Booked for over GVM?

[Dean Anderson]

As a matter of interest. How many people have been actually booked (fined) for being over weight?

Please tell your story. I've increased my cars GVM (by 230kg) and am in the process of trying to do the same to the van.

I suppose I'm not asking about the legality/safety of GVM change,,,,,,but about the probability of getting caught?

Second question is has anyone had a GVM increase by Jayco (on compliance plate) and if so by how much (and what mods were necessary)?

 

[burnsie]

Hey @Dean Anderson will be interested to also see if anyone has been done for this. When I got mine done late last year (GVM Upgrade) I was able to increase the GVM by 510kgs to 3500kg and as the engineer certified it when going over the pits they had a look at said yep all good, I am not sure how often people would be pinned if any at all.

My 2 cents...

I assume they would have to take you to a weigh station to confirm, who know how far away one of those could be..... I think it would be more a visual safety thing in my opinion, if the vehicle looks overloaded and the suspension is hitting the bump stops or the back of the car pulling the van is practically touching the ground then they should be stopped and looked at.

The only other time I would think is if they setup a dedicated blitz and dedicate resources and man power to book/fine people for it, although these sorts of things once again most of the time only come up when a serious issue/death has occurred from something similar and it is expected that something more is done.

At the end of the day, usually it is not you that you have to worry about it is the other people on the road, as we are currently travelling around you see some interesting setups and driving styles and I know I have done what I need to do to ensure my setup is ok, but my concern unfortunately is the other people on the road that don't take the same precautions or know the laws etc (latest one was two days ago on the way to Carnarvon WA person driving on the wrong side of the road with a fully packed (overloaded) Toyota Tarago/Spacevan not sure if they were just tired or what)

Sorry not sure about the second one, I know @Bluey had his 17-56-2 OB upgraded as he now tows with a higher capacity vehicle so he might be able to help as this was post delivery also.

 

[Bluey]

Mmmmmmm im no expert but maybe not many people booked on side of road but RTA or police can have scales in there boot , i think which you drive your wheel on to to get overall picture of your weight , mainly for trucks , i changed my car as prado was not rated to tow a 1756-2 outback everytime i weighed it it was over on the ball and vsn , so i upgraded car only for insurance purposes , my van plate was to try to match it to prado but in reality it was allways heavier than the plate so now its played to match cruiser heavier on ball and only allowed extra 250 kgs on the van , mmmmmmm cant remember exactly , end of the day prado is 2500kgs the car weighs that so they should never tow over that ,maybe i over reacted but if somthing happed to us and i did somthing eg not braking in time in the wet or somthing else i could never live with myself if i lost everything i own due to a stupid mistake which we can all do, just look at latest truck crash here car cuts of truck ,,,,, truck swervs up inbankment truck rolls tanker squashes car man dies horrible cause of a stupid car driver , they dont allways get caught i dont know, this issue has turned me inside out im really over it but it will continue why did i spend more cash on a cruiser when so many people load up there prados and vans like mine , bugger me what have i started i have no issues with anyone and what they do i was my call to get a cruiser rant over i think ,

 

[Dobbie]

If your GVM ....or any other relevant weights....are exceeded its your responsibility to work within the limits allowed.

They are there for a reason and I reckon it's totally irrelevant whether people who've exceeded them are caught / fined or not.

Congrats on trying to get them right!

 

[bigcol]

there was an article on CandM facebook about people getting pinged on east coast, as well as a "rant" from Fred agreeing with the Police doing it.

personaly, i dont know of anyone being stopped and weighed.....

 

[davemc]

Talking to a lot of people including lots of Grey Nomads it seems someones friend of a friend of a mate got done.

I still need to take the new van and new car to get weighed. Might do the car first to see if I will need to cry
Until you actually weight the car or van your off what they told you it should be.
I know I looked at a few vehicles and a family of six and 270-280 TBM was never going to be under even the tech specs.

 

[Bluey]

I must say when im talking prados and 1756-2 outback with jtech and extended draw bar , i was able to tow leagly empty but a empty van but full of water i was over 270 on the ball and 2.6 or so on the van just water , so when i say prados cant or shouldnt realy tow them its fully loaded,,, am i the only one with a freak of a van thats super heavy ???? Maybe ...... ive weighed mine to many times for the weigh bridges to be wronge and ball scales at reese , so when im fully loaded im closer to 3 t than 2.5 hence the cruiser but i love my prado best car i will eva own with the cruiser a close 2nd

 

[Alphazot]

my 2 cents and I'm talking about QLD...

The odds of getting caught and fined by police are probably slim because most police cars do not have scales (though some traffic officers do). The scales would be needed for evidence however the posted GVM of the vehicle and van and the posted GCM of the whole thing can be used if the officer can prove you are at those weights.

Police will pull you over and question your weights, if you have them written down and can quote them straight away they are unlikely to get the scales out, because you obviously have some idea. The other time police will report on weight will be if you crash, insurance companies LOVE not paying up and if an officer floats the question of weight issues in their report you are very likely to have to prove to your insurance that you were under weight.

QLD transport will in most cases fine you for being overweight. All QLD transport vehicles have portable scales for this particular issue. They are currently targeting caravanners being over weight in particular the GCM of the whole load. In particular the ford ranger and bt50 guys! I have seen in some cases for example where you are required to drop water before leaving.

 

[Drover]

Having run a semi's and other heavies over the scales on many occasions I think folks have some sort of paranoid belief that they will be pulled over whenever they venture out, you can only get weighed at weigh stations or on pads, thats on areas that are capable of using mobile scales and they will weigh each axle, on trucks there is an axle limit thats set, on cars and vans there really isn't a set so the equation to prove your over would be a pain................no matter what the plate on your van says it's the GCM on the tug which counts and you would need to do your weigh ticket fully loaded, GCM that is mainly what you would get fined for and for you to be pulled over you would have to stand out like the proverbial but with DH in magazines and forums waffling on about things, one day vans will be targeted with scales set up to accomodate........another question, are you inside the regulated length ???????... do other things on your van comply ????? what about if your compliance plate is incorrect who cops the fine ????? many plates are incorrect..............so many things......rod racks on bull bar, illegal, driving lights extend beyond bumper or bull bar, illegal.......dash cam, GPS on dash in front of driver, illegal...........the list is endless..................just get in and go, if your stupid then you will probably attract attention, use common sense and you will breeze along.
Towing a 20ft van with a Kluger or something, thats stupid. Many a Cruiser I've seen with tinny etc would bang the scales for sure.

Some could be classed as overloaded without the van hooked up..............................

 

[mfexpanda]

I'd say none

 

[Jags73]

I've only ever spoke to one caravaner that has been weighed, only because the 200 series was sitting down a bit towing a 22 ft van, the tug was a converted 200 series, extended wheelbase with tray & canopy, tinnie on of that. Also had the GVM increased to around 4.2 ton.
It was all legal, including weights.
I dropped in the Morgan Park SA for lunch when the stretched 200 rolled in & I chated to him about the conversion & cost, not sure were he got pulled over & got weighed, but he was on his way home to Qld from the west.

Of all the years I've been on the road, only the semis I,ve driven have only been weighed

 

[Rockape]

I find it interesting that there seems to be more and more discussion about the weight of tow vehicle and caravans lately. I also congratulate those who put an emphasis on staying within their payload limits. However I am still amazed at how some people still have no idea what their setups weigh. I have friends like that! As technology improves, the equipment used by authorities to weigh vehicles will become more readily in use. I have no problem with this is it removes unsafe overloaded vehicle and caravans from the road. With my Ford Ranger loaded up, the most I can safely tow to stay legal is 2900kgs. I have also seen plenty of heavily loaded 4WD's with boats on the roof, drawer setups and fridges which look very heavy without a caravan hooked up.

 

[Dobbie]

I can only say....driver/ vanners beware.

We're currently looking at lifting the bum on our vehicle and the first questions asked were related to weights.

We had them all.....and totally up to date.

If pulled over or questioned, we also have them. I don't care whether it's worth trying to evade the so called checks, if it's related to my safety, I'm going to get it right!

We've seen far too many overloaded combinations to feel confident many others are within the allowable limits.

My vote is for checks by whoever / whatever ....don't really care....but all should not only feel safe but be safe.

( we did see a nova 2.5 tonne tare van being towed by a Suzuki...no wonder he held up all traffic and caused frustration)

There are some things that are easy to ignore, others that shouldn't be ignored.

 

[Drover]

Your exactly right@Dobbie, being aware is the thing but if it came to a stage where we would be like truckies , get flagged into weigh bridges that would also mean you would have to get a weighbridge ticket each time you set out, now that would be a pain...............a weigh bridge ticket showing what you weighed 2 weeks ago wouldn't count for anything with them but I know I should really see what the tare on my rig really is compared to the plate and what she is when loaded normally for touring............I probably won't, but I should, just lazy............I knew in the trucks straight away when I was heavy and it seems to work with the van as well as at times I've dumped or moved water, to get the feel right.

 

[Bellbirdweb]

Just saw these pictures come up in my facebook feed. A salient reminder as to why the weights are so important

.

 

[chartrock]

WOW!!! :fear:Would certainly like to know the circumstances of that one.

 

[Dobbie]

I'm trying to work out what they've stacked on the rear bar....anyone identified it?

It looks like more than bike racks.

(I'm looking on iPad and having trouble zooming in and getting it the right way round)

That would certainly spoil a holiday.....and everything else, including the hip pocket.

 

[mfexpanda]

Boat trailer

 

[Dobbie]

Thanks...couldn't work it out.

I now see there's a tinny by the roadside so that must have been on the car.

Wonder what his weights were......

 

[Drover]

It was on the news here the other night, female driver, witness said it got a big sway up and that was it, looks like a Prado towing a near new Kokoda Tribute so would be on the max, weight wise I think.............. thats a fold away boat trailer on the back....luckily no injuries, very lucky.
Think it was not far from Gympie on the Bruce Hwy.