Caravan Payloads
The Truth About Payloads
Payloads, payloads, payloads...
The mystery still plaguing the caravanning and automotive industries today!
We are going to throw a spanner in the works and tell you that you DO NOT have the usable payload that caravan manufacturers tell you that you have. This is a blog we have wanted to write for a long time, and in our opinion, it is a topic that most of our clients and caravanners worldwide aren’t too familiar with. In this blog, we will first explain to you what caravan payload is, how you can work it out, how important it is that you know yours, and why it is so important in general when loading your caravan or trailer.
Weight Acronyms Explained
To understand payloads and how we get to know the payload value of a caravan or trailer, we need to know a few compliance plate acronyms. We have broken these down into lemans terms for everyone to understand.
TARE mass: This is the unladen weight or empty weight of a caravan or trailer. TARE mass is registered/recorded and stamped after the caravan or trailer is manufactured.
Group Axle Weight Rating: This is the maximum weight the caravan/trailer axles are rated to carry.
Gross Trailer Mass or GTM: This is the maximum the caravan/trailer can weigh whilst it’s hitched to the tow vehicle and is generally specified by the manufacturer. In our opinion the GTM should not be stamped, the GTM should equal the Group Axle Weight Rating.
Gross Trailer Mass - GTM
Aggregate Trailer Mass or ATM: The maximum that your caravan/trailer can weigh free-standing, not hitched. This number is calculated by adding the GTM with the tow ball weight.
Aggregate Trailer Mass - ATM | ATM = GTM+TB
Tow Ball Mass/Tow Ball Weight or TBM/TBW: The weight that is imposed onto the tow vehicle hitch via the caravan or trailer hitch.
Tow Ball Mass - TBM
What is Payload?
Payload is the amount of weight you can legally load into your trailer/caravan after TARE and before reaching your Gross Trailer Mass (GTM) and/or the Aggregate Trailer Mass or ATM, for example:
Caravan / Trailer TARE mass: 2500kg
Caravan / Trailer ATM mass: 3000kg
Payload: 3000 - 2500 = 500kg
Payloads vary between caravans, we see single-axle caravans with smaller payloads, anywhere between 200kg which we see on older caravans, and 550kg on the newer models, this is due to only having one axle to support the weight. Dual axle caravans have larger payloads ranging from around 500kg which is common and up to over 1000kg which is incredible!
Time and time again we are educating clients and travellers on their “real” payloads, and what we mean by “real” payloads is the amount of payload left after you’ve filled all water tanks and toilet cassettes, and added any more fixed accessories i.e., extra solar, batteries, electrical systems, BBQ’s, toolboxes, bike racks, etc.
Payload Scenario
A brand-new caravan had just been picked up from the dealership, the caravan had some modifications added post-manufacture.
Payload as worked out by using the ATM – TARE that was stamped on the compliance plate: 500kg
What we need to include when working out the real payload:
o 2 x 95 Litre Water Tanks = 190 Litres
1 x 20 Litre Toilet Cassette (using Dometic 4110 Cassette) = 20 Litres
(1 litre of water = 1kg)
Therefore; 190 + 20 = 210kg of water that can be carried onboard
o 3 x 200W Solar Panels @ 11kg each = 33kg
o 1 x 200Ah Lithium Battery = 25kg
o A-Frame mounted Quad Bike rack = 50kg
o Weber BBQ 10kg on a Tunnel Boot Slide 13kg = 23kg
Actual or “real” Payload = 500 - 210 - 33 - 25 - 50 - 23
= 159Kg
159kg is what remains of the payload for the owners to then pack all other contents, belongings, and food and beverages.
Now, we say “real” payload because we have heard first-hand from insurance underwriters that if you are involved in an accident and weight was deemed to be a contributing factor, insurance companies will scrape all the contents off the road, weigh them and assume all the water tanks were full regardless of if your travel with water or not. How will you prove this otherwise? We can all agree that insurance companies will try to avoid paying claims if they can.
Payloads contribute to selling caravans and many of our clients and caravanners have been misled by manufacturers and dealerships to make a sale. Our opinion is manufacturers and dealerships do not want to reveal this information because it may jeopardise a sale. Our opinion is that dealerships and manufacturers have a duty of care and should be displaying and educating customers on the new TARE Weights
The big thing here is you need to know what yours is and understand it!
AWS Introduced Weight Types
There is so much debate and confusion in the industry as to when the TARE Weight (Weight at Manufacture) of the caravan/trailer was taken. Was the mattress fitted? Were the batteries fitted? Were the solar panels installed before the weight was taken? Was the bike rack fitted? Did it include the gas bottles, fridge, oven, or microwave? Not knowing this can have the potential to mislead you into thinking you have more payload than you do!
AWS has introduced new weight types to our appointments which are mainly related to the caravanning industry. This is a service we provide where the weights are measured after manufacture and when all the extra items are fitted to the caravan/trailer which ensures our clients have a correct TARE weight to work with, or when a second-hand caravan is purchased, and the client requires the van to be weighed to gather unknown weight information, especially in the second-hand van has had multiple owners who have each done minor, or major modifications or added extra accessories. Extras that are usually installed after manufacture are:
· Extra solar panels – 200W panels are approx. 12Kg each.
· Bike Racks/bikes – 5kg up to 50+kg
· Batteries – Lithium 120Ah approx. 12kg
· Larger Electrical Systems
· Heavier mattress’ – adding 5kg +
· Extra water tanks – 95 Litre = 95kg plus the weight of the tank/s
· Fixed BBQs – Weber 9kg + accessories
· New toolboxes – Using 1400mm A-Frame Toolbox = 40kg+
· Extra spare wheels
As you can see the weights begin to add up, therefore stripping your payload away very quickly.
These new weight types that we include in our appointments are:
o Wet Weight: Caravan or the like, weighed empty with all the water reservoirs full, including water tanks and toilet cassettes. Using wet weight allows us to gather information on the “real payload” available. This “real payload” is vital information to ensure the caravan is loaded correctly to not exceed any compliance limits. Wet weight is similar to the Kerb Weight of a vehicle having all fluids full and a full tank of fuel.
o Dry Weight: Caravan or the like, weighed empty with all reservoirs empty.
If these weights are revealed to the consumer when purchasing a caravan or trailer it will give the consumer a better understanding of what they can load into the caravan or trailer.
How to Work Out Your New TARE Weight
Working out the new TARE Weight of your caravan or trailer will reassure you of the actual usable payload you have left before you hit your ATM limit.
Empty out your caravan or trailer of all contents and belongings leaving only fixed items in i.e.
- Mattress
- BBQ
- Electrical Systems
- Jockey Wheels
- Toolboxes
- Bike Racks
We recommend filling up your water tanks and toilet to give you the most accurate ‘wet weight’ results. Drive to your nearest weighbridge or contact a mobile weighing company near you and weigh the caravan by itself. We always recommend using a mobile weighing company due to the accuracy of the scales however we also know that not everyone has access to these services.
To get your true payload you minus the weight results from your caravan or trailers ATM.
A tip when loading your items back into your caravan or trailer; use a set of bathroom scales to weigh each item and keep a tally of the weight you are adding to ensure you are not going over your ATM limit. We implore you to enlist the help of a reputable mobile weighing company to help load and balance your caravan, trailer, and vehicle. A weighbridge is a great start but using a professional weighing company will ensure you understand how to correctly load your combination. (We have a list of mobile weighing companies we recommend around Australia).
A Very True and Very Sad Story of Lies and Deceit
This is a true story and one of many sad stories that we have and witness in our profession.
A client came to us with a brand-new Lotus Off-Grid Family Caravan ($140,000+, price taken from Lotus website November 2023). He wanted to get his combination weighed to advance his education and knowledge of weights and load distribution. We request our clients to come to us fully loaded as if they were going off the grid for a week or so, this includes full water tanks and if not completely packed already we ask our clients to simulate weight in the fridge, clothing, and anything else they usually take using other weighted objects, this simulates their heaviest, worst case scenario, where we can either work forwards or backward from there.
During the weigh we noticed large numbers exceeding the caravan’s compliance limits, and going through the final numbers was significantly over the caravan’s compliance limits.
Caravan Details:
21’9” Lotus Off-Grid Family Bunk Van
TARE: 3130kg
ATM: 3495kg
GTM: 3235kg
Chassis Rating: 3500kg
Payload as per compliance plate: 365kg
Water Reservoirs (Fresh Water Tanks & Toilet Cassette): 269 Litres / 269kgs
As you can see by looking at the TARE weight of the caravan, it weighed 3130kg at manufacture which is a very heavy built caravan especially when only having an ATM of 3495kg, leaving a total payload of 365kg…. 365kg!!!!! This is not much when you minus 269kg of liquid from that number. The caravan is left with a “real payload” of only 96kg! 96kg to load in food, clothing, linen, sporting equipment, and other items for a family of 5, NOT POSSIBLE!
When it comes to selling caravans and vehicles it is accurate to say that clever marketing and dodgy salesmen will mislead the buyer into thinking a vehicle or caravan can perform better than it can. This was the case with our client in this scenario, our client explained to us when he asked the salesman about the tiny payload that was displayed, he was told that he had 350kg of payload at his disposal to load generators, BBQs, food, and everything else that his family requires when travelling. This is true but failed to mention that 269 Litres of water was not included in the equation.
Our client believed there was 365kg of payload to load their items and had loaded the caravan almost perfectly with the information that was provided by the salesman and dealership. The caravan was 273kg over the ATM which is approximately the sum of the 365kg of payload plus the 269 Litres (269kg) of water on board.
It should be noted that the dealership knew the client had a 200 series Land Cruiser with the standard 3500kg Braked Towing Capacity (BTC) and that the client had no intention of upgrading to a vehicle that had a larger BTC. A BTC upgrade was also out of the picture due to the state they live in.
Again, we all know that payloads contribute to selling caravans and many of our clients and caravanners have been misled by manufacturers and dealerships to make a sale. We think that dealerships and manufacturers have a duty of care and should be displaying and educating customers on the new TARE Weights:
- Dry Weight: TARE Weight with water reservoirs empty
- Wet Weight: TARE Weight with water reservoirs full
By revealing these weights to the customer, it will give an insight into how much usable payload a caravan has.
It saddens us that this deceit happens too frequently in this industry, we have clients almost in tears who have spent their hard-earned dollars to buy their dream caravan only to have been sold lies and it must stop!
Conclusion
Payloads are a vital part of caravanning, towing, and the automotive industry. The consumer needs to be aware of and understand payloads. We believe that manufacturers and dealerships need to be educating the consumer about payloads before selling the item.
We see too many people caught out by clever marketing and dodgy salesmen just to make a sale. Do your research, ask the right questions, and seek advice from industry professionals before making vehicle and caravan purchases, it may save you thousands!
If you have any questions regarding vehicle and/or caravan weights or payloads get in contact to schedule a Zoom Consult today, or if you are unsure of what payload you have book an appointment with us.
