Thread: Towbar Height

Garry gets it!

Garry - good to see that dead horse you spoke about earlier sprang back to life for you. ....


As I have said previously it's not up to LR to determine what is deemed in a legal sense as being off road in Australia or not and where the road laws apply or don't.
That is the responsibility of the relevant government in that jurisdiction to write the applicable laws, then the police to enforce them and the courts to determine if the police got it right and if there is a penalty or not.

And Terry is right too.. But missing the context between the 2 I think.

Now combine our laws (which state towing limits are as specified by manufacturer) and then the specified limits by LR and you arrive at 3500kg on road and 1000kg off road as specified (and therefore subject to government laws)

What we are trying to then uncover is: if pretty much all roads, tracks and beaches are gazetted then how does this apply?

Does offroad mean crown land that isn't mapped with official roads?

As stated, on private land the game changes...

So what is the LR definition? If it's for warranty purposes or structural purposes what should we be aware of?

Offroad to me is low range.

I guess we all have different definitions.

Brett....

I'm not missing anything, the discussion started off about whether Barry's statement about it being illegal tow a 1000 kg off road is correct or not. I then asked for proof to back up the comment, which to date has not been forth coming apart from various opinions. Other discussions about warranties etc are a side bar.

Doing something that voids a warranty does not mean it is illegal, breaking the road laws is, where in the road laws does it say its illegal to tow a trailer off road that weighs more than a 1000 kg with your D3/4? If there is written actual proof, not bush lawyer opinion, that it is breaking the law then I will gladly accept it.

And I'm sure a number of others who tow off road camper trailers (with over ride brakes) that weigh more than 1000 kg with their D3/4 would also like to know if they are breaking the law, which also includes Barry with his camper that he tows off road. I tow a caravan off road which has electric breaks so according to the LR hand book, it doesn't apply if you take the document literally.

Originally Posted by Tombie

If it's for warranty purposes..

Either that or so that LR can better distance themselves if something goes awry, blaming the driver for not staying within LR's constraints.

It's also a potential out for an insurer.

Originally Posted by Epic pooh

It's also a potential out for an insurer.

Agree... Hypothetically:

If towing on an "offroad" (let's say Anne Beadell) gazetted highway with over 1,000kg on the back and you hit a wash out and the chassis suffered damage I suggest it could get rather interesting...

Legal minds would need to muse on that one, and I bet any manufacturer has deeper pockets for their legal team than I do...