Thread: GVM, so how does this work down under anyway?

You want to ship roll on roll off. Container shipping is much more expensive and you have much more problems with customs. As a temporary import nobody will care about anything.

Thanks so much for the replies

Indeed, the "little" p38 that didn't was not my first choice as a title for the car... I do appreciate people thinking outside the box to try and help though!

@gavin I won't spoil it by telling anyone ok? Besides, I won't spoil anything. I hate those bastards throwing their **** everywhere The only littering I would do is possible the range rover sweating power from a few seals here and there, perhaps

On a more serious note: I am trying my utmost best to stay within GVM indeed. I have replaced the steel cable of my winch with dyneema rope. I have an hydraulic winch which is a lot lighter than an electric one since I do not need the heavy motor just a small hydraulic one. The rear is coming out completely (seats and all) and will be replaced with a drawer/storage system made from the lightest and thinnest material possible. Like 4wheeling, as slow as possibly as fast as needed; as light as possible, as strong(heavy) as needed. The rear seats weigh an absolute **** tonne so they should make up for quite some gear. I am considering removing the rear windows and replacing them with aluminium panels, lighter than glass. I already have a frontrunner roofrack to save weight and like I said will consider lithium if I really have to.

I know it is tempting to be overweight 24/7 once you are used to it but I really only mean to use the spare-wheel fuel tank when needed. Since it hangs over the rear axle the driving would be crap so I'd leave it empty whenever I can. In most parts of the world fuel is readily available and you won't even need the extra capacity which saves me quite a bit of weight (I'd say 100k's?)

The car would remain registered in the Netherlands so I guess when entering oz officials would inspect the vehicle anyway. The tanks will certainly not be full and neither will there be any food/drinks. I guess if I get entry into the country I am pretty much good to go. This does preclude the possibilty of a gvm upgrade I guess since I would have to be registered down under I think? Also, I would need to re-import the vehicle to get the GVM upgrade to be accepted down here, if they actually accept it at all! Besides, as I understand it, most GVM upgrades alter the suspension in some way and the P38 has airbags so... does a GVM upgrade even exist for these beauties? (or has it ever existed?)

Regarding the emissions test. I barely make that over here, with some tweaking so I am not sure what the rules down under are but I guess, being a foreign plated car, I would be fine?

All in all I think it is safe to say that I would run "some" risk departing from a roadhouse or fuel station on trips like the canning and so on. On every other occasion I would not be carrying the 100k's of extra fuel. I just need to make sure my setup fits within the GVM with that extra tank empty.

The alternative is to ditch this pretty hefty investment and go for something with a higher load carrying capacity. A defender can go up to 1000kg I believe but that is "only" 300k's more than the range rover anyway. Could just be enough though. I would like to avoid this since the defender, though THE 4x4 imho, drives less comfortably and I would have to start all over again fitting that out and not much from the P38 would carry over. Well, the engine would so that's a nice plus but that's about...

Finally, the air suspension would "mask" the amount of weight I carry since the cars stance would look perfectly normal

Cheers,
-P

The reality is a stock looking vehicle has almost nil chance of being pulled over but a modified vehicle is.

If your vehicle ends up looking like a monster truck by the time you've done all your mods, then expect to get hassled by the cops at some stage. Depending on their mood and attention to detail, they might check your GVM.
The other thing you need to consider is insurance! if you have an accident and are found to be over your GVM, they may refuse cover. Insurance companies will go out of their way to get out of paying a claim.
Also, carrying a load like that can make it unstable and hard to handle. While you might think its ok and you are used to it, it can not only affect your cornering, but your braking distance as well. Again, if you're over GVM, you are on the wrong side of the law.

There is a terrific YouTube series about an Aussie and his Frenchie wife touring the world in their defender. I’m not sure if I can post it here as it might get blocked, but you can search for GrizzlynBear Overland.
You can select their vids from oldest to newest and of course subscribe. I get nothing out of this btw, just helping you out.
Leigh is a mine of information and their YouTube videos are inspirational.
They were recently in Japan.
Leigh just posted a video about crossing borders and what to look out for.
Cheers

Originally Posted by prelude

I have read and seen quite a bit about GVM, it's ups and downs and of course there is the law.

My original plan was to take my P38 range rover around the globe, probably starting in oz. I like the country a lot and love to see it so it is #1 on the bucket list. Also, since the import of a vehicle is damn hard (needs to be extremely clean) cleaning it here to the bone and then ship it in a container down under would be the easiest way to do things, all other countries don't really give a damn

I wanted to take a P38 since they look awesome imho, I like the ride and because not many people choose this type of vehicle. Over the past 5 years or so I have been building up my car as best as I can taking most of the weak points out of the equation. After installing:

• front and rear bar (both terrafirma)
• bash plates
• diff protectors
• HD half shafts front and read
• HD prop shafts
• diff lockers
• winch
• roofrack
• hard range lift kit
• larger wheels

and an assortment of new parts that weigh the same like new airbags, shocks, rebuild engine from the ground up, etc. etc. I recently had the opportunity to drive my beauty up on the weighbridge at a mates job and with a full tank of fuel I had some 300kg to spare. Since the car was empty at that point (no batteries, no fridge, road tyres, people, etc) I think it's going to be a very hard challenge to stay below GVM once fully loaded.

To put it into perspective, I plan to have a 60L water tank, I was not planning on lithium batteries since I am no fan but I would go there if need be for weight reasons and I was planning to convert the spare wheel well into an extra fuel tank.

I would be overweight before I would start on a trip like say the canning stock since I would have both the extra fuel and water tank filled to the brim. They would "quickly" drain though so I would only be over GVM for a short period of time. Also, when a copper would stop me I could drain the water tank for example to reduce weight but, yeah...

Anyway, I have looked up the GVM rules throughout europe and some countries have a 0% tolerance but most have a 5-10% tolerance where they don't necessarily fine you but just give you a slap on the wrist. This may not seem like much but on 2.7 tonne 10% is 270kg which is extra fuel and water and then some.

Outside of europe, in most parts of the world I am not worried since they are likely never going to check or enforce anything but I am not sure how oz is dealing with this?

• is there a tolerance?
• is there a fine and you are on your merry way?
• are you given the chance to reduce weight to continue (like draining the water)
• is the car towed and can you only continue once you have reduced weight at the police station of whatever

Cheers,
-P

Originally Posted by Grahame Roberts

There is a terrific YouTube series about an Aussie and his Frenchie wife touring the world in their defender. I’m not sure if I can post it here as it might get blocked, but you can search for GrizzlynBear Overland.
You can select their vids from oldest to newest and of course subscribe. I get nothing out of this btw, just helping you out.
Leigh is a mine of information and their YouTube videos are inspirational.
They were recently in Japan.
Leigh just posted a video about crossing borders and what to look out for.
Cheers

No issues posting YouTube link.

They are still in Japan.....for awhile


Don't be scared be prepared!!! Are borders really that bad??? Overland border crossings... - YouTube

Mate I think you really need to understand the difference between Overlanding and Off Roading, there is a HUGE difference and judging by the description of what you are doing to your P38 I think you are setting up as an off roader when you should be setting it up as an Overlanding Vehicle.

Best thing I could recommend is to follow a few You Tubers who are already Overlanding and all your questions will be answered very quickly, my favourites and I support are GrizzlynBear Overland. and The Road Chose Me.

Also read the book "Overlanders Handbook" By Chris Scott.

A P38 will definitely do the job but if you overload it you are asking for a lot of head aches and an enormous fuel bill and I wouldn't be taking up the Canning Stock Route.

Good Luck I hope you succeed.

If I was doing that sort of touring, certainly in Australia, I would ditch the winch. If you are going somewhere that bad that you would need a winch you are better off going with a group or someone else and take a recovery strap. Get a set of Maxxtracks or equivalent for soft sand and a long handled shovel. Save the weight of the winch for something else.
my 2c