How heavy is too heavy??

[Jnrsnav]

Evening all, as the title says I'm keen to get people's opinions on my current circumstances.

I have a 2013 ST auto yd25. It has bilstein shocks all round with dobinson coils and 500kg constant leafs in the rear. The steel canopy I have made weights in at 490kg and the car in total weighs 2990kg.

Apart from the obvious GVM issues I'm wondering if it's just too heavy for the Nav to be lugging around? I have just completed a trip into Wonnongatta station and up Billy's goats and the Nav seemed to do it fairly easy.

I just get worried she will break on me from all the extra weight. A GVM upgrade is only going to up grade suspention which I have already done. Still sits bum heigh.

Do I need to start shedding some weight from somewhere? Don't know where I would start.
Thanks for your time.

Ash

 

[happy john]

Just under 2.8t myself, apart from more body roll with the canopy there is nothing I can remove. In you case the steel tray is the main weight issue, I cannot see you swapping that for alloy after that great job. As long as you have good springs and no bags I doubt you'll break the old girl.

 

[Dion]

The steel canopy I have made weights in at 490kg

Loaded or unloaded? Is this an estimate or measured? That is insanely heavy if it's the canopy alone.

 

[Jnrsnav]

Loaded or unloaded? Is this an estimate or measured? That is insanely heavy if it's the canopy alone.

That weight is the canopy with fridge,battery,shelving, 2nd spare. It's purpose built for camping. It's built extreme tough, don't think I could break it.

 

[Jnrsnav]

Just under 2.8t myself, apart from more body roll with the canopy there is nothing I can remove. In you case the steel tray is the main weight issue, I cannot see you swapping that for alloy after that great job. As long as you have good springs and no bags I doubt you'll break the old girl.

Thanks HJ. Yeah it came up really good but the weight adds up SOO quick. I have all the suspention done with no air bags. I reckon I have come too far to change now. I did think I could get some doors made up from aluminuium. Might save a small amount ok kgs. Also towed a camper at Christmas, car seemed OK.

I get the body/tyre wall flex too. Makes me feel better that your a heavy weight too

 

[JPMC]

My D40's both weighed in at 2880kg and I did 240,000km in the first one and 220,000km in the second. They were my work vehicle and was used offroad in mines, forestry, quarries, river beds and anywhere else you can hide an earthmoving machine. The weight never did them any harm and the second one's still going strong today although it's in semi retirement at the moment. ( The first one left us when the young guy that brought it off me decided to miss the approach to a bridge and it fell about 30m to it's death but luckily he walked away)

It even towed a car trailer with a car on it a couple of times without dramas while loaded.

 

[Stelianos]

i dont know how much the overall weight should be (in europe trucks are rated on canopy load) but around here for a double cab max weight you can load on the canopy (no idea about towing since i dont even have a towbar installed) is 900-1000kg. and in my opinion thats pretty much the safe limit you can do. i myself have done 1500 kgs in the canopy but you simply cant control how the truck handles or brakes

 

[Old.Tony]

My Navara weighs in at around 2500Kg but loaded for a trip (with towball weight included) she sits around 2960Kg these days. With 2550Kg behind her, that's a total of around 5300Kg (subtracting the ball weight from the caravan).

The caravan has its own brakes, so slowing/stopping isn't a major drama. Climbing hills is certainly not the same, there are some 13% and 14% grades north of here that I just winder her back into first gear for, because any higher or faster and the engine coolant temp just starts climbing and I never want to find out how high that needle can go!

You can have your car engineered for a GVM upgrade. ARB does one for about 350Kg but you could probably go a little more with the right engineer. That's important - it will increase the GVM on your rego, it will cost you more each year, but in an accident, the insurance company will sniff a way out of paying so consider the GVM upgrade as "insurance against insurance nasties".

 

[happy john]

I just try not to have anything that I won't use in it around town, like highlift ect ect. My mate has a very solid steel tray on has D40 kk and a Trayon jack off camper, it is 3.4t loaded with water and spares. He has been around Oz with no problems apart from faster tyre wear.

Having my tray 1.8 long and the heavy rear bar I never load any weight toward the rear. Some pissy carpark spaces are a real prick to fit in too.

 

[ben85]

Id be a bit worried as well with that weight when in the bush.

Loaded up will be more weight and overloaded dual cabs are known to bend chassis.
Id be trying to keep load weight to a minimum and put all your heavy items at the front of the tray and light stuff like swags all at the back, i know it defeats the purpose of ur heavy duty tray a bit but better safe than sorry.

Also, personally id stay away from airbags and stick with ur heavy duty leafs.

Glad u got on alright on your gatta trip.

 

[ben85]

Do u have any pics of ur canopy?

 

[Old.Tony]

Ben raises an excellent point about loading. Even though most chassis failures occur from trailer hitches (and the actual failure from road undulations causing the trailer to rapidly push downwards while the car is trying to rise - like in a causeway) it is very prudent to distribute the weight in the tub where more of it is forward of the axle than behind.

 

[Jnrsnav]

Do u have any pics of ur canopy?

 

[Jnrsnav]

Id be a bit worried as well with that weight when in the bush.

Loaded up will be more weight and overloaded dual cabs are known to bend chassis.
Id be trying to keep load weight to a minimum and put all your heavy items at the front of the tray and light stuff like swags all at the back, i know it defeats the purpose of ur heavy duty tray a bit but better safe than sorry.

Also, personally id stay away from airbags and stick with ur heavy duty leafs.

Glad u got on alright on your gatta trip.

Yeah i load all the heavy items up front and down low. Try to keep a good centre of gravity. Also never intended on air bags, hence the 500kg leaves. Im even going to get some laser cut plates from Superiour engineering which get welded to the chassis rite where they bend.
She goes quite well in the bush, better than I thought.

 

[Jnrsnav]

Do u have any pics of ur canopy?

 

[ben85]

Looks good.

 

[Jnrsnav]

Looks good.

Cheers matey.

 

[happy john]

I'm getting a 100ltr water tank moulded for mine atm, even with the weight low it needs to be either empty or full, I learned when I drove a water truck the sloshing if half full was a bugger. That will see me near 3t, I guess the recent Fraser trip with 150 ltrs of fuel, 80 ltrs of water and all gear for a week must have been 3.4t. Running 20psi in the very soft sand was a dangerous practice too. I ended back up to 28 in the rear.

 

[Old.Tony]

If you're having the tank made, why not have baffles built in?

 

[happy john]

The bloody price Tony, and the fact I would lose some capacity. The idea is mainly for dishwashing and showers when we are away. Two teenage girls with long hair think they are still on mains water lol. I'm fitting one of these instant gas water units, empty jerry's will be on the roof to fill and suplement the tank when we go to town.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/GECKO-Ga...007220?hash=item21057d20b4:g:~PsAAOSwoudW6KYb