Wednesday, Sep 26, 2007 at 22:33
Is the weight u state the Tare or the ATM cos what I have seen of Westports on the Supertramp
forum they are heavier than that when loaded. Look on the compliance plate in the boot.
Remember if the ATm is heavier than your cars towing limit you may not tow it legally even if its not fully loaded
Below is quote from a post of
mine on that
forum
I have been told on good authority that you cannot tow any trailer(van) which has a greater ATM than the car manufacturer recommends. Eg a car has a limit of 1500kg and your vans ATM is 1522. Strictly speaking thats illegal and as I found after adding a few bits and pieces the weight goes up and can put you over the ATM weight.if you still load the normal 300kg single axle or 400kg tandem allowance . You will probably find the same. EG Tare may not have included the Aircon or batteries etc or even the gas bottles.
Mine turned up at 140 kg over tare dry so I can only put 260 kg of gear in it and stay within weight limit. Put the ball weight up 100kg as
well. Also you have to
check your car manual as when I had the Patrol I found after the van was hooked up I could hardly carry any extra luggage in it as it exceeded the load limit on it as you have to deduct your ball weight from the total load capacity. Just a few things from the mire of Transport rules that most people, me included dont think about or know about until sometimes its too late.
Easiest simile about weight is. Driver has a 5 ton truck licence Gets caught driving a 7 tonner with 3 ton on board. Says but Im not over my licence weight. Cop says maybe but truck can carry that but you cant drive it. Same as if van is stickered over car capacity and you leave water tanks dry to stay under . Sorry bud.
A bit of a rant but valid comment for the thread
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