Do you know how much your Vehicle weighs when fully loaded for Club Trips?

Do you know what your Vehicle GVM is?

Do you know what your GCM is?

????Do you know what I am talking about????

GVM --- What's That?? GCM – What's That??

Do you know the consequences of exceeding GCM and GVM??

What is GVM Gross Vehicle Mass - ie The total legal weight your vehicle can weigh on the road

What does this include?

Kerb Weight of the vehicle plus EVERYTHING that has been added, which includes Tray – if it is a Cab Chassis Bullbar and winch if you have one Dual battery system including solenoid, cabling, second or even third battery The weight of the fuel in the tank and auxillary tanks The weight of all passengers, pets etc Tow Bars Compressor Recovery Gear Water Camping Gear Roof Racks Drawer Systems Computers, GPS, UHF Radios with cabling and aerials PLUS the down weight on the towbar of anything towed

Kerb Weight is the manufacturer's Base “showroom' weight of the vehicle

What is GCM Gross Combined Mass - The total legal weight your vehicle(GVM) PLUS

anything being towed

What does this include?

The weight of the loaded Vehicle The weight of any trailer, caravan, boat etc ALSO when loaded

What is Payload Payload is the weight that can be added to the base vehicle up to the rated GVM

The differences can be quite different depending on the vehicle type and manufacturer

eg. Payload for a Nissan Patrol TI is just 548kg Payload for a Land Rover Defender 130 HD is over 1700kg

So, what does this all mean? It means that depending on your vehicle type, you can just about load it up with 5 (or 7) passengers and a couple of handbags and you are over your GVM and driving an illegal vehicle

Or you load up your vehicle with gear, add the rooftop dinghy or canoe and add your 2 tonne caravan and you could be over your GVM AND GCM and again driving illegally

What are the implications of exceeding GVM or GCM? If you have not uprated your vehicle to carry extra weight you are driving an unsafe vehicle which will: Increase the risk of accidents due to poor handling Stress original suspension components and mounts leading to premature failure Possibly stress your original tyres leading to premature failure

State Transport Officers have mobile weigh bridges and can weigh your vehicles to check weights and issue infringement notices leading to fines and maybe demerits They can also demand you offload things or prevent you continuing your journey Resulting in your vehicle having to be recovered

Your insurance will be void in the event of an accident

Kerb Weight

GVM Payload GCM Towing Weight

HiLux SR5 S/C 1675 2835 1160 5335 2500

K/C 1845 2710 865 5210 2500

D/C 1920 2780 860 5280 2500

Ford Ranger S/C XL 1795 3200 1405 5950 2750

XL K/C XL 1870 3200 1330 5950 2750

XL D/C XL 2018 3200 1182 5950 2750

Mazda BT50 S/C 1692 3200 1508 5950 2750

K/C 1770 3200 1430 5950 2750

D/C 1944 3200 1256 5950 2750

Nissan Patrol DX 2366 3060 694 6260 3200

ST 2455 3060 605 6260 3200

TI 2512 3060 548 6260 3200

Kerb Weight

GVM Payload GCM Towing Weight

L/Cruiser Troopie GXL 2345 3300 955 6800 3500

Wagon GX 2230 3000 770 6500 3500

200 Srs GXL P 2635 3300 665 6800 3500

200 Srs GXL D 2640 3350 710 6850 3500

Prado GXL 2320 2990 670 5360 2370

Isuzu D-Max S/C SX 1619 2900 1281 5900 3000

K/C SX 1669 2900 1231 5900 3000

D/C SX 1859 2900 1041 5900 3000

Mitsubish Pajero GLX 2280 3030 750 6030 3000

Challang LS 2041 2710 669 5650 2940

Triton S/C GXL 1653 2930 1277 5700 2770

NJ PAJERO PAYLOAD 675kg

And this DOES'NT include: Beer and Wine Tables Solar Panels Ropes/Poles/Pegs Chairs 6th Tyre/Wheel Cooking Utensils Clothes Fishing Gear Stove BBQ Plate PortaPoty Gas Bottle Food ETC ETC ETC

Fuel 76Lt -70 2 Jerry Cans -45 2 Passengers -160 Water 65lt -70 RoofTop Tent -40 Dual Battery -35 Bull Bar -60 Spotlights -6 Tow Bar -40 Recovery Gear -25 MaxTrax+Shovel -10 50lt Fridge -20 Compressor -15 Drawer System -45 Tools & spares -25 GPS/Radio/Phone-10 Cargo Barrier -12 Fire Extinguisher -4 Roof Rack -35 Recovery Points -4 Side Steps -15

!!!TOTAL 746Kg!!!

So What Can I Do?? Check your manufacturer's rated GVM and GCM - you'll find Tare(Kerb Weight), Aggr(GVM) and GCM on your Rego Documents and GVM on your compliance Plate

Take the vehicle to a public weight bridge (sometimes Shire Tips have them for free) And weight it empty

Take this weight away from the GVM and thats what you are legally allowed to carry

Load up the vehicle as if setting off on a camp and weigh again

If your 'loaded' weight is over GVM you can: Ignore it and risk fines, higher accident risk and voided insurance Reduce the weight carried Buy another vehicle with higher payload Consider a GVM Upgrade

If you are towing, You still need to check your vehicle's weight and compare to GVM as above Weigh the fully loaded vehicle PLUS Trailer/Caravan and compare to GCM Check your Tow Ball weight

How do I go about a GVM Upgrade??

GVM upgrades (from the base Showroom model will require most, if not all of: •  Uprated Suspension likely to include:

Heavier Duty Shockies Heavier Duty Coils Heavier Duty Springs Heavier Duty Torsion Bars Air bags

•  Uprated Tyres likely to include Light Truck Tyre with higher rating

•  An Engineering Certificate from a Registered Automotive Engineer •  An Application to DPI for the Upgrade •  Visit one of the Suspension Experts who has an Engineer in-house •  Once completed, advise your Insurance Company – NOT NECESSARY

It's best and cheapest to do it before taking delivery and before registration •  Check with the dealer •  Check with Suspension companies to see if they do it for your vehicle •  This would not normally include the cost of Engineering Certificate

Post original Registration •  Visit/Call a Suspension Expert that can install the necessary parts and provide an Engineering Certificate and procure the new

Compliance Plate

What's the cost?? For the lot – $5000 - $6,000

For the Certificate/Appplication and New compliance Plate $1100 if no work needed

Things to watch out for:- Not all 4WD companies can do this Not all suspension 'experts' can do this Some Companies advertise GVM upgrades, but are only for limited vehicle types

And I suspect they are just selling you the suspension parts. Some say they can, but you have to have their “certified' suspension fitted

This means if you have already upgraded to some other, you'd need pay again Confirm how much upgrade weight they will apply for and see if it enough

Some may only do around 300kg, others may go to 500kg

Case History ARB HD springs and Shockies put on D-Max Poly-Air airbags added to D-Max Cooper ATR3 LT tyres put on D-Max Took it to SuspensionMan in Bellvue. He got underneath, had a look and said 'Fine' $1000 later - New compliance plate upgrading GVM from 2900kg to 3400kg (500kg)