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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2015 14:27:44 GMT 10
Hi Shane
I think Bobt is a Mexican as well and he should have the best info for tare/atm/gmt regs for Vic.
It is interesting the stories and gossip that goes around on the internet re caravan weigh regs etc and vans getting weighed, I asked on both Facebook and on a major caravan forum and no-one had ever been stopped and had there van checked !! Qld transport recently held a come and weigh it day at the Ipswich showground so people could find out how much there vans did weigh and there was lots of information handed out, problem was I was away that weekend with my van.
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Post by snoops on Sept 30, 2015 21:31:21 GMT 10
VicRoads will ask what the ATM of the van is when you go to register it - they basically just take your word on what you tell them, so if you say 2,000Kg and the axles are rated above that, you won't have an issue down here. They accepted 1,300Kg for mine as the axle was rated to 1,400
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Post by tedalley on Oct 1, 2015 7:36:19 GMT 10
Hi Ted, Must be a good feeling to be using your van. The original quoted weights of your 19' van could not possibly have been close. Our 17' went 920kg stripped out?? your 19' footer @ 890kg??? Apparently it was the case for manufactureres to fib about the tare for customers to believe they could tow easily. With Our Supreme, Im going to finish it, load it, weigh it, then see if the upgrade at about $1000.00 is worth it?
Mustang Hi.
You could be right --- but my van is a Franklin.
The wall construction is very light as two of us could lift the walls at ease (with the windows out)and the only reason I needed someone else was 'cause of the wind blowing.
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Post by tedalley on Oct 1, 2015 7:47:37 GMT 10
How are you guys getting your loaded weights. As far as I know, the older caravans only have an empty weight specified. I'd have thought any reasonable additional loading would be legal as there is no maximum weight specified. eg: what would the loaded weight for my caravan be ? The tar is about 1600kg..... I'm guessing 2tons max so I don't require break away brakes. realistically, so long as it's safe I don't really care what the final weight is  I'm sure the structure and suspension would happily handle 2.5tons .................... seeya, Shane L.
Shane Hi.
The loaded weight is the maximum weight each item can carry -- ie. my new springs can take 1640kg. the tyres can take 850 + 850 = 1700kg, rims are rated at 890 +890 = 1780kg, axle & brakes are rated at 2000kg.
This means that legally the loaded weight of the van must not exceed 1640kg and this is what the guy who made the springs stated & the weighbridge guy confirmed this.
You have to be careful as the RTA are blitzing over weight caravans & have mini scales on the side of the road to test vans.
Ted
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Post by doublechevron on Oct 1, 2015 9:34:09 GMT 10
How are you guys getting your loaded weights. As far as I know, the older caravans only have an empty weight specified. I'd have thought any reasonable additional loading would be legal as there is no maximum weight specified. eg: what would the loaded weight for my caravan be ? The tar is about 1600kg..... I'm guessing 2tons max so I don't require break away brakes. realistically, so long as it's safe I don't really care what the final weight is I'm sure the structure and suspension would happily handle 2.5tons .................... seeya, Shane L.
Shane Hi.
The loaded weight is the maximum weight each item can carry -- ie. my new springs can take 1640kg. the tyres can take 850 + 850 = 1700kg, rims are rated at 890 +890 = 1780kg, axle & brakes are rated at 2000kg.
This means that legally the loaded weight of the van must not exceed 1640kg and this is what the guy who made the springs stated & the weighbridge guy confirmed this.
You have to be careful as the RTA are blitzing over weight caravans & have mini scales on the side of the road to test vans.
Ted
Yes But us guys with pre-89 caravans don't have a maximum weight. No doubt they just add the tire capacities together and call that the maximum. I can't tell what the weight carrying capacity of the suspension or wheel bearings is, so how could they life's easy, when you choose it to be  It really would be one in a million chance that you would get checked. the caravans been happily cruising the roads in it's current guise for 30years, so the idea it's suddenly unsafe to use as designed is ludicrous! seeya Shane L. |
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Post by tedalley on Oct 2, 2015 20:56:47 GMT 10
Yes But us guys with pre-89 caravans don't have a maximum weight.
Shane L.
Shane Hi.
My van is a 1974 Franklin and the Rego papers it has the Tare weight & the GVM recorded on it.
Ted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2015 6:52:46 GMT 10
Hi Mustang, I would get onto the guy's at trailer spares and ask them what those hubs can take...plus how is it he will put the new tare at the top limit of 1500kgs  I thought most safety places/officers move it back by approx. 100kgs (for leeway)
Has been very enlightening reading up all the different rules each state has and what is or isn't checked when wanting to lift your tare on a caravan.  Keep the info flowing
Cheers
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Post by snoops on Oct 5, 2015 16:56:24 GMT 10
Well, I ran the van over the weigh bridge on Thursday when I headed off for the long weekend. It had a full water tank, 2 full (9kg) glass bottles, spare tyre, batteries, inverter, food, grog, HWS, awning, poles, clothes - everything we would travel with for a small or large trip.
ATM as given by VicRoads is 1,300kg. It came in at...... 1,420kg..... 180 on the jockey wheel and 1,240 on the axle, so at least the axle isn't overloaded (it's rated at 1,400kg).
So, 70kg overweight, not the end of the world, although I still have some stuff to add - and take away. I have a small return to add for the ensuite, but I can shed a lot of weight yet. Following is weight I can remove...
- 4 x corner stabilisers - the old ones at the back don't work, and the new ones on the front, I don't like. I've recently bought 4 lightweight 'stakka jaks' and these work well and I'm happy with them, so there's a bit of steel I can hack off there.
- The bed frame - it's home made out of 3/4" chip board and weighs a tonne. Rebuilding the frame with lightweight materials - will save some Kg's.
- Window glass will become Perspex as I rebuild them - I've been thinking about going a tinted Perspex to make it look a bit better and give some contrast to the while sides.
- removing one battery - 1 have 2 x 100AH Fullriver deep cycle batteries in it at the moment, but after spending 5 days in the one spot and only draining the batteries 10% in that time, I really have too much capacity. Each battery weighs over 30Kg, so there's an easy saving.
Oh, and I had nothing in the tow vehicle to start with, so I shifted a gas bottle, the HWS, a slab of beer and the spare tyre into the back of the car, which would have got me most of the way to being legal, and I could pack some stuff in the car and be legal, but I want to be able to just throw in my clothes, food and fur babies and head off, so I'll go down the diet path for the van.
When I get all that done, I'll run it across the weigh bridge again and see if I've been successful. Failing that, it's off to the Engineers for an ATM upgrade - although I think I would be stiff getting booked for it - I would bet that anyone doing random inspections would pick on big modern lumps that weigh 3 tonne plus, but I want it all legal when I'm done.
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Post by bobt on Oct 5, 2015 21:22:12 GMT 10
oooh bugga.. ya betta lay off the chocolates That bed sounds like a real good spot to start. snoops if your set up looks ok from the outside and ya don't do anything stupid on the road it will be very unlikely that you will get stopped.  |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2015 8:05:14 GMT 10
There have been a few threads here about members upgrading suspension for piece of mind. But none I have seen for official upgrades. Is there a system of axel size, number of leaves in springs etc, that relates to an approximate ATM rating? (What you need to do to upgrade) We are upgrading our modern ATM by 150kg, its costing us $300 to have an engineer to OK it!!! While he is here I will get him to view Vincent (hopefully at a discounted rate) because our ATM on the rego is 1250kg, (17'6") when I had it weighed virtually stripped out it tipped in at 900KG, so by now I guess I,m over 1250 without trying, this must leave me vulnerable in an accident, even without insurance? I will report our findings. EDIT: My springs are 7 x leaf & the square axel is 42mm round at the stubs. So Mustang will the extra 250kgs be enough ?? |
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Post by Mustang on Oct 9, 2015 19:49:50 GMT 10
Yesterday while painting we pushed it around like a box trailer, so i dont think its worth it, as Shayne says they have been getting around for 35 years like this. All I have done is replace what the manufacturer supplied, possibly better, with tyres & brakes.
I'm going to load up, weigh, & revise, my components are so close I don't think it matters.
PS: I got the 150kg extra on the modern.
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I'm sure the structure and suspension would happily handle 2.5tons ....................
It really would be one in a million chance that you would get checked. the caravans been happily cruising the roads in it's current guise for 30years, so the idea it's suddenly unsafe to use as designed is ludicrous!
I thought most safety places/officers move it back by approx. 100kgs (for leeway) 
