Well after stripping D-Maxine extra cab down to her undies l put her on the scales for her first weigh in. With a full tank of fuel, driver (thats me) and her flash steel tray she came in at 2280kgs. Factory weight 1950kgs. Now the dilemma is do l do a GVM upgrade? l have 670kg left stock. With the upgrade l will have 940kg.
Radar said
07:41 PM Apr 30, 2018
STRETCH ARMSTRONG wrote:
Well after stripping D-Maxine extra cab down to her undies l put her on the scales for her first weigh in. With a full tank of fuel, driver (thats me) and her flash steel tray she came in at 2280kgs. Factory weight 1950kgs. Now the dilemma is do l do a GVM upgrade? l have 670kg left stock. With the upgrade l will have 940kg.
Not knowing if you are planning tow, carry or use it as car, bit hard to get involve.
Ask yourself what am I going to do with D Maxine.
An up grade to carry more may turn Maxine into an over weight unsporting something you wished you did not tie the knot with.
Are you going to need more the 5.5 tonne gross combination weight then you may just happen to of brought the wrong vehicle.
Just saying.
erad said
09:27 PM Apr 30, 2018
This title got my attention very quickly. My wife's name is Maxine....
Radar said
07:06 AM May 1, 2018
erad wrote:
This title got my attention very quickly. My wife's name is Maxine....
Did you head to the wardrobe for a dressing grown?
Desert Dweller said
03:16 PM May 1, 2018
Bugger, I was hoping for something far more interesting like a than a stupid car.
STRETCH ARMSTRONG said
04:15 PM May 1, 2018
Hey everyone. Sorry Radar thought people may have read my previous posts on what I was doing. Any way a quick rundown.
-On the road fulltime now for13months.
-Learnt a few things so while doing a house sit over winter with a shed full of tools I'm giving the my rig and den a once over.
-Vehicle and Vans limits. Maxine GVM 2950, Den GVM 2750kg, GCM 5950kg. At the minute there are no issues with my set up.
-Things I'm adding to maxine are, extra fuel tank, 100ltr water tank, canopy, extra gas bottle, odds and ends.
-Extras on van, more solar on roof, grey water tank.
We all know that utes from the factory come with softer suspension for a nice ride. I'm looking at fitting decent constant load towing suspension to my vehicle and for the extra $500 bucks get the engineers report to do the GVM upgrade.
Erad sorry but no its not about your wife. My Maxine is prob a bit more hefty than your girl!
Desert Dweller sorry to let you down!. I tried to make a stupid car question a bit more interesting!
T1 Terry said
04:43 PM May 1, 2018
Upgrade the suspension for sure, if the upgrade of the weight allowance doesn't push the vehicle into a different weight class then do that as well. With the added tanks etc the suspension will never be fully unloaded so the rough ride shouldn't be an issue and the soft factory suspension will sag in no time under that additional load. Hitting the bump stops does far more damage that a slightly harder ride will, both to the occupants bodies as well as the vehicles body. So get Maxine muscled up, a tougher body is the new look
T1 Terry
STRETCH ARMSTRONG said
09:09 PM May 1, 2018
Thanks T1 Terry. Funny enough the GVM upgrade only increases the GVM not the GCM. Because my van is max 2750 kg l almost get the full benefit of the upgrade (-20 kg) before l hit GCM. I think you are spot on with the stock suspension sagging over time. Thats why l think constant 600kg is the go long term.
Radar said
09:14 PM May 1, 2018
STRETCH ARMSTRONG wrote:
Hey everyone. Sorry Radar thought people may have read my previous posts on what I was doing. Any way a quick rundown. -On the road fulltime now for13months. -Learnt a few things so while doing a house sit over winter with a shed full of tools I'm giving the my rig and den a once over. -Vehicle and Vans limits. Maxine GVM 2950, Den GVM 2750kg, GCM 5950kg. At the minute there are no issues with my set up. -Things I'm adding to maxine are, extra fuel tank, 100ltr water tank, canopy, extra gas bottle, odds and ends. -Extras on van, more solar on roof, grey water tank. We all know that utes from the factory come with softer suspension for a nice ride. I'm looking at fitting decent constant load towing suspension to my vehicle and for the extra $500 bucks get the engineers report to do the GVM upgrade. Erad sorry but no its not about your wife. My Maxine is prob a bit more hefty than your girl! Desert Dweller sorry to let you down!. I tried to make a stupid car question a bit more interesting!
Hey. I can now follow, a bit slow but what I am not slow about is knowing deep down the utes are not good enough to carry or tow a good load full time without a suspension upgrade, not necessarily a gvw increase.
My tow vehicle weights are similar, a little different after spending near on $2 000 for a make over on the suspension of my 2014 Nissan Navara STX V6DT, I have wrote the full name as its different to other Navaras, it is now awesome when touring, loaded with gear just awesome, dirt road driving awesome as, towing our caravan grossing around 5.5tonnes awesome, so safe, comfortable. I can not say enough, has inproved the braking control, no more bottoming out when towing the caravan. 275kgs on the tow bar.
The small down side is the suspension up grade raised the car a bit and now Shortie now slides out the door, well she is a bit short.
I could have done the upgrade a bit cheaper by using also ran shocker absorbers but choise the more expensive ones, I like blue not yellow.
Very happy camper, Shortie is real happy with the ride.
I wish you all the luck of getting it right, there is a mine field of information out there, lots to go though, what won me was the salesmen did not want me to go overboard with extra heavy spring set up. Enjoy.
STRETCH ARMSTRONG said
03:57 PM May 7, 2018
Thanks everyone. I think l will go with the upgrade. It will give me peace of mind having the extra load capacity as a buffer zone. Now to pay for it!
fwdoz said
04:04 PM May 7, 2018
STRETCH ARMSTRONG wrote:
Thanks everyone. I think l will go with the upgrade. It will give me peace of mind having the extra load capacity as a buffer zone. Now to pay for it!
It always comes down to $$$ Stretch. Pondering all the same things as we eye our next tow rig.
STRETCH ARMSTRONG said
08:12 PM May 8, 2018
Hey fwdoz. Yep just worked out it will take me seven weeks to save the money! If you are looking to to a GVM upgrade, it is cheaper before the car is registered as you don't have to do the engineers certificate in Vic anyway. It's costing a extra $500 for the certificate.
fwdoz said
08:16 PM May 8, 2018
STRETCH ARMSTRONG wrote:
Hey fwdoz. Yep just worked out it will take me seven weeks to save the money! If you are looking to to a GVM upgrade, it is cheaper before the car is registered as you don't have to do the engineers certificate in Vic anyway. It's costing a extra $500 for the certificate.
When I see what some people charge, I think to myself I am in the wrong business.
As my dad used to say when quoted exorbitant prices "saving for your next around the world trip?"
Not knowing if you are planning tow, carry or use it as car, bit hard to get involve.
Ask yourself what am I going to do with D Maxine.
An up grade to carry more may turn Maxine into an over weight unsporting something you wished you did not tie the knot with.
Are you going to need more the 5.5 tonne gross combination weight then you may just happen to of brought the wrong vehicle.
Just saying.
Did you head to the wardrobe for a dressing grown?
Bugger, I was hoping for something far more interesting like a
than a stupid car.
Upgrade the suspension for sure, if the upgrade of the weight allowance doesn't push the vehicle into a different weight class then do that as well. With the added tanks etc the suspension will never be fully unloaded so the rough ride shouldn't be an issue and the soft factory suspension will sag in no time under that additional load. Hitting the bump stops does far more damage that a slightly harder ride will, both to the occupants bodies as well as the vehicles body. So get Maxine muscled up, a tougher body is the new look
T1 Terry
Hey. I can now follow, a bit slow but what I am not slow about is knowing deep down the utes are not good enough to carry or tow a good load full time without a suspension upgrade, not necessarily a gvw increase.
My tow vehicle weights are similar, a little different after spending near on $2 000 for a make over on the suspension of my 2014 Nissan Navara STX V6DT, I have wrote the full name as its different to other Navaras, it is now awesome when touring, loaded with gear just awesome, dirt road driving awesome as, towing our caravan grossing around 5.5tonnes awesome, so safe, comfortable. I can not say enough, has inproved the braking control, no more bottoming out when towing the caravan. 275kgs on the tow bar.
The small down side is the suspension up grade raised the car a bit and now Shortie now slides out the door, well she is a bit short.
I could have done the upgrade a bit cheaper by using also ran shocker absorbers but choise the more expensive ones, I like blue not yellow.
Very happy camper, Shortie is real happy with the ride.
I wish you all the luck of getting it right, there is a mine field of information out there, lots to go though, what won me was the salesmen did not want me to go overboard with extra heavy spring set up. Enjoy.
It always comes down to $$$ Stretch. Pondering all the same things as we eye our next tow rig.
When I see what some people charge, I think to myself I am in the wrong business.
As my dad used to say when quoted exorbitant prices "saving for your next around the world trip?"