Geoff and Pam Ward

Alan Just a further follow up on this, Lovells Suspension have obtained approval to do a GCM upgrade combined with a towing upgrade to 4 tonne. I'm not sure what the GCM goes up to but it's bound to be over 7 tonne. The only problem is, Lovells' want $7,000+ for the upgrade which only involves a change of springs, shocks and towing hitch. This upgrade is available whether or not the LC200 is new and is apparently based on the back of the fact that, in the US, the same vehicle has a towing capacity of 4 tonne. It was apparently Toyota Australia's decision to down-rate it to 3.5 tonne. So I will expect to see an upgrade by Toyota sooner or later to keep ahead of its competition.

Hi Garry, My thoughts are: If your Kedron tanks are the same as mine they are grey plastic with Kedron impressed on them. An initial problem will be getting the inlets into the tank near to the top. I recall that I have separate inlets for sink and washing machine and a combined inlet for basin and shower. It would not be difficult to cut holes into the sides of the tank and one in the top for a breather. I had threaded holes welded into the tank but I'm sure you could buy some sort of adapter from a plumbing or irrigation shop to which you could affix a 1" hose. You might be able to have threaded outlets welded into the existing tank. If not, you might be better off having a custom tank made. Mine holds about 125 ltrs. I have an outlet low on each side of the tank. This is handy as I can generally use a single 3 m piece of hose on either side to just let the water flow through the tank into the sullage drain in a CP. If I'm on the side of a road I can generally dump it without using a hose. Regarding the possibility of sideways slippage mentioned by Merv, my tank is clamped pretty tight to the floor rails and has never moved. I was interested to keep the basket a light as possible for overall weight reasons. Kind regards Geoff

NSW Roads and maritime Services now has definitive information on its website. This would seem to me to be the end of the matter. http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au/roads/registration/get-nsw-registration Interstate vehicles Any vehicle (including a caravan or trailer), which is driven on NSW roads must be registered in NSW. An exemption to this requirement applies when the vehicle is: temporarily in NSW, and currently registered in another state (‘the home state’), and displaying all the number plates and registration labels required by the home state. Interstate vehicles kept or garaged in NSW A vehicle that is kept or garaged in NSW may be in breach of its home state registration provisions. For example, if an interstate authority requires the vehicle to be garaged in its home state, that authority may take action to cancel or suspend the registration. Vehicles kept or garaged in NSW are required to be registered in NSW. If not, they are considered to be unregistered and cannot be driven (or towed in the case of a caravan or trailer) on NSW roads. You should also be aware that substantial penalties apply if you drive an unregistered or uninsured vehicle. NSW Police hold the view that interstate registered vehicles kept or garaged in NSW are not 'temporarily' in NSW and are therefore 'unregistered'. As such, if the operator of that vehicle holds a NSW driver’s licence or is resident in NSW, and drives or uses the vehicle on NSW roads, they may be issued with a penalty notice. General requirements in Australian jurisdictions The common view in Australian states and territories is that any vehicle should be registered in the state or territory in which the owner/operator lives and where the vehicle is generally kept. Where you are a genuine visitor, or temporarily in NSW, and you drive a vehicle that is registered in your home state on NSW roads, you will not require NSW registration.

I have now done a bit more research and received advice from RMS in NSW. The following is the text of an email I sent some time ago to Tom Smith, Chairman of the Australian Caravan Club. I urged Tom to circulate this advice to club members but have not seen a satisfactory response from Tom. Many caravanners seem to prefer to keep their heads in the sand on this issue. Kind regards Geoff Ward "I am here addressing the question of a caravan registered in Victoria, but used and normally kept in NSW. Once the right areas of the laws of each state are found, it doesn’t need a lawyer to see that the correct answer is blindingly obvious. I can only suggest that the ACC legal team you refer to has not looked at the correct area of the law. I will outline my review of the relevant legislation so that you can forward it on to the legal team. I will also include the text of the email I have received from RMS which confirms my interpretation. NSW Under section 68 of the Road Transport Act 2013, it is an offence to use an unregistered registrable vehicle on a road in NSW – penalty $2,200 (20 penalty units). Under section 7 of the Act, a “registered vehicle” is a vehicle registered in the “NSW registrable vehicles register”. By implication, although not defined, an “unregistered registrable vehicle” would be any registrable vehicle not registered in the NSW register. Section 4 of the Act defines “registrable vehicle” as including a trailer. Therefore, in the absence of an exemption for interstate registered vehicles, a vehicle registered in another state is not permitted to be used on NSW roads. There is, of course, an exemption for certain interstate registered vehicles. The exemption can be found buried very deeply in regulations – Clause 9 of Schedule 1 of the Road Transport (Vehicle Registration) Regulation 2007. The exemption applies to a registrable vehicle that: a ) is temporarily in NSW; and b ) is registered in another State or Territory. The example being considered, namely, a caravan registered in Victoria but used and normally kept in NSW, fails to qualify for this exemption on 2 counts: 1. it is not temporarily in NSW, if it is in NSW for most of the time and is only taken outside NSW for the occasional caravan holiday; and 2. it is not validly registered in Victoria if it is kept for most of the time in NSW – see later analysis Now a smart lawyer might wish to argue before a judge about the meaning of “temporarily” and there will be grey areas – for example, where the caravan spends most of its time on the road and most of its time outside NSW, but that’s not the example we are here considering. For the more black and white case, ie, yours and mine, I wouldn’t wish to bet my farm in a courtroom battle with an insurance company and its SC, particularly where there could be millions of dollars at stake for third party injury. I don’t think I need to address the question of whether an insurance company would try to avoid a claim in respect of damaged caused by the use of an unregistered vehicle. Victoria Victoria has a definition of “garage address” in Regulation 56 of the Road Safety (Vehicles)Regulations 2009. The definition of garage address, in relation to a caravan that is not a heavy vehicle, means: “(c)… the place nominated by the applicant for registration as the place where the vehicle is normally kept; “. The relevance of garage address (and this is the same in NSW) is that the Roads Corporation in Victoria may not register a vehicle unless it is satisfied that the vehicle’s garage address in in Victoria – section 6A of Road Safety Act 1986. At first sight, it might seem that a NSW garaged caravan might be able to be validly registered in Victoria just on the basis that the owner says it is “normally kept” in Victoria. However, under sect 71 of the Roads Safety Act 1986 “A person who by any false statement… obtains or attempts to obtain any… [vehicle] registration… is guilty of an offence and is liable to a penalty of not more than 10 penalty units [$1,476.10] or to imprisonment for a term of not more than 2 months, and any… registration… so obtained is void and of no effect.”. Consequently, person who states that a caravan is normally kept in Victoria when, as a fact, it is normally kept in NSW is guilty of an offence and the Victorian registration thereby obtained is “void and of no effect”. The following appendix is the reply I have received form NSW RMS on the matter. Kind regards Geoff Ward” Appendix: “Dear Geoff Thank you for taking the time to discuss the issue of caravan registrations and garaging with me last week. To provide you with a short answer to your query please note below: While we broadly agree with your concerns, we believe that the answer to your question can be found in clause 9 of Schedule 1 of the Road Transport (Vehicle Registration) Regulation 2007. As you are aware, this clause protects an unregistered registrable vehicle that is: a ) Temporarily in NSW, and b ) Registered in another State. As you have correctly pointed out, the caravan is not temporarily in NSW, because it is kept in the state the owner likely lives in and has a home address in - NSW. In short, if the caravan is kept in NSW or has a garage address in NSW, while it may be registered in Victoria, it clearly does not satisfy the requirement to be in NSW temporarily. The caravan is therefore technically ‘unregistered’, and may not be towed on a NSW road. We also accept that the legislation and the above explanation may not be readily and easily understood. As such Roads and Maritime, and Transport for NSW are developing a policy position and will publish this on our website in the near future (I am still waiting on some more info about when this might be). Kind regards Joe Prater Customer Liaison Case Manager Customer & Information Services | Government Information Services T 02 8588 5953 F 02 8588 4171 www.rms.nsw.gov.au Every journey matters Roads and Maritime Services 101 Miller Street North Sydney NSW 2060 “

Are you annoyed by the poor radio reception of the radio installed in your Kedron? I was, and hopefully I've fixed it. I replaced the factory-fitted short aerial with a 1.65 metre marine AM/FM antenna. It was hard to find but Rural Industries P/L in Queensland (ask for Todd - sales@ruralindustries.com.au) tracked one down for me. Price was less than $100. See photos attached. I enlarged the hole inside the enclosed area above range hood and placed a 3mm x 100mm x 70mm aluminium plate on the inside of the external cladding to give the aerial a bit more support. It seems to work ok but I won't know for sure until I go bush again and try to pick up the ABC. I hope you find this helpful. Kind regards Geoff

I think some of the comments and concerns about grey water turning to black water after 24 hours are a bit exaggerated. We have lasted up to 3 days without emptying the tank and when it was emptied, the water was fairly clean, non-smelling shower and sink water (no fat goes down our sink). It needs to be dumped responsibly, which means not in town, not in a national park which prohibits dumping, a good way away from any residences and areas likely to be accessed by the public. After our first trip with the tank, I drained the tank and stored the van. 3 months later the smell coming up through the shower waste was noticeable. After subsequent trips, before storing the van, I put a couple of litres of pool chlorine in the tank with about 10 litres of water, take it for a drive to slosh it about, drain it, and have never had another smell. I will consider fitting the one-way valves mentioned by Pete above. Geoff

I found that a bit of pool chlorine, 1:4 strength, about 10 litres of mixture, sloshed around by driving the van and then drained, keeps the smells away. After our first trip with the tank, I didn't do this and the smell in the shower booth, when we opened it for our next trip, was very noticeable. No smells after chlorine treatment. Kind regards Geoff

Hi Alan I think that the GCM issue has been settled for the LC 200 - Toyota does not specify a GCM figure for that vehicle. I think it's also a pity that someone can't challenge the authorities on their GCM nonsense. What can it be afterall than the sum of the legal GVM of each vehicle. If the manufacturer were to specify a GCM for a re-rated tow vehicle, I bet it would just be to sum of the two. Regards Geoff

Hi Alan, It's a bit old now, but I was wondering what you ended up doing. I got an ARB GVM upgrade by 280 kg. Best thing I ever did. Very stable towing. I've also got rear airbags which I inflate to about 30psi for towing. Kind regards Geoff

On a recent trip around Tasmania, we found a few camp sites which had rules that prevented the disposal of grey water on the ground (no sullage drain was available). In one case, we were not permitted to enter the site unless we had a sealed grey water tank installed (which we did not have). I also found it to be mildly embarrassing when we park in a town somewhere for lunch and when we have finished the washing up and hand washing, there are a couple of pools of grey water under the van or flowing across the street. We therefore set about to install an extra tank for storage of grey water. I could not find an off-the-shelf tank to suit my needs, mainly because they did not have inlets and outlets where I wanted them and of the size I required. I therefore had a tank custom made by Abber tanks http://www.abbertanks.com.au/. Their service was very good and the tank appears to be well made. I have separate 1 inch inlets for each of the kitchen sink, washing machine and bathroom, and 2 outlets: 1 inch on the RHS (with a tailpiece for connecting the usual Kedron hose to a park sullage drain) and 1.25 inch on the LHS which might help with quicker dumping of the waste water at the side of the road. These outlets are fitted with plastic ball valves. There is also a 3/4 inch breather/overflow outlet on the top of the tank. No more grappling with the tee piece drain hose supplied by Kedron for connecting the bathroom and kitchen to the sullage drain! The tank we had made will hold about 125 litres. It weighs just 10kgs and with the holding basket and plumbing the total additional weight is about 15 kgs. There is no additional water weight as it only involves a transfer of water. On our 21 ft Top Ender, I had to move the rear water tank 6 inches forward to make room for the new tank. This was not difficult and required no re-plumbing. I made up a steel basket to hang the tank in place. The steel used was 19mm x 3mm mild steel flat and I reinforced the 3 bottom bars with a pieces of steel on edge to give it some rigidity - see photos. I also welded some 6mm x 19mm flat to the anchor points of the basket to give them extra strength. The steel basket was lined with foam rubber of the type used for expansion joints in paving - from Bunnings. The stone guard on the front of the basket was made from a split piece of 4" x 3" gal down pipe and the stone guards protecting the ball valves and outlets were made from a piece of circular downpipe from Bunnings. Mounting brackets for the ball valve stone guards were made from 19mm x 3mm flat. If anyone would like to know more about this or wants a copy of my drawings, please contact me on gward1211@bigpond.com Regards Geoff Caravan grey water tank.pdf

Hi All Does anyone know of a lower wattage 240V electric kettle available in Australia? I have an 1800W inverter in my TE and, running a 2000w kettle, it suffers from low voltage cutout when more than about 120 A/H have been drawn from the batteries. A kettle with a wattage in the range of 1000W to 1500W would be ideal.. There are a few available in the UK but I can't find any in Oz. The 12V options from Waeco would be just too slow. Kind regards Geoff

Hi Pete On the VIN plate on my LC200 it specifies a GVM of 3300kg, which I have had increased to 3580kg. There is no mention of GCM (Gross Combined Mass). On a separate stick-on label, a towing capacity of 3500kg is specified and a maximum ball weight of 350kg. If GCM is a legal figure we have to comply with, being a sum of GVM & GTM of caravan, it doesn't make sense to me, if the GVM of the tow vehicle has been increased by 280kg, that the GCM has not also been increased by 280kg to 7080kg - up from 6800kg. If you find out any more about this, I would appreciate a message. My email is gward1211@bigpond.com. Kind regards Geoff

UPDATE I thought I should update this posting now that I have found out the "truth". I spoke with another NSW RTA person and he was adamant that ball weight IS included in the GVM of the tow vehilce. This is 3,300kg for a Land Cruiser 200 series. As the tare weight is about 2,700 KG and ball weight is 320kg, it only leaves 280kg for fuel, tools, passengers and whatever else you might want to carry in the back. I put my rig over a weighbridge fully laden. I found that the GVM of the Topender was 3,560kg (ie 60kg over legal with all water tanks filled). The Landcruiser was 3,480kg with caravan attached (ie, 180kg over legal limit). I have now solved the problem with a suspension upgrade for the LC form ARB. It increased the legal GVM by 280kg. It cost $2,100 including $600 for an engineer's certification, but it is now legally registered with a GVM of 3,580kg - This GVM is now specified as a modification on the RTA rego papers. I can now put on an extra 100kg from eating too much whilst away and still be legal (and maybe dead).

If the tow vehicle or the towed vehicle has a "garage address" in NSW, NSW law requires it to be registered here. If you reside in NSW, and have your vehicles registered in QLD, the first question an insurer would ask is were the vehicles properly registered. It would not be difficult to prove that they weren't if you registered in QLD to avoid the NSW provisions and normally kept them in NSW. You would then be unregistered and have no enforceable property or personal injury insurance. To me it is a no brainer and not worth the risk. If you are intent on not complying with the law, why waste your money on insurance premiums. The following is the definition of "garage address" in the NSW Road Transport Act "garage address" of a vehicle means: (a) if the vehicle is normally kept at a depot or base of operations when not in use-the principal depot or base of operations of the vehicle, or (b ) if the vehicle is normally kept on a road or road related area when not in use: (i) where the vehicle has one registered operator-the residential address of the registered operator, or (ii) where the vehicle has more than one registered operator and one or more of the operators reside in New South Wales-the residential address of the registered operator residing in New South Wales whose address is nearest the road or road related area, or (iii) where the vehicle has more than one registered operator and none of the registered operators reside in New South Wales-the suburb and road or road related area in New South Wales where the vehicle is normally kept, or (iiiv )if the vehicle is normally kept at a place (other than a depot, base of operations or road or road related area) when not in use-the place where the vehicle is normally kept.

Hi Mal & Kerry In my new van of 2 months ago the Xantrex 1800w inverter failed after 4 weeks and the next day the Xantrex 40 amp battery charger also failed. Speak with Don at Enerdrive 1300 851 535. He was very helpful and immediately shipped replacement units to me in Cairns. He said it was very rare for failures such as this but did concede that they do occur. Don said that there is nothing I could have done, or in the environment, that could have caused these failures, as the equipment is very robust and protected. Just bad luck, I hope, although, I'm now starting to wonder about the reliability of these products. I know next time I will be taking a spare battery charger with me. Kind regards Geoff

Hi Bondi and Jenny We have had our 21ft Top Ender for about 2 months and, whilst we love it, I kind of wish we had purchased the ATV instead. This is our first caravan. I now realise now that I will never venture into situations where the extra ruggedness of the chassis of the TE over the ATV will be needed. Advantages of an ATV are, in my view, less weight, less price and 3 inches wider. The TE has leather upholstery and this is an optional extra for the ATV. I also got matching 17" Land Cruiser wheels for the van. I'm not sure whether this option (17" wheels) is available on the lower ATV. Hope this helps. Geoff

Hi Chris You say that the ball weight is "definitely" included in the GVM of 3500kg. Can you tell me what you base your belief on? The NSW RTA guy I spoke to was adamant that it is not included. And that makes more sense to me as with a 350kg ball weight you could not even fill up with fuel and have a driver. In regard to a Toyota determined GVM, there is a Toyota plate on my door pillar which states GVM 3300. I think you mean GCM. I'm surprised that you can easily upgrade a manufacturer's stated GVM with a Lovell's upgrade. I would have expected that a full engineering certification would be required. Have you confirmed the legality of your upgraded GVM with your motor transport authority? I think I will write to the NSW authority and seek an answer in writing. Kind regards Geoff

(see my further postings below. I believe that this issue is now clear - you invalidate your insurance if you register a van in one state and garage it in another state, because your van is not legally registered). I have taken delivery of my Top Ender and have had our first fantastic holiday around Queensland. My van came with QLD rego plates and Kedron give no option for a NSW registration. I tendered my son's QLD address for registration purposes and the QLD certificate issued with this warning "Contact your insurer if towing with an interstate vehicle". My Compulsory Third Party insurance for the LC is with NSW GIO. I contacted GIO and was told by a supervisor (after some terse argument by me and insisting to speak with a supervisor) that an interstate registered trailer is definitely not covered for CTP insurance under the GIO CTP policy. This becomes somewhat academic when it is realised that my van, with its QLD plates will be garaged in NSW. Under both QLD and NSW law, (I am advised) the trailer is required to be registered in NSW. If I were to maintain the QLD registration, I would, in effect be towing an unregistered trailer. Can someone who has legal knowledge on this point please advise whether or not this is the case. Because most caravans are manufactured in Victoria or QLD, there are many NSW caravaners who retain their caravan registration with the state of purchase of the van, particularly as NSW is the most expensive state in which to register a van - for me an annual weight-based fee of $730 plus $40 for plates, a weighbridge certificate of tare weight and a brown slip (roadworthy certificate for a heavy vehicle - yes, the same category as a semi-trailer). If I am correct in suspecting that a caravan normally kept in one state but registered in another state is not, in fact, legally registered, what are the consequences? Having had many business dealings with insurance companies over 30 years, I have no doubt that any insurance company, if it discovered that an accident involved the towing of an unregistered van, would refuse any claim connected with that van. This would include a claim for damage to the van or caused by the van as well as a third party personal claim for injuries. Would an insurance company discover the truth about the registration and place where the van is kept? When large dollars are involved, insurance companies investigate claims to the nth degree. They would only have to bring a person from the registered address (or a neighbour) into court under oath to testify whether or not the van was kept at a particular place in the state where the van is registered. The caravaner's claim for proper registration would soon be in tatters. Imagine this scenario: Whilst towing your van, you are run off the road by a road train. Your van starts to sway a little and side-swipes an oncoming car following the road train, sending it off the road and into a tree. Your van writes off the on-coming car (which just happened to be a $500,000 Mercedes sports) and causes the driver of the Mercedes to become a quadriplegic. That leads to a TP claim of $10 million. Where do you stand with the insurances you have in respect of your (unregistered) van? Up sh*tters ditch, I suggest. Could someone please tell me I am wrong. There are a lot of people out their with their heads in the sand on this issue. For me, it is just not worth the risk. In addition, why pay for insurance which has no value? Best regards

Although this thread has probably now been put to bed, I wish to raise the issue of whether the ball weight (320kg in my case) needs to be taken into account in the GVM of the tow vehicle. Eg, LC 200 tare approx 2,800kg, GVM 3,300 kg giving a payload of, say, 500kg. It also has a towing capacity of 3,500kg with a maximum ball weight of 350kg. When hooked up to my Top Ender, this would leave available LC payload of only 180kg for fuel, 2 adults and some gear - clearly ridiculous and could never be legal if the 320kg ball weight is included in the 500kg LC payload. I have spoken to a tecnical officer at the NSW RMS and he was adamant, even when questioned precisely on the point, that the ball weight is not taken into account in this way - as long as the Gross Combined Mass does not exceed 6,800kg. In other words, the vehicle is designed and is legal to tow a caravan with a ball weight of up to 350kg plus up to 500kg payload in the LC itself. Could someone with good knowledge of the legal requirements (do they vary between states) please enlighten me (and many others) on this matter. Regards Geoff

Many Thanks to Jacky Jacky, We will pursue the Narva product in Australia. Will be a cheaper option than importing one from the UK. Kind regards Geoff

Hi all Has anyone had any experience with external security lights (movement detection) for caravans - 12V or 240V? The only one I can locate is manufactured by Ring Automotive in the UK and they don't ship to Australia. See details in file attached. Does anyone know if the Ring product is reliable and waterproof? Are there any other suitable products (ie, PIR movement detector security lights) for permanent mounting on outside of a caravan? Kind regards Geoff & Pam Ring security light RC7300-500.bmp