back?
  • What weight can I put at the back of the van?

My second part of the question is

I want to take a road legal quad along in the “garage” area of the conversion. For going around the cities easily, for pulling the jet ski up and down the ramps or beach, and as our vehicle we will use when the van is too big.

The quad weighs 280kg.

Is it unrealistic to want to put 160KG jetski hanging off the back tail lift, and 280KG quad all behind the back axel?

I would keep all the water tanks, grey water, and roof equipment to the front of the vehicle and the only only thing behind the back axel would be the bed above the “garage”. It would be ideal to take both quad and jet ski without towing a trailer, but I want to make sure it is legal or possible.

Also to consider is the weight of the lift. When the jet ski isn’t used the tai-lift would just lift up. The tailift would be modified to only come away from the van by 1.1m (width of ski).

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Greetings & Welcome!

Interesting problem, I think I’d rather tow a trailer with the jet ski & quad in it…

Cheers!

"Beat Murphy's Law with a KISS! (Keep It Stupidly Simple)" ~ Van_Dweller


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Driving with the jetski on the lift could decapitate someone who crashes the rear of the van. In addition it might block rear lights, depends how they are set up.At least two reasons I can think about right now why it would not be a good idea.

You should take a look at US toy haulers and if you could replicate the functionality in a van. For some reason they haven’t gained traction here in EU.

Really the smartest move in my opinion would be a shorter van and a trailer that can take both the quad and jetski sideways so it does not have to be so long. As a plus side you don’t have to smell engine oil and gasoline while sleeping.

Show this video to your favorite welder :slight_smile: It shouldn’t take too long to figure out how to gut and rebuild some old trailer to allow side loading. Make sure the trailer uses same wheels as your van, so you are always carrying at least two spares.

Also a two story option…

This is a neat idea.

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