Is this legal??

woofta and precious · Senior Member

Is this legal??

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

ATM includes the ball weight, so it is going to be technically legal.

Even if it is legal it is much too close.

Cheers,
Peter

-- Edited by Peter_n_Margaret on Monday 13th of June 2016 11:25:39 AM

-- Edited by Peter_n_Margaret on Monday 13th of June 2016 11:28:20 AM

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

I notice many who travel on inland roads have what looks like aftermarket wheels with high / wide profile tyres . Makes for interchangeability iff stud patterns are the same ? Plus much smoother ride ..

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

Also of interest will be the actual weight of the rig on the road.
It would be a very good idea to weigh it when it is fully loaded and ready to go.
Also weigh each wheel of the van individually. It is not unusual for vans to be asymmetrically loaded (one side heavier than the other side). Kitchen side is usually the heaviest).
Do you know what the empty weight is?

Cheers,
Peter

dogbox · Guru

try a wheel change an see if it fits an doesn't foul anything if it fits you could use the spare in an emergency till you can get repairs done

woofta and precious · Senior Member

Thanks for the replies.
Yes, unfortunately the van rims wont fit on the car, just a bit out with the stud pattern.
The tare weight if the van is 2210kg, GTM is 2310kg and ball is 200kg
I did plan to hook the van up tomorrow to check the weight with most of the stuff in it, and full tanks of water and gas.
Going by the GTM then, I guess the rims are ok.... I may have to get my own rims for peace of mind!
I will follow up on this post.
Thanks again for the help.

Brian

Gus1949 · Senior Member

The wheels wont be carrying 2510Kg because some of the weight will be on the tow ball and carried by the tow vehicle. You probably have around 200kg on the ball that could be deducted from the ATM. Further, you could probably deduct the weight of the wheels and tyres which is probably another 40kg. Still a good idea to weigh the loaded van including weighing both side separately that way you will have a better idea of how to load the van to get the best balance for towing.

PeterD · Guru

Gus1949 wrote:
Further, you could probably deduct the weight of the wheels and tyres which is probably another 40kg

No you can't, loading weights are based on the wheel weights being included in the total.

Hylife · Guru

woofta and precious wrote:

On looking at the rear of one of the van wheels, it has a a few stamps with specs on, and on one it says "maximum load 1250kg" for the rim.
My problem is that the van has an ATM of 2510kg. So does that mean that the rims are unsuitable, and 5kg each wheel under the legal limit???

The tire rating is ok at 1480kg each.

That is per wheel. Some of your weight is on the tow ball and not on the wheels.

The ATM is only a legal maximum. It is the most your caravan can weigh, with everything in and on it, as it stands, unhitched.
It is the weight that each wheel and the jockey wheel impose on the ground all added together, at the very most.

Your van may not be at its ATM or if you have loaded up too much you may be over its ATM and be breaking the law.

The actual weight of the van on its axels only is called the Gross Trailer Mass GTM. This will be less than the ATM because some of your van weight is pressing down on the tow bar.

The weight pressing down on the towbar is called the Towball mass. The sum of the Towball mass and the GTM must not exceed the ATM.

If you do not have a tow ball weight scale, take the actual weight of the van on its axels by driving over a weighbridge and having just the van axels wheels on the weighbridge.
Take the bridge reading and divide by the number of wheels and that is the weight per wheel.
The weight per wheel must NOT exceed the wheel and tyre maximums

Different loading of the contents and the design of your van will alter the tow ball weight.

In your case the van might only have a mass of 2400kg being 110kg under the ATM. It might also have a towball mass of 250kg because of its design and how you have loaded it.
This means your GTM pushing down on your axels is only 2150kg and for 2 wheels that is 1075kg per wheel which is under the 1250 maximum per rim.