14' Series My 14.44-4 Journey

Boots in Action

Well-Known Member
Mar 13, 2017
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Ferny Grove, Queensland
Good thing about a fixed panel is it charges whilst daylight driving and also whilst stored at home
Only trouble is no good on hot days when van parked in shady cool spot and hardly any light (only dappled) onto solar panels and batteries are low and need charging!!! Also only full charging capacity available when sun overhead between say 10.30am and 2.30pm as roof angle not able to follow sun. Does however save moving 12kg folding solar panels around the place after removing them from inside van or storage spot. A good reason to have at least one portable panel and a long cable to connect to Anderson plug on side of van with connection to inside solar controller.
 

Prydey

Member
Apr 24, 2018
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Woodcroft, Adelaide.
Set your tyre pressure when cold (20-25c) then once they get hot, if between 4-6psi higher then all good, if pressure higher then add more air if the same then too much air inn tyre, don't rely on the tyre placard...... always check your wheel nuts don't rely on others say so, with alloy rims ideal to use a torque wrench on them when cold, you will find they wont change usually but check when cold, swinging off a wheel brace when they are hot is not a good idea with alloy rims... I find using a torque wrench I never loose the tension... unless a stud has broken.

Van looks good, they are a brilliant rig I reckon.....

Maiden voyage today.

I put 42psi in rear car tyres (placard says 39) and 55psi in the van tyres. (placard said 350kpa empty and 400kpa max).

I stopped an hour up the road for a bite to eat and checked the pressures. Rear car tyres were around 46psi (4psi increase) and van tyres around 61psi (6psi increase), so going by your info it sounds about right. If anything I could maybe go to 56ish on the van but splitting hairs.



 

Prydey

Member
Apr 24, 2018
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Woodcroft, Adelaide.
I also went over a weighbridge on the way.

Van GTM = 1534. Actual weight = 1486. 50kg under so pretty happy with that. Pretty much fully loaded.

Ball weight was about 145 on my scales so about 15kg less. Obviously most of the added weight was on or behind the axle, which is where the fridge and cupboards are.
 

mikerezny

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Sep 11, 2016
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Mount Waverley, VIC
I also went over a weighbridge on the way.

Van GTM = 1534. Actual weight = 1486. 50kg under so pretty happy with that. Pretty much fully loaded.

Ball weight was about 145 on my scales so about 15kg less. Obviously most of the added weight was on or behind the axle, which is where the fridge and cupboards are.
Hi,
did you also check your rear axle loading? Your territory is not all that different to my Falcon and I am not far off the limit on the rear axle.
145kg on the towball will add about 200kg to the axle.

With two passengers in the front, some stuff in the boot and a little on the back seat, with a full tank of petrol, I unable to have passengers any in the back.

take care
Mike
 

Prydey

Member
Apr 24, 2018
59
70
18
Woodcroft, Adelaide.
Hi,
did you also check your rear axle loading? Your territory is not all that different to my Falcon and I am not far off the limit on the rear axle.
145kg on the towball will add about 200kg to the axle.

With two passengers in the front, some stuff in the boot and a little on the back seat, with a full tank of petrol, I unable to have passengers any in the back.

take care
Mike
One of the reasons I upgraded to territory was the extra 100kg or so of payload.

Rear axle limit is 1530 for mine. I measured 1350 today.

Front axle was 1100. Not towing its about 1170.
 

mikerezny

Well-Known Member
Sep 11, 2016
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Mount Waverley, VIC
One of the reasons I upgraded to territory was the extra 100kg or so of payload.

Rear axle limit is 1530 for mine. I measured 1350 today.

Front axle was 1100. Not towing its about 1170.
Hi,

I just dug out my notes. When I took our rig over the scales, rear axle loading was 1,180kg, max is 1330kg, so all good.

Where I was close was on GVMR, total loading: Max is 2,210kg, I had 960kg on the front and 1,180kg on the rear: 2,140kg.
70kg leeway. But, fully loaded I would have had an extra 30kg in fuel and 10kg in my emergency water container.
So, only 30kg under the GVMR (Gross Vehicle Mass Rating). And that is towing only a touring penguin.

The Falcon sedan does not have a published GCMR. (Gross Combined Mass Rating: front axle + rear axle, plus trailer axle weights).

take care
Mike
 

Drover

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Nov 7, 2013
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Ignore the max pressure on the van tyre placard and go by the max cold pressure as stated on the tyre and don't go over it, if a P rated tyre you will more than likely find that you will be on or over to get the proper pressure, using an XL or better still an LT tyre will allow you to have a good pressure and not be on the max, most important on a single axle.......... on really hot days don't deflate the tyre either as it will only run hotter......

Weights look okay, basically keep the GTM under the rating as well as ATM and all should be good, the 145kg ball weight is about perfect I reckon, youve doe a nice balance. the Territory being an MA classification vehicle means it doesn't have a GCM on the plate, an MC class gets a GCM, another stupid Boofacratic decision ...........

Scalies will look at the GCM (real world) of a rig and if good you get a green, if not then they will work further, ATM, GTM, GVM and what is rarely mentioned in mags, axle loads, if they get down that far your in the poo big time................. Just using some common dog when loading is bascially all thats needed, of course ignore TARE it doesn;t exist, same as load capacity they both go hand in hand, once you add things like bar work, extra lights, seat covers even or that set of bigger tyres, the load capacity drops, have seen some vehicles with the accessory catalogue bolted to their vehicle, theres only room for 2 bums.

The rig looks good and I wish i still had mine............
 

Prydey

Member
Apr 24, 2018
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Woodcroft, Adelaide.
Territory GCM is listed in the owners manual. I'm well under.

Van has LT tyres. They are overdue for replacement (2013 dated) so will be getting new ones before the next trip.

Thanks for the feedback.
 

Boots in Action

Well-Known Member
Mar 13, 2017
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Ferny Grove, Queensland
Ignore the max pressure on the van tyre placard and go by the max cold pressure as stated on the tyre and don't go over it, if a P rated tyre you will more than likely find that you will be on or over to get the proper pressure, using an XL or better still an LT tyre will allow you to have a good pressure and not be on the max, most important on a single axle.......... on really hot days don't deflate the tyre either as it will only run hotter......

Weights look okay, basically keep the GTM under the rating as well as ATM and all should be good, the 145kg ball weight is about perfect I reckon, youve doe a nice balance. the Territory being an MA classification vehicle means it doesn't have a GCM on the plate, an MC class gets a GCM, another stupid Boofacratic decision ...........

Scalies will look at the GCM (real world) of a rig and if good you get a green, if not then they will work further, ATM, GTM, GVM and what is rarely mentioned in mags, axle loads, if they get down that far your in the poo big time................. Just using some common dog when loading is bascially all thats needed, of course ignore TARE it doesn;t exist, same as load capacity they both go hand in hand, once you add things like bar work, extra lights, seat covers even or that set of bigger tyres, the load capacity drops, have seen some vehicles with the accessory catalogue bolted to their vehicle, theres only room for 2 bums.

The rig looks good and I wish i still had mine............
Good explanation @Drover after example from @mikerezny . I had a further look to see if any other clear explanations of these abbreviations and what they mean. A lot of vanners are ignorant of the limits and never worry about what are the legal (as well as safety) figures until they are caught overloaded or incur an investigation for an insurance claim. That is when the "chickens come home to roost, but have turned into emus and are kicking in the dunny door"!
The following link may be helpful in providing clearer explanations and good examples for those not sure.

https://www.redarc.com.au/blog/uncovering-the-truth-about-towing-capacities

Stay safe and legal!!!!
 

Drover

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Nov 7, 2013
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I have found this to be a simple explanation of the various abbreviations for beginners without getting bogged down in info overload which many do..... Too many magazine articles and web sites are just fluff.

Though they refer to tare but fail to explain that its a myth, soon as it leaves the factory the tare stays at the factory, the dealer adds panels and other stuff which increases the original tare............................... I like to advise you weigh your van with its basic load, thats the stuff that lives always in van, screens, jack, pegs, gas, water etc thats your new tare then you know how much you can add in they way of tucker and clobber and etrxa rubbish like bikes and barbies.


That Redarc is a good one as well ..............
 
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BJM

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Sep 29, 2018
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Yamba
It continues to amaze me the increasing number of clearly overweight vans on the road. From 24 foot vans
near 3.5 tons towed by beaut utes ,most still with drum brakes.! ,to fully loaded LC200s with large tinnies on the roof ,ob motors on brackets ,bull bars ,winch ,etc towing 24 foot vans ..I know a caravan repairer,accessorie fitter who now will not fit any extra bits and pieces to a caravan untill the owner produces a weigh bridge certificate for the van and vehicle.!
The whole caravan industry needs a shake up ,eg when a guy I was talking to was told by the caravan retailer that his new Ranger 2 litre bi turbo was legally able to tow a 24 Jayco Silverline when both fully loaded ,yet when he weighed the rig ready to go he was nearly 200 kg over ,some thing is wrong!
 
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Boots in Action

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Mar 13, 2017
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Ferny Grove, Queensland
It continues to amaze me the increasing number of clearly overweight vans on the road. From 24 foot vans
near 3.5 tons towed by beaut utes ,most still with drum brakes.! ,to fully loaded LC200s with large tinnies on the roof ,ob motors on brackets ,bull bars ,winch ,etc towing 24 foot vans ..I know a caravan repairer,accessorie fitter who now will not fit any extra bits and pieces to a caravan untill the owner produces a weigh bridge certificate for the van and vehicle.!
The whole caravan industry needs a shake up ,eg when a guy I was talking to was told by the caravan retailer that his new Ranger 2 litre bi turbo was legally able to tow a 24 Jayco Silverline when both fully loaded ,yet when he weighed the rig ready to go he was nearly 200 kg over ,some thing is wrong!
Any tug of any size or capacity can (try to ) tow ANY load if they try hard enough!! It is the longevity and life of tug that is shortened drastically, but more importantly, the safety issue for the occupiers, not to mention other persons/vehicles on the road and in the vicinity. There are plenty of them out there taking that risk.
 

Prydey

Member
Apr 24, 2018
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Woodcroft, Adelaide.
Thought I should update this thread a bit, although not much has really happened. Apart from me having back surgery which has put all the mods on hold... I had a steroid injection on 28th may which improved things slightly and then surgery (L5S1 microdiscectomy) on 14th july. Still recovering from that and it will be a while before I'm back to full fitness.
So during that time I did take the van out on june long weekend down to Naracoorte. The drugs did their thing and enabled me to get away with just my wife, for her birthday. The Naracoorte caves NP campground is our favourite little spot. Anyway, we learned a valuable lesson on the way down. Always make sure the awning brace knobs are tight. I'd been fiddling with the awning at home and obviously forgot to do them up properly. Got to Naracoorte to find them both missing. Rang Jayco Mt Gambier only to find there was a shortage of them and they had no stock. I bought a pair off Amazon from America. So now we double and triple check before driving off.

The a/c works quite well. We'd read that the rooftop ones don't work that well but it was fine for us, down in the south east in the middle of winter. It is noisy though. It cuts in and out with quite a thump too. It's not noisy on the outside though so you won't keep your neighbours up. It's not so loud you can't sleep either.

I fitted my car with pedders h/d rear springs as well. This helped to limit the squat to only about 20mm or so. I've always felt the Territory was a bit soft in the rear anyway so I've found it improves the ride for me even when not towing.

I did also tow the van out to whyalla for my daughter to use for her accommodation while on her uni placement at the hospital there, for 4 weeks. She was very grateful for that and it performed faultlessly for her. A quick plug, the discovery parks whyalla foreshore CP is a great spot. Literally on the beach. We all stayed overnight on her first night and went back up the next weekend for a night as well.

This is us in the middle


The beach


Hooked up ready to leave
 

Prydey

Member
Apr 24, 2018
59
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Woodcroft, Adelaide.
So, finally got around to getting the solar panel, solar controller and inverter fitted.

I got it done at a place called Dario here in Adelaide. Good pricing and workmanship although they did leave the van in a bit of a mess.

Solar panel up front


Mppt controller


Inverter, fitted under dinette seat


And single powerpoint from inverter to run the small coffee machine


All Bluetooth too so turns on and off via the victron app.

I gave the coffee machine a quick test, making the equivalent of 2 drinks one after the other, plus some flushing etc and all seemed ok.

Glad to finally have that piece of the puzzle all sorted. I reckon once we get the mattress sorted that will be the van finished for us for what we need it for.
 

Drover

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Nov 7, 2013
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I reckon once we get the mattress sorted that will be the van finished for us for what we need it for.

:becky: :becky: :becky: :becky: :becky: ............................... and at your next camp you will park beside a money tree.............
 
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