Dave and Sarah's Starcraft 22.68-1

[davemc]

now agonising over the bar. I put ESC and TPMS to be safe although keep wondering if we go the Bar or not?
Running out of time to get it done now
If I get it done do I go white colour coded or black.
I prefer the black like the OL

So if you look at weights with 260 on the ball if I get back 10kgs which should be easy, we just over today with a full tank of fuel maybe?
Although the kids will grow. We might have to reduce at the same rate then work out what we do?
if I dump the front water tank if pulled over that save us 15-20kg

Maybe I should get one and not think about it the car tows 3500 and TBM 350 so not sure they put us over anyway.
No rack and no fridge and a touring van they probably wave us through

 

[Dobbie]

Hold the fruit and give the kids lollies if you're approached.....they'll run a mile.

And I like the black also.....but do you need one if worried about weight? Stay off the road early morning and late afternoon and there's a reasonable chance you won't find an animal.....but then, there's always the off chance you'll come across a roo or goat or sheep or cow or bull or snake or lace monitor or.........

Just avoid the goats. They're more stupid and more solid than the others and the wild ones not good eating.

 

[davemc]

I just chatted to a friend who did sales runs for years up NT,QLD and NSW based in Brissy on the road too much like 3 out of every 5 weeks driving.
Over 3-4 years hit one roo and that was driving at night. No bar wrote of the van, had a couple of misses although said daylight you be all right. Although said if I am worrying get a bar Never seen anyone apart from a truck pulled over for weights
Sort of like insurance we paid for two cars and a house for a long time touch wood nothing.
Think I ring tomorrow if they can do it we might get it done.
I will have to work out a way to get rid of some weight so I am happier.

 

[davemc]

pic of a ARB bar in black from aulro

 

[Drover]

Just throw the bar on, no winch and don't worry about the weight, just chuck out the stuff thats really not needed..............You will give yourself ulcers.
I drove out Western QLD and NSW for years and only took out things at night and then some of them came from the side so bull bar was useless.

 

[davemc]

ARB Bar ordered they are putting it on next Thursday rushed one in for me.
Thought odds being over less then hitting a roo

 

[17triton]

ARB Bar ordered they are putting it on next Thursday rushed one in for me.
Thought odds being over less then hitting a roo

Good choice:encouragement:

 

[Drover]

and more important, it will look cool.................now what next to worry about ???????.................just don't hit a cow.

 

[davemc]

Showed Sarah some YouTube videos hence the bar she still thinks it ugly

 

[Drover]

What about a pink one ???????

 

[Shane Norwell]

The whole weight things a pain in the ass isn't it, yours is essentially bog stock, how do people go with twin wheel carriers, long range tanks ect. Just about every decked out 4wd on the road must be over weight.

 

[Dobbie]

It sure is a worry!

And I agree....some are marginal but most are way over.....and it scares the hell out of me...obviously.

:faint:

 

[davemc]

Yes weights are a minefield
I know when picking the disco sales people had no idea.
It tows 3 tonne be fine

Yes bar, long range tank, dual wheel carriers, boat on roof, Jack, Max tracks, 2 jerry cans and draws with slide out fridge full of beer
Without a GVM upgrade a 200 series has a payload around 640kg
Do the maths

 

[Drover]

You forgot the coffee machine.........................but in reality most are ignorant to the fact, the brochure says the tug tows 3.5t, the van brochure and plate says it's 3t so lock and load it's all good, ignorance is bliss.

You do know the specs are all theory as to how much they can carry and tow, also the suspensions won't last trying to carry the max anyway.....................

 

[Shane Norwell]

You forgot the coffee machine.........................but in reality most are ignorant to the fact, the brochure says the tug tows 3.5t, the van brochure and plate says it's 3t so lock and load it's all good, ignorance is bliss.

You do know the specs are all theory as to how much they can carry and tow, also the suspensions won't last trying to carry the max anyway.....................

It's a real don't be rude storm with the 200 cruisers at the moment, dobinson do a gvm upgrade to 3.8t but it doesn't increase the gcm so if you load the car to its new capacity you can only tow 3t. Then dobinson have gone and released a tow upgrade of 4t but still can't say if they've increased the gcm, so technically if your towing the (now) legel 4t you can't put fuel in the tank.

As for ours I've got a guvi patrol with drawers, rear bar and twin spares, arb bar and winch, steel roof rack and dual batteries. With just me and very little fuel it weighs 3.2t, on the weekend I put the whole rig on the bridge, full of fuel with the family onboard and packed for an adverage weekend away it came in at 6.26t...yep I'm f$&@?d.

 

[Shane Norwell]

It sure is a worry!

And I agree....some are marginal but most are way over.....and it scares the hell out of me...obviously.

:faint:

Why does it scare you bud?

 

[davemc]

on the weekend I put the whole rig on the bridge, full of fuel with the family onboard and packed for an adverage weekend away it came in at 6.26t...yep I'm f$&@?d.

thanks mate I do not feel so bad now
6.26t for the rig with van.. the GCM around 6200? 3tonne plus 3200 towing for manual.

 

[Drover]

Thats an interesting bit of info @Shane Norwell , when we loaded up up and left our old place I would have hated to put the rig on the bridge as I'm positive I would have popped the scales, the Colorado has a 6.1t GCM and Big Mal has a plated 2.7t which I'm sure is fantasy........while I think Big Mal was okay I'm sure the Ute was over the upgraded suspension was a bit down.......................sorry @davemc we seem to wander off ........................

 

[davemc]

no worries @Drover my thread we can wander the whole weight thing interests me.
For this trip I am leaving somethings from the van at home like annex, stools etc etc
Want to take it over a weigh bridge when we leave to see with the new bar.

 

[Dobbie]

Why does it scare you bud?

It scares me because it's potentially dangerous.

We've noticed braking effects if we load up too much...and we're well within the payload limits for both vehicle and van....and we believed the salesman with his " to tow a two ton van get something with a 3 ton rating and towball up to 300kgs and you're fine"

Then we started to look into it further, realised there's a lot more to it than that and now believe the industry needs to take a good hard look at itself, it's lack of accurate info, and the legal implications for both owners and manufacturers.

It's interesting that the one manufacturer we're talking with at the moment won't upgrade payloads under any circumstances ...engineering specifics....and I agree with that.

But many of the dealers fall short as they simply don't understand the whole scenario. It's still "you have a vehicle which will tow 3.5 ton so here's a 3 ton van we'll sell you...you can load the vehicle with a boat, etcetcetc ".

That's why it scares me!