Caravan Weights - GVM, ATM, GCM - Are we over or under?! 

Love that you guys did this video! Too many people just think “she’ll be right” Can’t wait to see the start of your lap!

Thanks guys, this bud was so awesome. Loved your culling weigh in, so great to see and consider how much the individual items add up. Thank you so much for putting this gem together 👍

Great watch! So informative. Definitely something all caravan owners should do.

Thank you so much for sharing this. We’re getting a next gen ranger, and have calculated the crap out of the ranger and the caravan we’ve ordered. We won’t be living in it and I’ve itemised EVERYTHING, so I think we’re sweet, but I am 100% getting this kind of weight check done. It’s the difference between having a safe holiday/lifestyle and driving a dangerous weapon 👍

Great video guys. Very informative and I'm glad you were able to finalise everything before you departed. 🙂

Very informative, enjoy your travels. I knew about all the weight issues we all face and the fact that so many don't go through your preparation process to see where you were at at travel weights. Good on you.

Awesome video! Thanks for going into details and showing how much things weigh. We pick up our JB Van next week so it is so good to know this before moving everything into it. Really need to think carefully about if we really need it! Looking forward to your next vid!

Hey guys,not sure if you have them already, but changing your batteries over to lithium saves a ton of weight in the van some up to 50kg saving. Im glad you did this video and good old Dave took the time to explain it so even i could understand. Cheers

Well done guys, everyone needs to see your video so many vans and trucks are over weight, I always weigh our set up each time we hit the road. Look forward to more of your adventure

What a great video - really informative. I'm looking forward to following you travels!

Thanks for sharing this. One of the best explanations of weights we have seen.

Getting the GVM upgrade also gives you more flexibility when you want to unhitch and take more gear in the car for those areas you want to explore but can't take the van.

Another great video and super helpful. I will definitely be getting a weight check done when my Gator X and LC-300 arrives.

Fantastic Video. Food for thought. Happy Travels 🌟

Excellent insight and learnings, thanks to your both.

Great video and very informative. My wife and I purchased our first van and four-wheel-drive tow vehicle a few months ago. We were surprised at how small the payload of our vehicle and van ended up. An additional $3500 increased the vehicle's GVM to a usable total, but we still need to watch every kilogram we load. I look at the rigs I see powering along the highway with similar vehicles and vans loaded to the gunwales with fridges, bicycles, BBQs, sliding drawers, bull bars, and roof racks etc. and realise how "over" they must be.

Very helpful, thanks heaps! Loving you guys!

Very informative. Thanks guys... Enjoy your trip 😁

Can't wait for the next video, enjoy the video about weights 💪. Would like to hear about the canopy set-up inside an out. Cheers Chris

I had Dave do a check for us on our BT50 and single axle Outback. Very glad we did, weights were all good and passed with a green tick, only the BW was getting very close to limit. Gives us piece of mind that we are safe and legal. Thanks guys for the excellent presentation and thanks again to Dave at Weight Check.

Bloody awesome job guys, made it so much easier to understand what is super complex. Travel safe

Cheers guys. We are about to go through that process with a similar van and car. Safe travels 👍

Absolutely fantastic video for everyone who tows, to many accidents caused by uneven and overweight cars and vans.

Great piece guys. You've given a 101 for vehicle and van owners. Thanks.

Awesome thanks for that, I already have a GVM upgrade and weighted my set up, its a great being legal travelling

Great advice.! Thanks

Nice one. I'm an interstate trucky and one of my drops was a place in Alice Springs. Talking to the bloke there and he had a tow truck business. Went out to recover car and van that had come to grief. Insurance company said can you weigh recovered car and van, yes just go over weighbridge with car/van on and then weigh truck empty. Were over on GCM, insurance company said unroadworthy vehicle, insurance void. Bloke even had to pay for the recovery tow.

Wow thats great info. We pick up our new van next week. Happy travelling guys.

Great video! Very informative and enjoyable to watch

Keep these great videos coming. Our GatorX has a tare of 2331 so very close to yours. With just 2 of us we think we will be good, and we are paranoid about wights. I have a heavy canopy but already have the GVM upgrade. Going over the weigh bridge soon! It’s all theory until then. Safe travels.

Thank you guys for the video it's so important to do what you've done appreciated..👍👍

Great video! Nice and real video on the process! Keep it light.

Thanks so much we needed this info 😊really great help

Well done guys…. Yep I want to check us before we head west!

Hi guys, just watched this again - great VLOG. I'm a bit sorry that you didn't enjoy 80 mile that much, but you have to pick the season. I stayed there for a month in May/June 2017, on the way to the Gibb.

Thanks for your video, very informative. Still waiting for our caravan, hopefully we will see you on the road sometime?👍😊

Nice work guys! great info. cheers

Great video guys, explained the complex weight issue extremely well...FYI...we did 15000km mini lap 2 years ago, Kimberlies, central Qld and NSW, Never had need of a jerry can, diesel was available everywhere ( we carried two, ) didnt take me long to empty them and leave them that way.. think total weight saving was 46 kg ..just sayin...Happy travels....

I feel your pain, I hope the air fryer stayed!! Lol great exercise

Hubby has fortunately the knowledge for weights. We had to upgrade our Prado to a later model in order to tow our off-road van. I weighed everything I put into the van. Pedantic but didnt want to be overweight. Cull your tools to absolute minimum. Get rid of the impact driver. Van manufacturers specifically say not to use to put the van legs up and down so ditch the weights. Doing it manually is your exercise.

Great video team. It is pretty dull on making sure you are under weight. Can’t wait to see the trio videos!

I am currently looking to purchase our first 4WD and trying to understand the requirements…. So a big well done and thanks. This has really helped me with the understanding of weight requirements and the need for a good GVM upgrade.

Love the videos guys keep up the good work. On a side note we to are looking at doing a min 3-6 month lap next year and just picked up our new van on Friday and before we had it registered I asked it I could get our pay load upgraded from 300kg to the maximum 575kg and it wasn't a problem , sample as change of compliance plate rating to suit the maximum allowed Axle , spring and tyre rating . I have done this for peace of mind , We have weighed everything in the van and it came upto around 450-490kgs including full tanks x2 . Thanks for your video's and I hope it opens up alot of people's eyes and realise it doesn't take much to be over . Travel safe . Cheers

Great video, safe travels

Fantastic information thanks so much for sharing.

Best money we ever spent using weight check. Too many vans out there not legal and they don’t realise in an accident they are not covered on their insurance. . Great vid guys. Take noodles rather than inflatables. Much lighter and easier.

Thanks for your presentation. Awesome. U have helped a lot.

Great works guys heaps of info 🍺🍺

Great episode. We get our van next year, pretty much same set up as you guys weight wise.

Never realised the ball weight affected the cars payload, great informative video

Great video guys!!!

Great video. As a grandparent I can tell you the kids would have gone on the first cull. Hahahahaha 😂

Awesome information thanks

Great video guy's . we we'll be getting our gatorx weighed soon just the two of us so hopefully ok .🤞

Great video,fascinating

Great video guys! Very informative! (Noticed the very local to us place where you had the weight check done 😉). Glad we decided in a GVM upgrade pre-rego when we bought our new car recently. Happy Travels!

great vid guys

My lip reading... Over by 240kg on van.. Been there mate.

Great video guys, I am stressed out over weights as we have a 2010 hilux with a low tow capacity of 2.25 tonnes and tossing up on what size van to get, your video was a real eye opener, many thanks and safe travels 😀

best video i have seen on weights

Thanks

Great video. That van payload seems very low. The only area I have any concern with in our set up is rear axle load. Towball weight can really impact there. I can't carry all my firewood in the rear of our Everest. Our situation is different to yours. Different van, different tow vehicle. We don't have children to consider either.

So good thanks

Yep, 240kgs over, well done that you sorted it out.

Well done guys. So many people are over weight and uninsured as they haven’t done the calculations for vehicle and vans and they have spent $150k plus and they will have lost their life savings

Great work guys. We're going through all these sums in our head awaiting our car and van arrival, and great to see how much care you've put into the weights of your gear. Is there any issues with getting your GVM upgrade after registration as I had heard if you do it after the car is registered it's then only legal in the state where the GVM was done?

good video, it was surprising there was not more said about the car axle load and how close to its maximum, particularly if increased by moving gear to the car?

Great vid, built my own van, so I'm aware of Weights, my mate was 600 kg over weight vehicle alone, add his ball of 350 kg , he was well over weight, Police were stopping vans at Emerald the other day , I wonder how many were legal. Most people I meet on road don't care or don't understand there weights. GVM upgrades not allowed in Queensland after car registration, Remember a GVM upgrade will affect your towing capacity, Unless you can get a GCM upgrade as well. Remember to ask your insurer if they approve the upgrades. Some insurers only approve certain upgrades, Check before doing any changes. 😀🤠🇦🇺

Hi Guys great to see a nice young couple living the dream . It costs a lot more than people think to be on the road. Great video on safety with vans now over the top with gear you don't need ,bit like the houses young ones complain they cannot afford due to, got to have everything. When I was a kid migrant our first home had two bedrooms, three foot sink in kitchen with cold water on tap and luxury chip heater in bathroom to heat water. Tin Can dunny in back yard , and our best luxury was the ice man came twice a week🥴 we did five years on the road back in 2000 been just about everywhere in Oz worth doing , it is a pity it's so expensive and crowded these days. Please don't ever take that nice big van on the beach or 4WDing a 4WD sticker does make a 4WD ?🤔 Remember all those crazy guys on tv are given their vans and this looks like your home 👍 ENJOY your adventures

2L or 3L milk bottle with handle to use as dumbbells

That was well done a lot to think about, you work well as a team so well explained .Subscribe hope to see more. Respecting the law helps us all. Thank you

Wow 31% and 42% Wobble Box Highway, that’s 42% not covered by insurance, Stay safe and no Wobbles.

Well explained, but no mention of allowable rear axle weight. That’s harder to keep under than GVM on dual cabs and wagons.

Hi guys great informative vid very telling, how was was your rear axle load with van attached ? We have a single axle van 260 kg TBW towing with LC 200 it's close to the 1950 kg rear axle max. It is worth the effort to get weights right. Cheers Ian.

Great video but my understanding is if Ur under Ur gcm u should be able to just shuffle Ur weights to the axles that are light

100% done it right.

In the computer program… oh thanks dad 😂

I bought a Crusader with a 850 kg payload

Hey guys thanks for the info, just a question what schooling did you end up going with for the kids??

Hi guys, great video was well explained, and I learnt alot. Was the weight check expensive to do?

Had you guys thought about doing a ATM upgrade on the van? Pending how well it was built often a mechanical engineer will give you a ATM upgrade without modifications. Will allow you to carry that extra weight and still remain under GCM.

With regards to GVM up grades. Can you still have a GVM upgrade post rego as ive read elsewhere that in some states GVM upgrades can only be done prior t rego

You can do it all on a public wieghbridge , it cost me $40. The good thing about the wieghbridge is that the car Ison the same plane as the van so not 60mm higher. I recommend everyone knows what there weights are If you over and you have an accident the insurance won't want to know you but the police Will. Stay legal and stay safe, you owe it to yourself your family and all others on the road

Great info but Could you give us a print out on the final result.. I find the dude confusing to try and follow.. Cheers

Do you have lithium for your battery setup? Swapping from AGM to Lithium saved us 60kg, although our payload is 730kg so we have breathing space already. We weighed every item packing as well and have reweighed at least half a dozen times over 4 years of caravanning. Food can weigh heaps. Good luck.

Does a WDH do anything towards taking the weight of the rear axle? I am over a 115KG on the rear axle on a 200 series VX without a WDHitch.

Awesome info thank You very much. If you dont mind, how much did the gvm upgrade cost you?

This is my main worry being over weight.

The trap everyone falls into is going up to there maximum weights cause they follow a number.

I am stunned that he did not suggest an ATM upgrade to the van. Many vans can get an almost automatic upgrade from factory. Mine got an upgrade from 2540 to 3200kgs without doing anything what so ever. Engineer certified.

What’s your thoughts on the rules surrounding GVM upgrades, whereby if you get it done pre registration it upgrades your GCM, however if done post registration it doesn’t. Where the vehicles are identical the rules in my opinion should be the same whether pre or post registration.

The one thing that everyone will not think of is the car rear and front diff legal weights. You can be all good with the other combined weights but the rear diff especially will be over for most setups. This will be a big problem in 2023 with the police now set up to fine you, plus you won't be able to move til the weight is legal. The huge problem that everyone misses or don't understand is that you won't have any Insurance cover at all if they figure out your not legal...

Do anyone check the back of people driver licence and see if they can tow all this weigh. The back of the licence is the total weigh of vehicles a plus b

If your GVM is ok, get an ATM upgrade

Kiara went through this today saylas books were 12kg so Sayla is getting a kindle too

I have read that the manufacturer's tare mass does not include the awning, air conditioner and any gas in the bottles. Please verify as these items dramatically affect the payload of the van. Thanks.

So it pays to pick your caravan first and then buy your vehicle last. It looks like a trade in to a 79 Cruiser or a Dodge Ram 2500.

Look into the possibility of a caravan ATM upgrade first.

Hi guys. What outback armour system did you put in your ranger.thanks

What is this kilo stuff?