Victorian Police Caravan Blitz

[davemc]

When I was a lot younger did Outward Bound from Mt Kosciuszko to Orbost.
Our group packed lots or TVP another group took a lot of can food after a few days they wished they had not

People here know how I micro manage weight So when I see outback 22.68's pulled with the cars I rejected as they had no payload for our touring I bite my tongue.
I do say there should be a standard for TARE for cars.
Also get annoyed that car manufacture FLASH UP in BIG NUMBERS 3.5 tonne 3.1 tonne or 3.0 tonne
Then hide the fine print what they can tow if loaded
Or you can have 300kg TBM although 600kg payload minus fuel and people and that TBM.

and you wonder why its hard for people to work out.

 

[Drover]

All right what did I miss ??????? I see the bits, not comparing me with @Dobbie I hope, I don't do a spreadsheet for my weights I assure you.......probably went over my head anyway......................................

My last hiking trip we just threw in a spare pair of pants, jocks, shirt and 2 pair of socks, some sleeping gear, hooch, hexy stove, a couple of rat paks, not a lot of weight but it was the extras that made up for the light personal gear, a few boxes of make believe brass things, rectangular green things and about 6 water bottles , no scales but in the lovely Malayasian summer it was enough, oh also had a big black thing over my shoulder, to keep you balanced they said, 3 weeks later the scales would have shown a loss of weight but it wasn't cargo it was me, slim and trim.......
Have Googled to see where the bridges are locally so may get Big Mal and The Ute scaled when we head of next week if it's handy just GCM.

 

[Dobbie]

I only do a spreadsheet as I have a habit of losing my bits of paper and I can't add up!

And I try...reluctantly ...to keep my past computer skills at least up yo 2000 level.

@Drover ...that sounds like a nostalgic expedition.

 

[Dobbie]

so what you're all saying in my EK Holden ute was overloaded with our 20' Travel Home van with over ride brakes back in 1975? I can still smell the clutch on take off and when reversing into a parking spot

Ahhhh... But did it stop?

and I have a more recent memory of a burnt out clutch...that's why I've got a caravan mover...it was cheaper than another clutch and a lot less stress.

 

[Drover]

EH, EK,HR Holdens would go anywhere, just feed em Super petrol........................and plenty of right foot.

I just use low range @Dobbie.

 

[Dobbie]

I do too, now....I'm a slow learner.

 

[Drover]

Here's what we all need http://riverswayleisure.com.au/reich-caravan-scales-upto-1500kg.html
a set of scales to weigh each wheel........................actually if only one person in an area bought one, those nearby could stop by and share, I nominate @Dobbie for SE QLD.....

 

[Macca_75]

on the facebook page i see a few questionable towing setups... people fall in love with the van without thinking and lets be honest the dealers dont care if you rock up with a lancer to pick up a 20' expanda... lol

I'll defend Bayswater Jayco here - the first question they asked me (before I even looked at a van) was what is my tow vehicle. And then when I was chatting to the salesman about the price of a smaller van for a friend (think Swan/hawk) again - first question was what is the tow vehicle.

 

[bigcol]

I'll defend Bayswater Jayco here - the first question they asked me (before I even looked at a van) was what is my tow vehicle. And then when I was chatting to the salesman about the price of a smaller van for a friend (think Swan/hawk) again - first question was what is the tow vehicle.

I like that some are being Pro-active, would love that it started being by all sales in all states

 

[Ssil2000]

I like that some are being Pro-active, would love that it started being by all sales in all states

they did ask me what i drove, but when he tried to show my wife the 20 footer, he didn't worry about the weight....

 

[bigcol]

hahahahaha

 

[mikerezny]

I'll defend Bayswater Jayco here - the first question they asked me (before I even looked at a van) was what is my tow vehicle. And then when I was chatting to the salesman about the price of a smaller van for a friend (think Swan/hawk) again - first question was what is the tow vehicle.

Hi @Macca_75,

I had a similar experience when we bought our Penguin from Bayswater Jayco. On handover, they also insisted on taking the car and van for a test drive before handing it over to us.

cheers
Mike

 

[Macca_75]

Hi @Macca_75,

I had a similar experience when we bought our Penguin from Bayswater Jayco. On handover, they also insisted on taking the car and van for a test drive before handing it over to us.

cheers
Mike

And the drives are for a purpose. I was picking up my full size Expanda and another Ranger had a smaller Silverline. Both had the test drives about the same time, but only they were sold a WDH to help (you could see the ute sag when the van went on). So they are pretty good when it comes to ensuring vans and tow vehicles leave safely.

 

[davemc]

most van places asked me what I tow with when we been looking at vans which is good.
Although when I say a Disco they say ok you can buy everything which is not true.
With 4 kids, bullbar we are tight on payload with 260-270 TBM if we went 350kg then I have to leave a few kids or wife at home
Even though the Disco can still tow 3500 at full GVM your eating into your payload with a bigger van and higher TBM.

If you look at something like a Pajero Sport 3100 towing although GCM is 5400 and Tare is 2100 on GLS.
So if you want to tow 3100 your got 200kg payload including TBM, towbar/WDH so no idea how it tows 3100 unless the van has less then 10% TBM even then Driver/fuel included in 200kgs
GVM is 2710 so at full GVM you can tow 2690.
Although you go to buy a van they will ask what car you say Pajero Sport 3100 towing power, they go fine get a Silverline.
It is not fair to put the burden on the caravan dealer to delve into hidden specs.

 

[Macca_75]

I agree. But if you say you have a VW (anything except the Tourag I believe) it's pretty much a no go. Even though they can *pull* the weight, they don't have the TBM. Strange - why would you not build the car so the TBM is 10% of your towing capability (since this is pretty much accepted as a standard best practice for trailers that aren't 5th wheelers)?

 

[davemc]

TBM is Europe a lot lower even with larger vans I think 3-5% norm overseas.
Apart from US which has giant trucks that tow

Now thats another debate why are vans so heavy in OZ.

 

[Dobbie]

I'll defend Bayswater Jayco here - the first question they asked me (before I even looked at a van) was what is my tow vehicle. And then when I was chatting to the salesman about the price of a smaller van for a friend (think Swan/hawk) again - first question was what is the tow vehicle.

And I'll defend Brisbane camperland for exactly the same reason. They printed, in detail, the specific weights allowable for my then Navara, spoke about payload allowance, explained what needed to be included in that and then agreed our chosen van model was suited to the vehicle ....and what we should be careful about.

They were responsible for me finally realising what was intrinsicly involved in determining all the relevant weights....I didn't have a clue!

But I do now.

I certainly can't say the same about the Golf sales guy....we reminded him he should confirm with us the vehicle to be used to tow the selected van...and he said it was our responsibility.

He was the one without a clue!

 

[Dobbie]

Here's what we all need http://riverswayleisure.com.au/reich-caravan-scales-upto-1500kg.html
a set of scales to weigh each wheel........................actually if only one person in an area bought one, those nearby could stop by and share, I nominate @Dobbie for SE QLD.....

Thanks @Drover

Are you starting the ball rolling with donation 1?

I'm committed to the principal but not that committed!

Just as a matter of interest, though, where do most get access to a weightbridge?

We use the local council one but have to read the details and write them down ourselves....it's free. The other one we paid $25 for a printed statement but it was almost the same as the freebie council one, just printed.

I know private companies use weights for their commercial use and it must be a pain having to deal,with a trickle of caravans.

Payment is fine but maybe there could be more publicising of places where you can get the whole caboodle weighed accurately.

Local councils?
Local caravan clubs
RACQ, NRMA, RACV etc?
Local police?
Local newspapers?
Companies that are happy to offer the service?

My first preference would be for RACQ or similar. ...my least preferred local police for obvious reasons. They need to be advisory not disciplinary.

and @Drover ....my place is last!

Maybe that could be combined with advisory info on the vehicle payload as well.

 

[Macca_75]

We have these
http://netweigh.com.au/locations/

 

[Dobbie]

Interesting....why then did Vic police take the initiative to assess the extent of the problem if these facilities are publicised and accessible?



I wonder if they're used.



Too harsh...but I'm sure it wasn't just Queenslanders and NSWelshman travelling south who featured in the 'naughty corner' group.



Do other states do the same? and, if they do, are they used?

I know I had to ask around to find one near us, then I didn't know if it was privately owned and if we could use it.

It's not something I've been familiar with....probably like most people.,except those actually in the transport or similar industries.