Towing Weights

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Originally Posted by BobD

The sum of the axle loads with 350 kg added is 2940 which is less than the 3000 kg you said the vehicle on its own weighs. Something wrong if that is what you meant or is vehicle alone including the 350 kg ball weight? Even then it weighs more than the sum of the axles.

Mine weighed 2740 with no people and about half a tank of fuel so I don't see how yours can be so light with 350 kg added and full tanks with your wife inside.

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Some of the weights are calculated & some were directly measured in a weighbridge, so I expected some measurement & rounding errors. Weighbridges like to have an even load & I put the front axle on one end only. Granted, a proper set of axle scales would be the most accurate but I was checking car & van GCM, van ATM etc. I'm happy for an error of ~60kg on 2940kg, it's a shade over 2%.
Here's what was weighed & in what order:
Front axle
Disco & van (hitched)
Rear axle & van (hitched)
Van only (hitched)
Van unhitched
Old mate on the bridge recorded the results & did the calcs.
The vehicle weighed 3000kg on its own (calculated from Disco & van minus van (unhitched)). I've seen it on a couple of dump weighbridges with an empty light box trailer at about 3.2t so it makes sense.
Is that a bit clearer?

We used to have free accses to the town CBH weighbridge.It was always left on and there is a "peephole" in the shed to see the scales readout.Before my Xmas trip I rocked up to check my weights with the camper trailer packed ready to go.It was off[bigsad][bigsad][bigsad][bigsad][bigsad][bigsad]
Andrew

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Originally Posted by LandyAndy

We used to have free accses to the town CBH weighbridge.It was always left on and there is a "peephole" in the shed to see the scales readout.Before my Xmas trip I rocked up to check my weights with the camper trailer packed ready to go.It was off[bigsad][bigsad][bigsad][bigsad][bigsad][bigsad]
Andrew

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Good luck to you if you can get it for free. That little lot above cost $45. Still worth the money though.

Pretty sure we can use the new CBH facilities just out of town for free,problem is you have to line up with the roadtrains carting grain in or out.Its a busy place,the main recieval point for 200km radius,theyre not receiving at the moment but just as busy carting out to port/customers.
Andrew

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Originally Posted by mr_squiggle

Some of the weights are calculated & some were directly measured in a weighbridge, so I expected some measurement & rounding errors. Weighbridges like to have an even load & I put the front axle on one end only. Granted, a proper set of axle scales would be the most accurate but I was checking car & van GCM, van ATM etc. I'm happy for an error of ~60kg on 2940kg, it's a shade over 2%.
Here's what was weighed & in what order:
Front axle
Disco & van (hitched)
Rear axle & van (hitched)
Van only (hitched)
Van unhitched
Old mate on the bridge recorded the results & did the calcs.
The vehicle weighed 3000kg on its own (calculated from Disco & van minus van (unhitched)). I've seen it on a couple of dump weighbridges with an empty light box trailer at about 3.2t so it makes sense.
Is that a bit clearer?

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So, the car weighs 2940kg with 340kg draw bar load included and 3000kg with no drawer bar load, assuming the front axle was weighed with the caravan attached (which you didn't specify). If the front axle was weighed with the van unhitched it will be reduced by a hundred kg or more with the van hitched, which makes the discrepancy even greater than the 400kg above. Do you see the problem? At best the car should weigh 3340kg with a 340kg draw bar load added to the unhitched weight of 3000kg.

I think the 3000kg includes the trailer tow bar weight and is not the weight of the car alone. Otherwise your car is way over weight if the 340kg draw bar load is added to the unhitched car weight.

My point was not that the 3000kg is too light but that the sum of the axles is way too light if the 3000kg does not include the draw bar weight.

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Originally Posted by BobD

So, the car weighs 2940kg with 340kg draw bar load included and 3000kg with no drawer bar load, assuming the front axle was weighed with the caravan attached (which you didn't specify). If the front axle was weighed with the van unhitched it will be reduced by a hundred kg or more with the van hitched, which makes the discrepancy even greater than the 400kg above. Do you see the problem? At best the car should weigh 3340kg with a 340kg draw bar load added to the unhitched weight of 3000kg.

I think the 3000kg includes the trailer tow bar weight and is not the weight of the car alone. Otherwise your car is way over weight if the 340kg draw bar load is added to the unhitched car weight.

My point was not that the 3000kg is too light but that the sum of the axles is way too light if the 3000kg does not include the draw bar weight.

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I hear what you are saying, but maybe I didn't explain it well. We're miles off topic here so if you want more info send me a PM.

Narrowed the field down today.
A slide is now on the must have list,the vans are much roomier.
Avida comes up as a favorite again.They are in the sub 3000kg area with 500kg to spare.After Avida,Coromal Princetown was next,although I didn't like its independent leaf spring suspension.There wasn't a spare salesperson at that time to see if there is a coil alternative.Got a brochure to read later.
Had a discussion with another salesman about weights.He had a 2850kg off-road style van that barely had 400kg spare,fill the water up 200kg spare.I asked if I could order the same van with a 3500kg GCM after he told me it had 3500kg suspension.NOPE,but they can supply the paperwork to get it engineered to 3500kg.Asked why they don't sell a 3500kg version,nobody would buy one as there aren't many vehicles that can tow a 3500kg van.I walked!!!!
Andrew

I think the salesman might be more right than not , when you take any vehicle,s GCM into consideration i am not sure if there is anything that really can tow 3500Kg with any sort of a load .

In the grand scheme there's about 4 (excluding F trucks and the like)..

LC, Disco, Defender and some Patrols.

Not a single DC ute can be at 3,500kg and be useable.

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Originally Posted by Fatso

I think the salesman might be right than not , when you take any vehicle,s GCM into consideration i am not sure if there is anything that really can tow 3500Kg with any sort of a load .

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Very true, but if you have a D4(or Cruiser) they will be the best, as you can load them both to their max GVM and still tow 3500kg legally.