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Caravan weight HELP


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Hi all, I have just weighed the 21' TE (Tare 2900kg) fully loaded for a trip, including all 3 tanks full (300L) and was shocked.

Maybe I've made a mistake with the calculations or the way it was weighed.

Can someone confirm that I have done it right.

This is how I did it...

I weighed the car with the van still hitched - car on the weigh bridge with the van off the weigh bridge - this weighs the car with the ball weight included = 3320kg

Then, I unhitched the van and weighed the car by itself = 3100kg.

Then I weighed the van while still hitched to the car, with the car off the weigh bridge = 3680kg.

So, 3320kg - 3100kg = 220kg ball weight.

220kg ball weight + 3680kg van = 3900kg.

Does this sound ok or not.

If I see another weigh bridge in my travels, I'll give it another go.

Any comments or advice appreciated.

Rob

Townsville

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Hi Rob, sounds like you have weighed it right but like Danny I would be surprised if you only have 220 kg on your tow ball. I put mine over the weigh bridge every time we do a long trip and my tow ball weight is around 320kg give or take 10 kg either way. Rob, when I weigh mine I always separate and weigh the van on it's own and it comes in at around 3620kg with three water tanks full.Have a safe trip down and back. Richard.

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Another way to do it at the next weighbridge is to weigh the van unhitched and on its jockey wheel. Then hitch it up, drive forward, unhitch again, this time with the jockey wheel off the weighbridge. There will be no discrepencies using this method. Good luck! I hope you don't end up having to jump through hoops like we did, trying to get the van to a legal weight.

Cheers

Russ

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Hi Rob, sounds like you have weighed it right but like Danny I would be surprised if you only have 220 kg on your tow ball. I put mine over the weigh bridge every time we do a long trip and my tow ball weight is around 320kg give or take 10 kg either way. Rob, when I weigh mine I always separate and weigh the van on it's own and it comes in at around 3620kg with three water tanks full.Have a safe trip down and back. Richard.

Hi Richard, we stopped in at Kedron for a small repair and they weighed the van. I had weighed it correctly. The van was 3865kg with a ball weight of 240kg. That makes it 365kg overweight.

Kedron moved one of the tanks to the front, to increase the ball weight. Now the ball weight is 335kg, BUT, I now have to lose some weight out of the van when we get back home.

I'm thinking of removing one of the spare wheels, this will decrease the overall weight and add more to the ball.

We obviously have packed too much into the van, so we are going to be much more ruthless with what we take.

Will catch-up when we get back.

Rob

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G'day guys

We put our 22' TE over a weighbridge today.

Results were:

Total van & car = 6,800kg (passengers included)

Van on weighbridge, car off but still connected = 3280kg

Van on weighbridge, with jockey wheel on & not connected to car, i.e. van alone = 3620kg

Therefore ball weight = 340kg

The van had no water in it, all 3 tanks totally empty.

Outboard motor not on A Frame

Both 20L fuel tanks on A Frame were empty

So if we put 300L water in the tanks, 40L fuel in the jerry cans plus our 10HP outboard motor on the A Frame our van weight is close to 4 tonne!

The van wasn't that loaded with other gear as well. We're only on a 3 week holiday, not a 6 month round island trip.

It's a bit of a worry for sure.

Mind you, our VW Touareg pulled our van around for 8 months last year & it would have been over 3.8tonne most of the time. It did a fantastic job of it. Can't say the say of our new Toyota LC200.

Cheers

Alan

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1371088805' post='10204']

Hi all

i have just had our cruiser ute upgraded while we are in Darwin.

4000kg towing

375kg on the pin

3950kg GVM

6800kg GCM

also had the ATV upgraded to 4000kg's ATM

A lot happier now.

Cheers Danny & Sue

Hi Danny and Sue,

Can you share some additional information, who, where and how much, sounds like you might be onto something. Although the GCM seems it may still be close to OEM. I've read that many things can be done by engineering certification, everything except GCM changes.

We'll be in Darwin in a week or so so would be interested in following this up.

RegardsJohn

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Morning John

Andrew Mill is the man to see..he trades as... TEM Consulting Services..Engineering Concepts and Solutions..he is staying at Lee Point caravan park for a while...to upgrade our ute cost about $1350 including tow bar bracket,compliance plate & documents.the van was about $350 including plate & documents..i also had to buy a DO45 hitch as the DO 35 is not rated high enough..

Andrew's ph is 0408756623

Cheers Danny

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Hi all,

I will also be very interested to see how this goes. My understanding was that Transport Department inspectors couldn't care less about these certifications etc from engineers since changes to the federal transport acts came into being in 2011/12 (???).

I would really love to be wrong about this. Good luck.

Regards

Chris

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi Chris and Danny,

Well I spoke with Andrew at length today and for the 200 Series as I have it upgraded with the Lovells GVM kit and airbags is already upgraded to the max, nothing further to be done, more specifically there is no chance of upgrading the tow capacity, no surprise but worth the conversation none the less.

Interestingly more can be done with the LC ute and some other lower rated utes.

Seems to me that the benefit that Danny may have derived from the exercise comes down to where the weight is rather than the gross weight of the combination which seems not to have changed. More can be loaded in the van provided less is loaded in the tow vehicle.

CheersJohn

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Hi John and Danny,

We have a 2010 200 series GXL. Toyota have stated that they did not have a stated GCM for our vehicle. The GCM is a combination of the GVM and towing capacity which in our case is 7300kg. It's a good story and I have it in writing, so that's my excuse. Lol. Strangely enough, I have noticed that the current model has a stated GCM of 6850kg. Anyway, I like my version better. :-)

Regards

Chris

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