I finally did it - stressful day!

[DX grunt]

TD I'm confused
My ute with coil / leaf
DX 4.2TDi Wide wheel
Tyre placard says axle capacities
Front 1530kg Rear 2240kg
Firewall compliance plate
GVM 3400kg

Thanks everybody for your input with this thread. You've got my attention! lol

Mines a 2005, 4.2 TDi with a Roscos Trademate Lite pod.

Tyre placard says axle capacities
Front 1510kg Rear 2270kg - Placard quotes 8PRLT
Firewall compliance plate
GVM 3400kg

Mine's also got a coil front and 10 leafs (each side - lol) on the back.

My tyres are LT235/85/R16 - 120/116 Q - Kuhmo Road Venture AT - 10 ply rating.

My rego papers say:
Tare: 2740
Agg: 3400
GCM:5900

I might try and lose some weight. lol

From what I've read, we all lead pretty different camping lifestyles and 'pack' accordingly.

Eventually I'll pack and weigh. I may carry a bit of excessive gear, but don't scrimp out on recovery stuff, 'just-in-case.'

Weight wise, I pack all my stuff on the floor of the pod and put our double bed HD foam mattress on top. The mattress is reasonably light and is a weight saving initiative. lol

When you guys talk about water storage, do you mean the black plastic tank on the back left hand side of the pod? I think it's a 20-30lt capacity.

I've still got my hot/cold water system in the back.

Rossco

[Cuppa]

When you guys talk about water storage, do you mean the black plastic tank on the back left hand side of the pod? I think it's a 20-30lt capacity.

Yep, it’s 30 litres.
We’ll use ours as the ‘extra’ water supply in addition to the 150litre tank inside the pod. Haven’t ever used it yet but it will help extend our times away from ‘civilisation’ in areas where water is hard to come by.

[Robo]

Cuppa I see this is old but after reading, and considering things like this myself.
So what type of solar panels are you using.
those heavy full frame type or light weight types no frames, no glass.

Its a ute right,
replace Ute's rear window with something lighter.

consider alloy tent poles if ya use poles at all.

Tool boxes--I know it may be a messy,
try if ya can, do away with the metal boxes the tools came in.
put your sockets etc in a small home made string pull bag instead "sleeping bag".
a plastic tackle box or "cuppa" ware container can take the longer pointy tools in bulk.
relook at how everything is stored, are you carrying un-needed weight with just whats each item is packed inside of, then it's inside another box and then inside your camper, maybe doubling/tripling on packing weight with how thing are stored.

do ya carry an axe and a hammer, the back of an axe is a good hammer doing away with the hammer.
retail type tent peg puller, bending a tent peg near middle making a crude S shape makes a good puller.
and this puller will lift the lid on ya cast pots also, losing another tool.

Yes I'm am suggesting an untidy way of packing the tools,
but losing weight is the game, and will also save fuel $$,
but are you leaving home with vehicle maintained or not,
my guess is yes you are prepared, so there'e a good chance you won't need to get tools out,
having them neatly sorted in original containers and carting extra weight is possibly not needed.

doubt this will lose the weight your seeking to dump,
but would be a step in the right direction,
and less time unpacking and repacking to use said items.
and save some space to-boot,make packing slightly easier.
cheers cuppa hope that helps some.

[threedogs]

My mate has an extended GU dual cab and takes it all over the world to places we can only dream of.
some places are tracing early explorers, anyway fully packed with fuel and water to do the CSR, he just touches
4Ton, but gets lighter the further he goes,
One member here his ute could not handle outback conditions as a few others here as well.
So he ended up buying a vechile that suited the conditions
being so heavy doesnt make for comfortable touring, placing stress and strain on all components.


Some take too much but how much is too much when it comes to recovery or vehicle spares

[Cuppa]

Cuppa I see this is old but after reading, and considering things like this myself.
So what type of solar panels are you using.
those heavy full frame type or light weight types no frames, no glass.

Its a ute right,
replace Ute's rear window with something lighter.

consider alloy tent poles if ya use poles at all.

Tool boxes--I know it may be a messy,
try if ya can, do away with the metal boxes the tools came in.
put your sockets etc in a small home made string pull bag instead "sleeping bag".
a plastic tackle box or "cuppa" ware container can take the longer pointy tools in bulk.
relook at how everything is stored, are you carrying un-needed weight with just whats each item is packed inside of, then it's inside another box and then inside your camper, maybe doubling/tripling on packing weight with how thing are stored.

do ya carry an axe and a hammer, the back of an axe is a good hammer doing away with the hammer.
retail type tent peg puller, bending a tent peg near middle making a crude S shape makes a good puller.
and this puller will lift the lid on ya cast pots also, losing another tool.

Yes I'm am suggesting an untidy way of packing the tools,
but losing weight is the game, and will also save fuel $$,
but are you leaving home with vehicle maintained or not,
my guess is yes you are prepared, so there'e a good chance you won't need to get tools out,
having them neatly sorted in original containers and carting extra weight is possibly not needed.

doubt this will lose the weight your seeking to dump,
but would be a step in the right direction,
and less time unpacking and repacking to use said items.
and save some space to-boot,make packing slightly easier.
cheers cuppa hope that helps some.

Hi Robo,
I am certainly a great believer in having as much gear which can serve more than a single purpose as possible. However as the vehicle was fitted out for a full time ‘on the road’ lifestyle, (ie away from home for a year or more at a time) including accessing remote areas with just my wife & myself, with a view to spending the maximum periods of time away from ‘civilisation’ there simply is no way of getting around the fact that we need the ability to carry a lot of stuff. We are also set up to be able to indefinitely self sufficient for power, including sufficient battery capacity to see us through at least a week under trees or of poor solar weather.
Reality was that the fitout of my Patrol was the result of much consideration, & it was simply not possible to reduce the weight to below the factory GVM without destroying the integrity of the overall fitout. Any weight reduction would be ‘tinkering at the edges’. Subsequently the GVM upgrade gave me another 500kg. Of course I don’t want to use any more of that than necessary.

Since that time we have made 3 main weight reducing moves. First was changing from steel winch cable & rollers to a dyneema rope & alloy cause. (13kg). Second was the removal of the rooftop tent & steel roofbars (approx 70 -75kg) All the solar panels which were previously carried inside the pod (300w in addition to the cab mounted 125w) are now permanently mounted on the roof. (& yes they are glass ones - they are what I had). Thirdly we bought a Tvan, which whilst not actually reducing overall weight does give us the option of rationalising the weight distribution of our gear between car & trailer. We do also carry a tent, so can leave the Tvan behind when needed. Whilst we now have the ability to carry up to 4 weeks worth of water (in water saving mode), most of the time much less can be carried. Packed & ready to head off for a trip, my guess is that we will still be over the factory GVM, but by less than before. I’d guess at between 3500 & 3600kg. In day to day use at home the car would be well under the factory gvm, probably around 3200kg is my guess.

I’m confident that in places where the weight really matters (Canning Stock Route for example) that we probably won’t be any heavier than many others & in addition we will have the benefit of being able to travel as slowly as we want, placing far less strain on the vehicle than many who have limited time frames for their adventures.

I do still need to rationalise my toolkit before we take off full time though!

[alfonso]

Hey cuppa the new lithium deep cycle batteries are now on the market and are a tenth of the weight of the agm also parabolic leaf springs are less than half the weight of traditionals just a thought

[Cuppa]

Hey cuppa the new lithium deep cycle batteries are now on the market and are a tenth of the weight of the agm also parabolic leaf springs are less than half the weight of traditionals just a thought

Lithiums were available when I bought the AGM’s, & yep, they have some significant advantages. However the required battery management systems are either very expensive or require diy knowledge & understanding I don’t have. If buying now I think I would go for Lithium as diy knowledge is more easily available, but as I hope that my AGM’s will last for years yet, I’m in no rush to switch just yet. Weight is around ¼ of lead acid once the required strapping etc is taken into account.

Parabolics just weren’t an option. It was a case of having to use Lovells springs, along with the rest of the Lovells GVM kit if I was going to have the local engineer sign off f the upgrade. I’m sure parabolics would give a plusher ride, but I’m unsure whether they woud have the same carrying capacity.

[pearcey]

G`day Cuppa.
Hope all is going well with the new building project IE shed. Say g`day to Mrs Tea for me.
I can`t remember how many spare wheels and tyres you carry .After years of carrying 2 spares and never needing to using the second I reverted to 1 and as the camper trailer, caravan both have a spare, which are all matched, I ended up off loading some 50/60 Kgs .
The carrying of tools and spares is a big problem as I see people carrying way too much and things they would not use or some times be unable to fit.Little things like rear wheel bearings ,if it fails in the bush you would not be able to chance it, a bearing weighs around 1Kg plus storage, small saving I know.Spare springs especially leaf, the most important one is the main leaf so only carry one main leaf saving around 80 Kgs on a spring pack.We only carry a 40Lt main fridge and an 18 Lt as a freezer. With the use of carefully selected long life foods one can save on weight and storage there as well. On our 21 day trip down the Canning the only thing we bought was fuel at well 32. As you know I didn`t have a roof rack as I detest them and every thing was stored in the vehicle or in the camper. Camper weight was just under 900Kgs .
Just seen that you do carry 2 spares.
Best of luck mate and looking forward to seeing your posts when you hit the road.

[threedogs]

@ Cuppa have you done a trial run fully loaded to see what fuel figures you get, camper in tow?
Full fuel tanks and full water, simulate full stores some how.

[Cuppa]

G`day Cuppa.
Hope all is going well with the new building project IE shed. Say g`day to Mrs Tea for me.
I can`t remember how many spare wheels and tyres you carry .After years of carrying 2 spares and never needing to using the second I reverted to 1 and as the camper trailer, caravan both have a spare, which are all matched, I ended up off loading some 50/60 Kgs .
The carrying of tools and spares is a big problem as I see people carrying way too much and things they would not use or some times be unable to fit.Little things like rear wheel bearings ,if it fails in the bush you would not be able to chance it, a bearing weighs around 1Kg plus storage, small saving I know.Spare springs especially leaf, the most important one is the main leaf so only carry one main leaf saving around 80 Kgs on a spring pack.We only carry a 40Lt main fridge and an 18 Lt as a freezer. With the use of carefully selected long life foods one can save on weight and storage there as well. On our 21 day trip down the Canning the only thing we bought was fuel at well 32. As you know I didn`t have a roof rack as I detest them and every thing was stored in the vehicle or in the camper. Camper weight was just under 900Kgs .
Just seen that you do carry 2 spares.
Best of luck mate and looking forward to seeing your posts when you hit the road.

G’day Pearcey,
MrsTea says hello, she’s laid up feeling a tad sorry for herself at the moment, having had knee surgery on Wednesday. I’m missing her TA skills - all the timber for building the dwelling in the shed was delivered today & I’ve been preparing the layout on the slab. Using a stringline to get chalk lines is not the easiest of things to achieve without someone to hold the other end of the string! LOL. Hopefully I’ll be able to start building over the weekend in between playing nurse, cook & washer upperer.

I did carry two spares, but since changing the tyres on the Tvan to match the Patrol I now have a third on the Tvan’s drawbar. I wasn’t going to bother with a 3rd but wanted to keep the framework on the drawbar to carry jerries etc. Without a spare mounted on it the protective cover doesn’t fit properly. I may eventually get a different cover made & only carry the 2 spares. Also since getting the Tvan I have removed the rooftop tent losing around 70kg. When the GVM upgrade was done, in full touring mode with both of us on board we were running around 3700kg. I’d guess that with the removal of the RTT & a little rationalising of ’stuff’ between the Patrol & Tvan, the Patrol is now around 3600kg in touring mode. (In everyday home use I’d guess around 3300kg. For a rig intended for solo long term remote touring I think the weight is fairly reasonable. Plenty of folk travel at similar weights. Tare weight of the Tvan is 890kg (including spare) with an ATM of 1400kg. I wouldn’t think we’ve had it over 1200kg to date.

Experience may change my thoughts, but although my Patrol is heavier than many Patrol owners in day to day use, I don’t really think that the touring weight is that different to many & given the type of travel it will be used for I think this quite a reasonable achievement. I know that minimising weight is sensible to reduce pressure on the vehicle generally, but most people still have to travel to a schedule. We don’t intend to do this, instead planning slow travel. This allows for reduced pressure on the vehicle that others who need to rush don’t have the luxury of. Not only maintaining lower speeds but choosing not to travel into headwinds, when too hot or wet etc.
That said I still intend to go through the tools & spares as ruthlessly as I can, & we will only travel fully loaded when necessary (dependent upon how long we expect to stay away from places to resupply.)

TD,
I think the wider body of the Telstra pod, plus the solar panels (replaced RTT) on the roof contribute to highish fuel consumption, although that said I’ve found that fuel consumption has remained much the same regardless of whether it’s fully loaded touring mode or in day to day mode with a few hundred less kilos. I consistently get around 950 to 970 kilometres out of the two tanks (180 litres). Haven’t done any long trips with the Tvan yet, but one camping trip we did (with a fairly full load & towing the tvan) of 530kms still saw us get the 950kms out of the tanks & that included some fairly hilly country! Have never completely emptied the tanks so I reckon around 17 to 18 litres per 100kms.