RV FEATURE
The most important thing you can do before hitting the road : ensure your caravan , tow vehicle and its towbar aren ’ t overloaded .
Caravans that have been loaded beyond their Aggregate Trailer Mass remain an issue – you only need to glance at some of the popular caravanning Facebook groups to know that . Vehicles loaded beyond their Gross Vehicle Mass and Towball Mass are an issue , too , to say nothing about Gross Combined Mass .
The reality is , police do enforce caravan and vehicle weights , now more than ever . And should a serious accident occur as a result of a non-compliant setup – which is a genuine possibility – your life will be irrevocably changed .
Perhaps the thought of using a public weighbridge is intimidating , or you just don ’ t know how to use one and understand the results . Fear not . You see , Australia ’ s various caravan and camping associations run RV ‘ weigh-ins ’ in which members of the public are invited to have their rig independently weighed and assessed for safety .
Caravanning Queensland runs them – as featured last issue – as does Caravan Industry Victoria . We visited one such session , held outside of Warragul RV Centre , Vic , in late April . The experience was enlightening , to say the least .
The portable scale used ' weigh in motion ' technology .
IMPROVING SAFETY
In April , Caravan Industry Victoria ran five separate sessions , in conjunction with WIM Technologies . The aim : to improve caravanning safety by educating as many vanners as possible on the actual loaded weights of their vans and vehicles . WIM Technology employs a portable scale that uses ‘ weigh in motion ’ technology that measures the weight on each individual axle . Ball weight is measured separately using a digital ball weight scale . After the numbers are crunched , a representative of WIM Technology shares the results with the vanner .
While on site , we met Warragul local Bernie Wheeler . He had brought his tandem-axle caravan and 200 Series Land Cruiser for a weigh-in . The van , which had a Tare of 2579kg , and vehicle were loaded as they would be for a trip . In fact , he was about to head off to the Northern Territory .
We asked Bernie what he thought his van ’ s loaded weight would be . He reckoned it would weigh-in about 3100kg to 3200kg . In fact , he was more concerned about his Land Cruiser being overloaded .
/ 25