Thread: Towing Weights

No worse than people demanding "tonnes of cupboard space" when the reality is 200kg of stuff and you're done...

You guys hit the nail on the head with the water and cupboards.
Hence my question,if its a 3000kg van,whats involved it specing it to 3500kg to cover carrying gear????
Need to know before I hear a salesmans answer to my same question!!!!
Andrew

You will have to buy it first!!

seriously,,

If I get that sort of reply I will be very rude and loud!!!!
Not going to spend 80 to 100K and find I'm not very legal.
Andrew

Whilst several here do it.. towing at Maximum all the time is similar to revving to red-line all the time.. you can do it; but the wear is worse.

Personally something Composite and lighter with a reasonable payload is much better than a **** and Glitter machine...

Originally Posted by Pedro_The_Swift

You will have to buy it first!!

seriously,,

Yep. And then off to see the engineer with a cheque book in hand..

Hi Andrew, a few reflections having been through the process.

Look at the chassis spec plate, it will tell you where you are in the spectrum and what wriggle room you have. My van was originally plated at 3100kg ATM, the chassis is 3500, a simple paper work exercise (in SA) to get it re-rated to 3400. Not that I am up at that level, try very hard to keep it sub 3200 but it gives me some head room JIC, and 3200 is way more than I wanted to be at before the buying process started, but there you go.
Perhaps caravan manufacturers use a random number generator a far as van tare is concerned, put it on a weigh bridge BEFORE you sign the check, put it in the contract as a purchase condition because the common practice is for manufacturers to add 400kg to tare for a dual axle van to come up with ATM, then when you fill the 2 x 95 L water tanks it eats up nearly half the allowance, fill the gas bottles, a stuby of light, fat free snag for the low carb bread, pair of jocks and you are knocking on the door well, you know what I mean. So, if they fudge the tare you are going to have troubles. I actually noticed at the recent Adelaide van show some of the manufactures were plating the vans based on chassis capacity, so that's a step in the right direction except I worry that for many people that will become the new "target", not a good concept.

Keeping the mass down is the hardest thing ever, and it is very easy to end up a lot heavier than you might want, I certainly did, but that does not necessarily translate into being illegally overloaded, some quick definitions for you.

Compliance Plate Data example
Aggregate Trailer Mass (ATM) = 3300 kg for example
[ ATM is the total laden weight of a trailer which includes the tow ball mass and whatever is added as payload. This includes water, gas food ect. the ATM is specified by the trailer manufacturer and must not be exceeded]
Gross Trailer Mass (GTM) = 3100 kg
[GTM is the total permissible mass which includes payload (water, gas food) that can be supported by the wheels of the trailer. This does not include the mass supported by the tow ball]
Tare Mass = 2900 kg and is the unladen mass of the trailer.
Tow ball mass = ATM - GTM
TBM = 3300 - 3100 = 200 kg.
Gross Combination Mass (GCM) is the rating provided by the manufacturer of the tow vehicle. The maximum laden mass of the tow vehicle plus the maximum laden mass of an attached trailer must not exceed the GCM rating, for the D4 it is 6740kg.

Hence, you need to put the car on the weigh bridge in the configuration that you intend travelling with and do the numbers.

Enjoy......................Peter

Originally Posted by Tombie

Whilst several here do it.. towing at Maximum all the time is similar to revving to red-line all the time.. you can do it; but the wear is worse.

Personally something Composite and lighter with a reasonable payload is much better than a **** and Glitter machine...

This is what Deb and I both liked the most at last years show.Kitchen up the front and out the way,plenty of room with the large slide out.Was bright and breezy wich we realy liked.
50th Anniversary Avida Topaz Caravan Review - Avida RV
Andrew