Vehicle Max Towing weights - DON'T BELIEVE THE ADVERTISING BULL SH*T
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 มี.ค. 2024
- Can you actually tow the Max Tow Capacity advertised? Most likely not.
Manufacturers are misleading you about what can actually be towed with your car, don't get caught like us know your numbers. This episode I sit down and discuss how I stuffed up and then look at some popular models from here is Australia. This could change the way we plan to travel Australia.
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Tyers are also an important consideration and pretty much always overlooked. Going up just a couple of sizes and in many cases from a stock P rated highway terrain to an AT or MT can add anywhere from 50kg to 80kg across 5 tyres which also eats into the payload capacity.
So true it’s normally completely ignored. Like so many things people do it because they see others do the mods and don’t think about the consequences.
Very detailed video, some great insights. Hard to say what to do in that situation. It's a tough one. I agree with keeping the jeep though but I am biased towards them 😂
😂 We love them too. It is definitely our preference and we are looking at the option first before even looking too deeply at the other option. We are lucky we chose a lite van or we would have no choice.
I don’t understand.
You’re the owner; it’s your job to make sure you are within the weights. The manufacturer can literally state the GCM as a million kilograms, but the GVM of 3,500kg and towing of 3,500kg, so you’ll be limited to 7,000kg no matter what.
It just seems like you want the GCM to be equal to the GVM plus the ATM (ATM is what the tow rating is). Go to the Ford Ranger Owners Manual and it tells you to reduce the tow rating by 2% for every 300m of elevation - that’s a 10% reduction at 1,500m elevation.
Also inside the owners manual it explicitly states “Minimum nose weight” (under trailer nose weight), of “10%”.
Lots of people tell you they tow at 5% or 7%, or whatever, but Ford’s owner manual explicitly tells you to have no less than a 10% tow ball weight, and given that it states that, any potential accident you have that Ford could trace back to a non-compliant combination setup weight, could be grounds for warranty voidance.
So never the less, since GCM cannot possibly ever be GVM plus ATM (unless you had a tow ball weight of 0% (ergo, a perfectly balancing trailer), there exists absolutely no need to have a GCM equal to GVM plus ATM.
Fords’ 3.0L Ranger Wildtrak GCM is 6,400kg, the GVM is 3,350kg, and the ATM is 3,500kg, so the GVM plus ATM is 6,850kg, but at 10% nose weight, that means that 350kg of the 3,500kg trailer is being born by the GVM, so the total combination can’t ever be more than 6,500kg, so you’re only choosing between 100kg less than capacity between the vehicle and trailer.
Just call it fudge factor.
Yes; if your owner manual doesn’t compel you to carry a minimum tow ball weight, conceivably you could run at 0% tow ball weight (regardless of how ridiculously unsafe that would be), and therefore theoretically the maximum combination could be GVM plus ATM unless limited by GCM, but the Ford Ranger Owner manual automatically reduces your combination by 10% of the ATM, so you were never able to tow 6,850kg anyway. You were ALWAYS limited to 6,500kg.
The reality is that there are so many factors that play into it. You can be under in GCM, GVM, ATM, but over on Rear Axle Limit (RAL).
RAL is quite difficult to calculate because (for example) my Ranger Raptor has a RAL of 1,700kg, but the Rear Axle Kerb Weight (RAKW - the weight bearing down on the axle when the vehicle is empty and sitting still), is 1,065kg, so I only have 635kg to play with.
Whilst I do only have a 2,500kg tow capacity, and therefore a minimum of 250kg tow ball weight, the reality is that most tow balls tend to carry a force multiplication of the weight thanks to the fulcrum effect of the weight being transferred at a distance from the point of rotation (the axle centreline).
Although not an absolute mathematical guarantee, a fairly reliable method of calculating the fulcrum effect is to multiply the tow ball mass by the distance from the axle centreline in metres. Ergo, if the distance from the axle centreline to the centre of the tow ball is 1.2 metres, and you have a 350kg tow ball weight, that 350kg is actually applying 420kg of load to the rear axle, and is reducing the weight on the front axle proportionately.
Let me explain with my Raptor.
GVM: 3,130kg
FAKW: 1,335kg
FAL: 1,520kg
FAP: 185kg
RAKW: 1,065kg
RAL: 1,700kg
RAP: 635kg
Kerb weight: 2,413kg
Tare weight: 2,422kg
Payload: 717kg
So looking at that the GVM is 3,130kg, but the FAL plus the RAL is 3,220kg. That allows me to have a bias of weight either front or rear rather than perfectly distributed.
The payload is the GVM minus the kerb weight (717kg), but the Front Axle Payload (FAP), plus RAP are 820kg. That allows me to distribute the weight a bit more front or rear.
What happens though is that if I think I have 717kg of payload available, and I put 250kg of tow ball weight on the rear, and the tow ball is 1.2m from the rear axle centreline, then that adds 300kg to my RAL, meaning that whilst I’ve only used 250kg of my payload, 300kg on my rear axle limit has been used up. The missus and I sit roughly halfway between the axles and at a combined 160kg, we add 80kg to the front axle and 80kg to the rear axle. Now you have 410kg of payload, but 380kg on the rear axle. Theoretically I still have 307kg of payload remaining, but I only have 250kg of rear axle payload available.
If I stick a few 20L ferry cans of water at the back of the tub, and therefore add 60kg of weight, but it’s all 1.1m from the axle, that’s added 66kg of payload of the rear axle. So now I’ve used 476kg of payload, and have 241kg remaining, but my RAL only has 184kg remaining before I blow a limit.
So let’s say I slap that 184kg straight over the rear axle; I have lost close to 60kg of payload unless I can find a way to distribute that weight forward. Anything even between the axles will distribute the load proportionately between the axles.
This is why so many people say “get your vehicle professionally weighed”, because even if you have just under the maximum amount of junk, the location of it can blow any number of limits making you illegal.
Ford isn’t responsible for how I load my vehicle. They simply cannot provide a “one-size fits all” figure for weights, because it truely depends on the weight positioning, which only I am responsible for.
All these people you see with massive aluminium canopies, or long tow ball receivers; they MASSIVELY inhibit the rear axle limit, and your insurance company will just walk away from you if they can prove your vehicle was illegal - even by a kilogram - on any single limit.
Vehicle weights are not supposed to be dumbed down to be able to be done in the backyard with a beer; they are designed to keep all road users safe. If you can’t do that, you need to cough up the cash for a professional to weigh your setup. If you don’t want to cough up, you need to accept that you alone don’t value the safety of people on the road as much as you value being an ignorant f**kwit - no I’m not saying you specifically Matt - but anyone who reads this comment and thinks they’re too good for rules. It’s as simple as that. If the maths is too hard. And you don’t want to pay for the honest truth, you don’t belong on the road.
Yeah; it’s hard. You’ll never know the true numbers until after you’ve bought the vehicle and built it, and all the crap you want to put in it. It’s like building a house and needing to order the exact number of bricks before you’ve even picked the floor plan; no one is denying that’s hard; but going on the road isn’t supposed to be a challenge of “how much shit can I take with me?”. If you need to pay for a GVM upgrade to get all your shit in the setup; you might have to do that.
Vehicle weights matter, so you have to be prepared to follow the path to the end, and accept where they fall.
Hi Damien thank you for such an awesome comment I know this will help a lot of people and we really appreciate it. There are so many things you cover and thank you for some of the formulas they will help us and many others.
I also agree 100% people need to get professional weighed to make sure they are compliant but more importantly safe. We will be getting professionally weighed once we get the van. This will happen regardless of what vehicle we end up with.
The reason we made this video is because there are a lot of people out there unaware they are not legal and we hoped if it made just a few people look closer at their setups and got weighed then we would consider it a victory.
We really want to keep the Gladiator so will be doing what we can to get the numbers add up I hope 🤞
@@filthyoffroadadventures and I appreciate everyone who does make these videos. It’s such an important topic that too many weekend warriors tend to be completely nonchalant about. Every person who helps educate others - even through them reporting on their own misunderstanding - helps educate more people.
@CM303898 agree. I’m not too precious to admit a mistake but I am a lucky one because I caught the error early before actually running overweight or more to point poorly distributed weight.
Thanks again for your information and hope you follow us along and keep me in line 😂
Oh guys feel for you, the weight issue is such a fine line and such an issue in Australia. We really struggled with our Everest hence why we now have the Cruiser. Is there a GVM upgrade available for the Jeep? Good luck guys it really is a tricky one!
Thanks guys. We are working through it at the moment as the precious to keep the Gladiator. Ultimately we will do what we need to do to travel safely and legally just hope it’s in the Jeep 🤞
It is a hard call ! As travelling fulltime and starting with our beast of a Jeep Wrangler shorty we soon had to make that call of what we wanted long term... bitter sweet ! It is Toyota for us now, but at least we still have epic jeep friends! Safe travels guys
The Shorty was hard for sure. It’s not just a Jeep thing they all do it. Look at the Hilux, Ranger, DMax etc all bogus figures. Thing that worries me is how many people get themselves into trouble because they don’t look too deep into the numbers.
You could also consider the ineos quartermaster, gvm of 3500 ors and gem of 7000.
Interesting had not considered them to be honest. Will check them out.
I don’t know how you’re calculating your GCM
GCM is the maximum your car and tow vehicle hooked up together can be.
Possibly a GVM GCM upgrade. Can now be done in Qld in aftermarket cars. Ensure you do it through a company that supply stamped compliance plate though.
Also check your axle weights.
We have a Toyota sahara and a 20’6 new van. And have had the GVM GCM upgrade done. We’ve had our weights rechecked and we’re good now.
Proper weight check needs to be done not just weigh bridge weighing.
Yeah agree need to have it weighed professionally to ensure correct weights on axles etc.
Yes GCM should be combo of GVM (max weight your car can be) plus max towing weight. However as you can see lots of actual GCM’s are not that calculation and are actually much less.
When working out your GVM you need to allow for your lowball weight also which lots of people forget when loading their setup.
There is no current GCM upgrade available that is nationally recognised for any vehicle post rego so we are stuck with what we have.
DMW also do a GCM upgrade prior to registration. However they are also working getting compliance for post rego. Good luck cheers
Will be interesting to see what they come up with.
Hey mate I know you're at a crossroads as to what the next move is but I'd wait to see the launch of the 24' Gladiator as it's supposed to come with a rear floating axle and if it follows the US model like it should 3500kg towing capacity. I just bought a 23' as my circumstances changed and needed a vehicle on the spot but for what I'm wanting to do I'm waiting for the 24' release before I order another one. Hope this helps. Also looked at the DMW GVM upgrade and if I've read it right pre rego upgrade gives you full GVM plus your full origional towing capacity. I've spoken to them direct and got information sent to me.
Thanks I did not know about the floating rear on the next Gladiator. Knew the new 392 got it but that’s awesome if will come on the new Gladiator. Hope you are enjoy the new car.
Great vid mate!
Is there anything engineering wise that can be done to improve the numbers? This is the case with most other cars. Chassis strengthening? Brake upgrades? Though from my experience, engineering tends to only gain you so much despite the cash you throw at it!
I hope there’s a possible option in there somewhere for you, surely the yanks have a solution for this?
Thanks bud. Yeah looking at those options but not sure they will solve it. We are now looking at it differently and thinking of the positive side of keeping the Jeep with less weight and putting more in the van. Could be good as when we make camp we have a more capable car to wheel on harder trails. Trying to be glass half full 😂
GCM does not have to be GVM + max towing. as youve found out and its often like this with trucks for example 5t tare 15t gvm with max towing of 10t but a gcm of 20t so cannot fully load the truck and tow 10t but the options there to tow 10t if need be.
Thanks for your comment. Yeah I definitely stuffed up that’s for sure. I find it disappointing as they way they advertise it’s done to imply you can to max and load it up.
Something I found interesting is that some you possibly can’t tow max weight if it’s 10%+ tow all weight which is crazy.
Always thought I knew my numbers but I definitely needed some education to know what they actually meant and I have not even gone into axle weights etc.
DMW in Toowoomba QLD does Jeep Gladiator GVM upgrades. Australia wide approved. It be worth while giving them a call if you wanted to Keep the Jeep
Yeah have looked at them. GVM may be an option and there are a few down here that can do it too. For us a GCM is more what we need as upping the GVM just robs from the trailer weight. Issue is no GCM upgrades are recognised nationally which is crap.
You can do gvm upgrades but only on a new vehicle prior to initial rego so if you want to stick with a jeep then you'll need to buy one and do the gvm before its registered
Can get a GVM upgrade now but not GCM. Even if did GCM it’s not recognised nationally just the state it’s done. So stupid.
@filthyjeepadventures the whole thing is a joke lol
I have simular probs with the paj
The ball weight drops when you go over 2500kg from 250 to 170kg
Yeah it’s crazy. The more I actually look at the numbers the more I believe it’s deliberate which pisses me off.
@filthyjeepadventures i had limited choices in vans especially looking second hand to have a low starting ball weight in the style of van we wanted
I need to scale my car through as it has a few accessories on it and a family of 4 so probably questionable
Yeah see that’s such a hard challenge compared to us as we only have the two of us plus the dogs.
I had similar scenario with a 4wd suv. Solution for me was new 2024 Toyota Troopy, 3510 gvm, big payload, standard 33" tyres, awesome off road capability ( actually no need to spend anything ) lots of internal space, toyota reliability, great for towing. A gladiator wasnt designed for towing just off road capability. The only thing you see them towing in the states is small campers. All about compromise.
Yeah agree definitely not designed for towing heavy that’s for sure. They have a high tow capacity in the states but buggered if we would do it 😂 We have friends with new Troopy’s they are a great but if kit.
just purchased a MUX did the GVM up grade prior to rego with a 2inch lift and yesterday got a bull bar with winch and spotlights .we are new to this we will prob buy a 15 ft hybrid caravan MDC any info would be appreciated cheers 😊
Awesome enjoy they are a great car. What did they upgrade you GVM too?? And which model?
dec 23 model the highest GVM available legal@@filthyoffroadadventures
Nice enjoy that are a great car
Give dmw a call up in Toowoomba they do gvm upgrades
Yeah have been stalking them already but not sure a GVM will solve my problem. Will see how the numbers pan out with the additions we need.
Yep, it’s murder out there, straight info is hard to come by and there are so many things to consider.
I’ve seen guys almost get it all right but for the axle limits, mostly you just can’t get the weight forward enough to use max GVM.
Big American Trucks (HD not 1500s) on truck rego are the go for anything over 2.5/3t, below that some dual cab utes or a chopped Cruiser which costs more than my Chev.
Yes I didn’t even go into axel weights in this video as there are lots of people who explain it way better than I can 😂
Agree most can’t use all the GVM and tow way to much for the car they are towing with. A big Chev would be nice.
Kerb weight in Australia includes all fuilds & full tank of fuel. Like you said, a GVM upgrade doesn't incress your GVM.
Sorry yes I don’t think I explained that well, when talking about fuel I was referring to the need for additional fuel when remote. I wasn’t clear there sorry. Still very average that some vehicles with max tow and say 10% tow ball weight you can be over GVM of the car. Definitely an interesting subject and great hearing about lots of peoples varying experiences.
Being in the automotive industry nothing new to me. Be you are so right so many people don’t this. Have though about gvm/gcm upgrade DNW I think does one. They even have / had one as there demo car
Yeah have checked out their options. Yep heaps of people definitely well over weight.
I suggest you also check rear axle weights.
Yes that’s another major issue that most people don’t know about.
Very interesting!
People just don’t talk about and I think work on theory of ignorance is bliss
DWM have a gvm upgrade to just under 4t for the gladiator
Thanks we have been looking at that. Perfect work would be a GCM upgrade but we will what we come up with.
hi mate the the max legal GVM im 5 foot 5 i need a ladder to get in 😆 but i love the MUX
😂 they are great car and look awesome with a lift.
Other options are a GVM/GCM upgrade? DMW have a few options available now.
Sadly no matter where you go GCM mods are only legal and recognised in the state they’re done. With the huge cost it would be cheaper to buy a Ram than do it for each state.
Money better spent on a Hemi 😂
Have you had a chat to DMW? Their website suggests that if the GCM is upgraded in one state that the home state engineering applies to travel in all states, if that's not the case that's pretty misleading. It's not available in QLD but if you have an address you can register it in, in NSW (friends place or some such) you could potentially get it through.
Other option would be a 2023 or 2024 with the SSM upgrade - as that's a federal upgrade I believe it would hold in all states.
You would still have the same problem with the Hemi. No upgrade to GCM you're going to be just as limited.
Yeah Hemi will only solve our desire for sound and power 😂
@filthyjeepadventures I don't think that's correct. GVM upgrades are legal accross all states. The upgrade becomes void if the vehicle is sold interstate. Definitely talk to a GVM upgrade specialist.
@adampowell4867 yes you are correct GVM are however no GCM upgrades are recognised nationally.
Yes the Japanese manufactures have been fiddling the payload numbers from the get go .I have a JT and was well aware of its limits ,but I don't and never ever tow a van , so for trips it's gear in the tray and a 750 kg trailer , so no surprise for me 👍
If you want to tow a van get a 3.5 ton truck ,
No manufactures design their 4x4s to tow vans ,just trailers and light weight campers .
Nice you will be miles under 👌 How good are they though, such a great car.
@@filthyoffroadadventures I am on my 3rd jeep xj , KK and now a brand spanking night eagle with the life style package , added a titan canopy and rack. It is just the bees knees . In my small rural Qld town & close surrounds there are 6 gladiators , 6+ wranglers & 12+ grand Cherokee of all types 😀
@paulargent1003 awesome sounds like a town we need to visit on our adventures 😂 The night eagles are a great deal especially if you get the wiring kit and activate the lockers.
@@filthyoffroadadventures tell me more
What about? The lockers?
Yes a lot of the Utes claim they can tow more then they really can or should be. A GVM upgrade will help the vehicle, but unless you can also get a GCM upgrade it won;t really make a difference to your Jeep. The RAM 1500 if only towing 2,500kg will have plenty of spare capacity, but wouldn't hurt to get a GVM upgrade anyway.
I looked at multiple options when I was looking fora dual cab ute and wanted a slide on camper. It had the same issues and ended up with a RAM 2500, and still needed a GVM upgrade but have plenty of GCM even towing a heavy van now, which wasn't in the original plan. There is no easy solution unfortunately there is drawbacks to all options. But I am very happy with the RAM and it isn;t really any wider then a 200 series land cruiser, it is just longer. The RAM 1500 is about the same width as the 200 and the same lenght as a dual cab 79.
Interesting about with. This is one thing we need to watch as a lot of tracks we like and plan to do even a 200 series is to fat. Need to revisit the dimensions when we get back home.
@@filthyoffroadadventuresGiven the number of cruises on the road and getting about most tracks will fit them, with maybe a little scratching, but then there is things to protect the car or not worry about it as it is a 4wd so it is meant to get scratches. Will be interesting to see how you go with deciding on the vehicle. But at least you are aware of the weights not like a lot of people on the road.
@Vantastic_Aus thanks. Yes we need to make the call soon as we will run out of time quickly.
Be interesting the solution. an idea from left field .... may be nuts but how about purchas a hybrad car and heve 2 cars on the adventurs. i know its nuts but there are alot ov advantages. leave the car at the camper when you go off road. if anything happens at least you have back up transport .Alot of people in busses do that. as i said Just a left field idea.
Had not thought of that. The places we have planned to visit you struggle to get a car too let along one with a van behind it so we would end up having to leave what ever tow vehicle by itself first extended periods. Sadly some remote places you would come back to either no car or a stripped car.
It sucks that it's never properly explained at the dealership that GCM is the limit of GTM + GVM and not neccesarily the sum of GVM + Max towing capacity. In fact, salespeople either don't know or play dumb in my experience when it comes to GCM and towing limits. Kudos to Toyota for managing to do get max towing equal to max GTM on the 70 though.
Failing trading up to a MY23 (I wonder if GCM will change with the new engine replacing the 3.6), you can also look into lowering the ball weight on your camper to get some payload back, if possible. Easiest way is usually by moving water tanks behind the axle and carrying things like bikes, wood and jerry cans on its rear instead of the draw bar.
If it was me, then I'd also seriously reconsider the winch and the canopy too, assuming the kids are going to ride in the cab and the tub won't won't be filled to a canopy roof, or at least look into a lightweight canopy.
Do you have a long range tank or planning to get one?
Agree there needs to be much better education around this.
We are still working on worst case to tow ball weight until we get the new van. I think it will be maybe just on 200 maybe 210 but will wait and see.
Winch is on and we won’t roll without one as we are normally solo so to use ist a non negotiable.
Canopy is basically there purely for security and our bikes and will be mostly empty. We will put as much as we can in there until we hit the GVM.
Yes the girls are in the cab with us Leisa will never let them be in the tray 😂 Plus would get too hot for them.
No long range we run Jerrycans which will likely have to go in the camper now.
Don’t think you’re going to get there with this jeep, your rear axle load will be the killer. You’re not going to be able to increase this post rego or even if an upgrade is available you will have significant issues with chassis loads particularly if you venture off the tarmac.
Smaller trailer tent setup would be a more realistic towing option and be far more enjoyable to tow. Good luck
Yes agree rear axle weight will be the challenge for sure. Think we will be under GCM but it is the specifics of where the weight sits that will cause issues. We are lucky our new van is not heavy but still concerned we may be fighting a loosing battle.
Take a look at the rear axle max loads and the story is even worse. This is where most vehicles actually fail. Rear axle load as a general rule is 1.5 x tow ball weight. Take a look at this for the Jeep as well. I have a Discovery 4 and the GCM is not an issue but my rear axle load is the problem. I cannot actually tow anything with a ball weight of more than 300kg. Rear axle load = tow ball weight x distance between ball and rear axle divided by distance between front and rear axles.
Yeah I know it’s another layer of screw you 😂
Most people don’t know their normal numbers and have no idea there is a requirement on individual axles.
Check your figures thay don't seen to add up sr5 1110 kg payload and your kerb weight may be off aswell.
I come up with -50kg with 350kg on the ball with no driver or his boots
Hi. We are away at a camp this weekend so don’t have access to my spreadsheet I made up. I thought it was right (what was on the screen as I had wrong figures when I recorded it) as took straight off the Australian spec sheet. Will definitely check when I get home.
The calculations are correct AND YES these manufacturers post exageratted figures. i suggest a smaller van
So frustrating hey. We will be well under the tow numbers and should get there with the GCM just need to re-think the way we pack the car and Van. We have gone for one of the lightest vans around especially factoring we will be living on the road full time. We hope to be able to keep the Gladiator but will have to see where we can save any type of weight possible.
Your not calculating it correctly, you can tow 2721 with 2020 gladiator , your ball weight goes onto the car a gcm is calculated with everything together (gross combined mass ) not gross seperated mass.
So the car at gvm with van on is 2835 (272) of that is your ball weight leaving 2449 on your van axels meaning your van weight is 2721 (in theory) it would acutely be less as due to the laws of leverage the weight in the rear axel of the car will be more than the vans ball weight.
That is correct. Tow ball weight goes into the GVM and yes you have to factor the approved weight across all axles.
I see what you are saying and I agree, but it doesn’t change the fact that most cars you can’t carry a fully loaded trailer with a fully loaded car and sometimes not even close which is nuts.
Good point about the rear axle weight I think I read somewhere it’s more than the number on the tow ball? Is that right??
@@filthyoffroadadventures absolutely dealers never explain it properly because they don’t understand it and don’t get educated on it, and the weight going onto the rear axel is more than the ball weight, the extra amount can vary spring on how far the rear axel is from the tow hitch, have seen it as little as 20-30 kilos extra up to almost 100kilo extra
@tjpauto yeah I had heard can be a lot thanks for the info really appreciate it.
@@filthyoffroadadventures Correct, multiplication factor, leverage, most say it is around 1.5 x towball weight, mine is 1.2. Is a figure that is related to the distance between centre of rear axle and hitch point.
Thanks will be interesting to see what the numbers are once we get the van and can actually have it weighed professionally to better understand where the major issues are and how we can address it.
You bought a caravan that is way to heavy for a Jeep. 2000kg should have been your max limit. Good luck
Thanks for watching. The van we have ordered is under 2000 tare and one of the lower options. We will be significantly under the maximum for the Jeep but yes we are looking at ways to bring that down even more. Sadly even canvas based camper’s are over 2000kg loaded and not that practical to be living in full time. 😂 Will be a challenge.
can you do a GVM upgrade ?
Yep can easily get GVM upgrade but doesn’t change your GCM so it just steals from the Trailer weight.
I hope you can keep the Gladiator
So do we. That is our preferred course of action but need to see how we go.
Most so called car salesman at dealerships do not know the actual legalities to correct towing...going to the allow max towing rate is not a good idea. I love how they say a vehicle can tow up to 3500 klgs. I would never go to the max. You have described a very detailed video on a subject that a lot of people really don't know much about or are confused as to the correct info. Love the editing 😊
Thanks bud. Very different style for us. I made it out of frustration and a little anger 😂 but hope it helps someone down the track.
I'm sure you did make an impact, regarding the subject 👍
I tow 3k of my 3.5k towing capacity and yes I feel it but it never feels unsafe. But I don't go over the speed limit with that weight. Of course that's with an X5 so it's more stable.
GVM upgrade ? This is a common conversation in the caravan community and most go for a GVM suspension upgrade in the car.
Yeah we have done enough work for a GVM upgrade but what would work better for us would be GCM which sadly isn’t an option. May get the GVM sign off just so can run more in the car instead of in the camper. We are lucky our camper should be well under the max tow when full… we hope 😂
@@filthyoffroadadventures Often when the car and van are separated they are both ok but it is the tow ball weight from the van on the car that is the problem. Having a GVM upgrade to solve that issue are you also saying your setup is over the GCM. You probably did say in your video but not sure where. We have a 200 series and like all cars it is ok until you add the 350 tow ball weight.
We are still not 100% sure on what the total weight will be as we don’t have the van yet so we are currently speculating of total weight for the camper full ready for long term off grid to be around 2500 so if we had the car at GVM including say 10% tow all weight we will be under GCM just, we think 😂 just means we will have to run less in the car and more in the van. Maybe not to bad as it has huge amount of storage.
I was surprised that some of the other big names were in worst spot than the Jeep although they have a higher max tow in theory.
@@filthyoffroadadventures When you have your van it is amazing how you can shuffle things around and reduce weight. Thanks matey.
why not get a gvm upgrade
Yes we are considering that just to fee up options for packing the ute however it does take away from what we can tow as the GCM doesn’t change.
Australia towing capacity is much higher than in the US. Are your speeds lower? Commonly 75 mph here.
Most of Australia the max speed limit is 100km/h or 60mph. There are some 110 zones popping up but otherwise that the max around Aussie. Oh sorry except in the Northern Territory (NT) which is unrestricted but think max with a trailer is 130?
@@filthyoffroadadventures Thanks for the info.
People take these numbers as gospel, like the towing g gods will strike you down if you are 3 Oz over. These numbers have a significant saftey factor built in. I'm a truck driver with 20 years experience, 1.6 million safe miles.
Yeah agree there is some wiggle room for sure. Issue over here is the police fine you heavily and more so the insurance companies look for any reason to not payout if an accident has occurred.
Wow what a challenging situation
Yeah not ideal. We will work something out.