weight woes

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Dot
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Joined: Fri Nov 23, 2012 6:12 pm
Location: Strathalbyn SA

weight woes

Post by Dot »

Read this on Grey Nomads, thought it may be interesting to some----------

Grey Nomads of Australia Classifieds

Mobile Vehicle Weighing WA ·


·
Here is a reminder of what can go horribly wrong even if you think you are doing the right thing.
I had this weigh last week and when I saw the cruiser with a dinghy coming towards me at the Woodman Point carpark I knew we were in trouble.
This is what goes belly up my friends. The Landcruiser had a very expensive Lovell's GVM upgrade to 4200kg, 850kg above standard, along with a 2304kg rear axle re-rating. Now with all of this you would think the Landcruiser would be okay for weight. It came in at 4115kg, so happy days, all good, legal you would think.
Nah, think again. When a vehicle has a GVM upgrade AFTER REGISTRATION the GCM or gross combined mass DOES NOT CHANGE, it remains at the manufacturers specification, which is 6850kg for a 200 series Landcruiser. (WA and Qld only)
So let's do the sum for this particular weigh. The van weighed 3180kg, the vehicle 4115kg, add the two and 7295kg on total.
Now the thing is the van was underweight, the vehicle also underweight, however the GCM was 445kg over the 6850kg specification for the Landcruiser.
In the end, after spending around $5k on a GVM upgrade it didn't help at all.
If you have any questions, please ask.
Queen of the Banal & OT chatter and proud of it. If it offends you then tough titty titty bang bang.
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jon_d
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Re: weight woes

Post by jon_d »

add the two and 7295kg on total.
which is about 300 kilos less than my bus.
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T1 Terry
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Re: weight woes

Post by T1 Terry »

jon_d wrote: Mon Nov 28, 2022 4:23 pm
add the two and 7295kg on total.
which is about 300 kilos less than my bus.
But possibly more than the Hino :shock: Still, the cruiser was 1 tonne heavier than the van, so the tail still shouldn't be able to wag the dog, that means the loss of control was caused by something else ....... speed and not enough braking ability? Driving a heavy vehicle like it was still the basic empty cruiser?
The question still remains, why can anyone drive a 7.3 tonne combination on a car licence? The whole thinking and driving process changes when you learn how to drive a heavy vehicle and that doesn't cover towing a pig trailer, and that is what a heavy caravan becomes ..... it really requires a heavy combination licence and the training on how to handle the weight and unpredictability of a heavy pig trailer ..... dog trailers are bad enough, but pig trailers will spin you around and flip you over real quick if you stop paying attention

T1 Terry
A person may fail many times, they only become a failure when they blame someone else John Burrows
If we have data, let’s look at data. If all we have are opinions, let’s go with mine. – Jim Barksdale, former Netscape CEO
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supersparky
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Re: weight woes

Post by supersparky »

It's all about the training isn't it. Most caravanners get on road training. Some get off road and upside down training too, which is never good. Some work it out and others don't.
There are a lot of the new big SUV's towing enormous vans way too fast on most of our highways. It's all good until it isn't.
Cheers
David

David and Terrie with Bandit the travelling companion
2006 Winnebago Alpine
Recently retired and loving it.
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T1 Terry
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Re: weight woes

Post by T1 Terry »

It's a big relearning curve for many, as much about what not to do as what to do .... if the rig is going to wander off the road, don't try to yank it back straight, rather look for a good spot to guide it back onto the road. Trailer brakes first, if that isn't enough then gentle of the vehicle brakes, those two alone will avoid most of the major accidents. Understanding just how much velocity a heavy rig has so you can judge just how fast it can stop safely, from there you can judge how close to the vehicle in front is a safe distance and just how fast is safe on any section of road, then reduce that on sections you don't know, to a point you feel you could stop if you needed to in a very short distance to select a lower gear ....

T1 Terry
A person may fail many times, they only become a failure when they blame someone else John Burrows
If we have data, let’s look at data. If all we have are opinions, let’s go with mine. – Jim Barksdale, former Netscape CEO
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Greynomad
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Re: weight woes

Post by Greynomad »

Graduating from a Kombi to a B Class m/h, a Coaster SWB m/h then 8 tonne Girt was a gentle introduction to heavy vehicle driving.

Now I have to re-learn it all to safely tow a caravan, which is a different ball game altogether.

I know I'll have to take it slowly and gently, remembering to pull over every now and then to release the frustrated drivers following me.
Regards & God bless,
Ray
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