All our cars are iligal

Yep, utes are built for load carrying, other vehicles are for passengers and suitcases.

Isn’t that referring to the weight that can be carried in the designated luggage Area? And not the weight that can be carried on the car, like bolts on accessories and passengers.

And how can a courier be licensed to carry more weight than a F250??

Interesting to compare Prado/Pajero figures to LandCruiser/Patrol - the "smaller" vehicles have about 100kg more payload.

Yes I can imagine just how overloaded the T40x2 used to be with all those gadgets on it....hahahahahahaha

BTW did that letter arrive?

708 kgs for F100 4x4

Nearly finished packing mine and I think I need to go on a diet. Full tanks and 80ltr of water and she's at 3260kg according to the weighbridge at work. New with no accessories it tipped 2800kgs. Tent, swags, spare tyre case, clothes and fridge to fill yet and with a few odds and ends she'll most likely hit 3400kg. That rear Kmar bar must weigh half a ton! I still have a further "legal" margin of 300kgs but enough is enough!! Ahhhh...but I can hardly wait to point her north and get going.

Its dead set simple:

Load your vehicle up with whatever it is you intend to carry when driving off on your trip. (just think you are going to do the SD or CSR)

Go to the local weigh bridge and weigh the sucker including SWMBO and any others likely to travel.

Then compare the weigh bridge result with your vehicles rated GVM.

And cry tears of blood working out how you are going to get the 'mother' under the Rated, Legal, Lawful GVM.

Regards

Ken Robinson

Roachie is bleep ed....

I thought the reason for fitting an aftermarket suspension (which comes with weight rated springs-light, medium, heavy) was to enable a higher load.... Reading this thread, I went to check the papers for HJ61:

Tare: 2360kg
GVM: 2850 kg
Aggregate Weight: 3250kg

The OME suspension was fitted a few months ago and in the warranty conditions it states that the warranty is void is the vehicle is loaded over the manufacturers GVM.... this makes me wonder what on earth is the purpose of the aftermarket suspension which is supposed to cope with off-road conditions and heavy load (isn't that why there are different load options for the springs?)

Joseph

Yeh People it sucks and Rock Crawler has it right on the money, I have heard incidents in NSW of the Barbie boys weighing some lately, also checking towball weights if towing Vans or Campers. Bigger worry than being pinched for overloading, is if you happen to dent your pride and joy, insurance companies have an out if the vehicle is proved to be over its GVM. My Bravo went 2.9 when we crossed the Simpson so was just over, mates Nissan went 3.4 so was over by miles. The after market guys can have a field day, using Carbon fibre etc for all the add ons, even including body panels. Then we will only need about 300K to get a vehicle setup. i think I need a ly-down

Look, listen and learn!

Look in parking bays just before weighbridges, chances are that if its full of trucks, the 'barbie' is hot. That mean VicRoads, highway patrol, RTA, transport QLD, SAtransport, or some other group of self justifying gooses are there.

Listen to your UHF or CB! The truckies genarally know whats going on in front of them. Occasionally, they get it wrong, but for the most part, they'll fill you in.

Learn to speak another language. this will confuse a scalie or cop to no end. But under no circumstances should you drive off after speaking fluent swahali with a casual 'See ya later mate.' That will get you caught.

LMAO, yeah like are you trying to tell us somthing we DIDN'T know? :-)

Man the surf carry's more than mosta you blokes I'm sure, look at my list of CRAP and that's before we pack all the camping gear and BABY stuff! (I think I have the same problem as roachie but on a smaller scale).

In reality I don't think your going to get into much strife from the cops if your vehicle doesn't look dodgy. ie If you ensure that your suspension is up to scratch and the load is balanced and well secured.
We put the roof rack bag on and secure everything neatly in the back and then pump up the rear air bags. We have no sagging and everything looks and feels sweet so the average copper that pulls you over for a licesne check is going to look at your tyres and suspension and make sure your numberplates aren't dirty and go, no worries mate take it easy. Most coppers wouldn't have a clew anyway. That's what amazes me about the powers cops have to issue roadworthy's, I mean where did they do their mechanics or engineers apprenticship? What the hell do they know, why should they have the right to interfere with mechanical issues!?
I got my cortina yellow stickered when I was 17 because it had "oil leaks". Of course I probally didn't help the situation by being smart but hey. COPPER -"Looks like you got some oil leaks hey mate." ME - "Well it is a ford isn't it?". LOL
I steam cleaned the engine, my neighbour (a mobile mechanic) gave me a dummy recepit for replacing all the engine seals and my girlfirend took it over the pits with a tight top on, back and the road with a leaky master cylinder, more oil leaks than a triumph, a leaking head gasket, retread tyres and more bog than metal. They are idiots...

Looking at the manual for the Disco weighing in at 2195kg and a GVM of 2750 gives me 565kg carrying capacity, with an extra 130kg if i have load leveling suspension, which gives me a GVM of 2880kg, this means i'm under by my short and curlies ;-)

Baz.

. . . . and I got insulted by an EO member early last month for suggesting that many 4WDs which have been set up for off-road use were indeed, overweight.

I and others have been pointing the overloading issue out for years, it's amazing how much you can pare from the load if you travel light and don't take too much that isn't used constantly when travelling.
Do't forget with most of the big wagons that can carry 8 passengers, each passenger 'weighs' for weight purposes 65-70kgs multiply that by 8 and you've punched a serious hole in the load carrying capacity (probably none left.)
Add bullbar, towbar, heavier suspension, dual batteries, recovery gear, winch, spotties, rear tyre carrier, long range fuel tanks, cargo barrier, rear drawer system, etc etc etc and most 4wd's set up for touring would be way over GVM.
I remember weighing a 47 series troopy in Alice Springs back in the mid 80's, all loaded up to head across the Tanami, weighed 4.2 tonne, the weighbridge fella wouldn't write it down as he knew that we were illegal!

Yes it's surprising what light loads some of the larger vehicles can actually carry legally.

I believe the manufacturers set the GVM by taking everything about the truck into consideration.....e.g: load bearing capabilities of the axles and bearings, unladen vehicle weight already on the axles & susp., chassis design and construction, structural integrity, spring rates, etc. etc.

So upgrading to heavier springs etc doesnt necessarily mean you can legally or safely exceed the load limit specified by the manufacturer although there is usually a buffer zone of some percentage of what the vehicle can actually safely carry.

Utes are usually designed with a very rigid chassis and are lighter on the back to start with gives them a greater load carrying capacity than most of the bigger wagons. Ah, I love the versatility of the dual cabs.

my 2c

In the interest of getting three more slabs on board and staying legal, it would appear that the missus or the bullbar will have to stay at home. Decisions, decisions.