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GVM and tow upgrades


dismart

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Recently had the need to completely empty our Topender so took the opportunity to put it and the  Landcruiser 200 over a weighbridge. I knew we were marginal but was surprised just how marginal we were. Though the combined mass was fine, the Landcruiser with near full fuel tank and one on-board person came in at close to 3t.   The van was empty except for full heater tank, gas cylinders, hot water tank and toilet tanks, and came in at 3.3t. This was after we had replaced our AGM batteries with lithium and halved that weight. The tow ball weight was 260kg which left only about 40kg for any passengers and load in the vehicle. The same with the van;  200kg for water in tanks (240l) clothes food and other goodies. I had removed the two Jerry can holders from the drawbar for this exercise. Hence we are taking the step to have a Lovells GVM, to 3.8t on the car, a tow upgrade to 4t, and upgrade of the van GVM to 4t.  This is being arranged to take place in Adelaide.

 

Will let you know how it all goes.

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Hi Dismart sounds like you are going to do what we just have done.Are you buying a new 200 ?

We still need to have the van gvm upgrade done . Need to email photos of suspension to Kedron and they will mail us a new vin plate then over the pits . A big expense but we will be legal 

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Hi John & Jo,

I will stand corrected if I'm wrong here....

You can have your suspension/brakes upgraded (at any time) and have the vehicle 'replated accordingly.

 

If you have the vehicle upgrade BEFORE the FIRST registration, you will get national compliance...

recognised in all states and territories of Oz. For the life of the vehicle.

 

BUT........

If you have the upgrade down AFTER the first registration, it will only be compliant in the state that the upgrade was done.

This is not necessarily a problem, if you plan to keep the vehicle registered in that particular state/territory.

If you want to have the vehicle registered in another state, at a later date the vehicle will have to be re engineered and certified to comply in the 'new' state or territory.

There has been debate on other forums about a vehicle being certified in one state and then possibly being non/not compliant in another. As I say this is debate......if you are considering getting an upgrade before OR after the initial rego, strongly suggest you check with the relevant state authorities.

 

The joys of motoring....(in Oz)

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  • 1 month later...

Well, we have had all the physical work done on the car and van.... a lot of money, and involved taking the rig down to Lovell in the city.  Now the engineer needs to lodge the paperwork re the van with the SA motor vehicle registration agency.

But the engineer handling it all needs a detail from Kedron before he lodges the paperwork  with the Motor Vehicle Registration mob here.

The detail he requires is confirmation that the chassis of our Top Ender is suitable to be upgraded to 4 tonne GVM.  I believe he has sent the factory a request but having difficulty in obtaining this information.  This is because they are tied up with editing the latest DVD.  I guess they will supply the statement soon....but it is holding us up.

 

if anyone else has been through this process and already obtained that statement from Kedron, could they give us a copy?

chris

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Hi Chris we emailed photos to Dave of our suspension just so he had proof that we hadn't altered anything and (at a cost $350 he mailed a form stating that our  GVM has been increased to 3990 kg along with the revised vin plate . I had to sign this  and it has has been mailed back to them just last week.

Kedron will inform our WA licensing department .

Hopefully you can get this sorted soon 

John

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Thanks John.

in our case an engineer is handling it for us here in SA.  He will submit the paperwork to motor vehicle registry and we will pay him.  He just wants confirmation from Kedron that they believe the chassis is up to the additional weight.

 

how long did your mvr take to process it?

 

cheers

chris

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Hi Chris I haven't checked as yet 

was on my list for tomorrow but I going deep sea fishing(more important) then of to Perth next week so it will have to wait till we get back mid March . 

I will be interesting to find out if the Landcruiser and Kedron's paper work is all up to date . 

We will see it all certainly feels good towing the van with the new 200 series. 

Also very happy with the new Hitch-easy .We had a Mc-Hitch previously but I find this even easier to hookup and off . 

John 

Edited by John and Jo
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The Landcruiser work is complete with all its little stickers pending a roadworthy inspection by SA Transport. The work on the van is complete, I had to change the chains to high tensile stamped chains and the Lovels hitch. The engineer will complete his paperwork and send that to MVR next week. I am not sure if Kedron has responded but both Leisa and Glen were following it through. 

Cheers

va

 

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We put our van over the weigh bridge and found we are a little heavy.

We have gone through the process of getting the Lovells GVM upgrade for the 200series. The next step is the Lovells 4 tonne tow kit followed by the caravan ATM change. In the meantime we are travelling with one tank empty and have stripped out any excess gear in the van that we don't use to be legal.

The 200 series tows beautifully with the GVM upgrade. 

cheers

Stu

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Hi guys

 

I wonder when the boys at Kedron are finally going to realise that their big vans are coming in way over weight and their unrealistic 600kgs of load is questionable particularly when nearly 300 of that is taken up with water.  Have I spoken to them, yes, do they listen, no.

 

Cheers

 

Merv

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We have plenty of payload. It's just that we've got some extras fitted after the factory. Things like extra solar panels,  grey water tank, auto sat dish etc all add up and steal from the payload. Kedron have no idea what owners will fit after they purchase the van. I'm happy with the weight and it's my fault it's a bit heavy although not by much. I'm also happy I can have upgrades to be fully compliant.

Cheers

Stu

 

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Just a couple of thoughts I have when getting a 4 Ton upgrade.  

Putting a chip in it and changing suspension is all well and good

But do they put bigger brakes on it? Most vehicles will pull a big van................. pulling it up is very different and in my opinion, far more important. 

Also how do they stop the "Tail wagging the Dog"? 

Changing suspension wont change theses issues

 

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They may be valid points.  In our case the request for an upgrade is so that we are legal, with the weight we carry at the moment. We are very close to the limit with what we carry, when the tanks are full and the generator is on board.  So it is not a matter of wanting to actually carry 4 tonne, but rather not worrying if we are a hundred kilos over the limit and get pulled up and weighed.

 

Our van tows and brakes beautifully with the 200 series and we are confident that with the upgrade modifications we are even safer.

 

 

 

 

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So it is kind of like having a hamburger and a diet coke................. you know it is not really right,...........but you feel better for doing it .....................LOL:P

At least the effort is more than most do.

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.

I have to agree with you Steve, and I have said it many times when the talk of towing upgrades on the 200 Series, you have to increase the braking capacity first otherwise in an emergency you won't pull up a 4 tonne van, it will simply keep pushing you forward.   Do the maths, weight of a 200 series vs the loaded weight of say a 21' TE fully loaded.  I know what will be the winner and it ain't going to be the 200 series.  I just don't want to be the next vehicle in front of you.

 

Chris, I would be very surprised if you even received a warning for being 100kgs overweight in the scheme of things.  In one of my previous lives we worked on a minimum of 10% but I know things have changed in latter years and don't forget you can add ten times more than 100kgs simply by driving along the Oodnadatta Track after it rains.

 

This is just another one of the big questions being raised in relation to the current dual cab utes and their 3.5t towing capacity.  There is a very strong case and recommendation that they tow no more than 3.2t simply for the braking capacity.  They will tow them but stopping them is another thing altogether.

 

 

 

Cheers

 

Merv

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The contributors to this discussion have or are addressing the 'weight' issues of their Kedrons and tow vehicles; and rightly so.

 

I would like to think we can respect the opinion of all the contributors in this discussion. They have, after doing their own research to suit their individual situation regarding the 'weight' issue, and have or are doing are something about it, and within their budget. They should be congratulated for being pro-active on this issue.

 

We will be upgrading the ATM of our Kedron ATV for two to about 3750kg. Our view is similar too Chris, we don't want to load the van up to a 4000kg limit or to 3750kg for that matter, but only to have a couple of hundred kilo in reserve should we slightly exceed the existing 3500kg ATM.

 

Pete

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Having had the TE and 200 for 8 years now braking has never been an issue, the 200 handles it very well. The tow upgrade basically brings the 200 back up to its build rating as sold in the US. It was derated for Australia because our harsh conditions. Same reason given for down rating the new VW twin ab from 3.5 in Europe to 3 here.

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Stu.

 

I have not put any poster down nor is it or was it my intention to do so.  I can only talk from experience particularly when dealing with motor vehicle accidents caused (particularly trucks) by or through over loading and the inability to pull up.  If any person is considering on this upgrade, fine, my suggestion is to also consider a brake upgrade in the package as well.

 

Dismart, I am pleased that your combination works well, I would be interested to know what it weighs fully loaded for an extended trip.

 

Cheers

 

Merv

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After having read the concerns expressed about the possible/potential brake related inadequacies of the 200 series when used as a tow vehicle for large vans, I am almost reluctant to admit that I have a 100 series.

When I was inspecting the shock absorbers on my van this morning, I'm sure that on each "axle" there was a very substantial set of brakes, the purpose of which I understand is to help slow down/stop the van!! 12'' brakes are a very substantial bit of equipment and far bigger and better than on the vehicles we all drove in the past, albeit that in some cases those vehicles may, repeat may, have been lighter and certainly less sophisticated. 

There will always be crisis situations where we need every bit of braking that is available, but it is very possible that in such circumstances not having a van on behind may not make a lot of difference.

Surely, we drive to the circumstances and when with a van in tow, we should add that little bit of margin, say by knocking off a few kms from our speed, or staying back a bit further from the vehicle in front etc etc etc.

In 6 years and many kms with the van in tow, I have never felt as if the van was in control. I respect that it weighs up to 3,500 kgs and so don't push the envelope. The previous van was a single axle Golf which was very comfortable but hell on wheels to tow as no matter how it was packed, it had unbelievable sway. It weighed half of the Kedron but the Golf was the boss. 

About 6 months ago I had Dexter Sway Control fitted by Vehicle Components. The only time the van did not tow as straight as an arrow was when being overtaken by a huge truck which might "suck" you towards it. That has virtually disappeared however, I guess we all instinctively compensated without DSC by anticipating the "suck" effect. I hope that the DSC never has to be put to the test.

Being legal is important, but is secondary to being safe.

Barry     

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We seem to have hit a small hurdle.Need to change the safety chains to meet the new GVM on the topender can someone tell me how they are attached to the drawbar ? And to the Landcruiser?

John 

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4 hours ago, dismart said:

I have just fitted new chains for our upgrade. On the suggestion from our engineer I was able to slide a chain up each Aframe arm and secure them by passing a 5/8 inch high tensile bolt through the frame and chain, securing with self locking nut. I used a 2.5 tonne stamped high tensile chain which fitted nicely inside the arms. Please let me know if you wish to see some photos

cheers

That sounds neat but does that mean that by useing 2 x 2.5 t chains you total 5 t ? 

I was told we need 2 x5 t chains .

John 

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