What’s a 4×4 without accessories? If you spend your weekends camping, driving tracks or cruising along the beach you’ve probably thrown on a few accessories to make the journey safer and more comfortable.
Unfortunately with accessories comes weight, and with a full car of passengers, supplies and fuel you may find your vehicle is over it’s legal weight.
Top 5 Heavy Accessories
If you have one or more of these installed, you should be checking the loaded weight of your vehicle, and considering whether you require a GVM upgrade to increase your stock vehicle payload.
1. Long Range Fuel Tank (+150kgs)
Are you a keen explorer who’s installed a long range or secondary fuel tank to your 4×4 for outback adventures? While the tank itself might only weigh around 20kg – 45kg depending on if it’s ploymer or steel, when you have it fully loaded with fuel it can add 150kgs to your vehicle tare weight.
2. Water Tank (+90kgs)
If you’re spending a week or two off the grid you’ve probably also set up a water tank for fresh water. While they don’t weigh all that much empty, a full 80L water tank will add around 90kgs to your vehicle weight.
3. Rear Drawer System (+ 70kgs to 100kgs)
Installing rear drawers into your 4×4 is a life changer for storage, accessibity and organisation, add a fridge slide to that and you’re quickly loading up the back of your 4×4 or ute. Rear drawers can add 70 – 100kgs to your weight and will increase the load on your back axle, which can lead to uneven weight distribution.
If you load the drawers up with heavy recovery gear you may be bumping up that weight even more.
4. Steel Bull Bar (+80kgs)
If you’ve added a steel bull bar to protect the car from animal collisions and damage, to mount accessories, for recovery points, or just because your 4×4 looks meaner with it, then you could be adding an additional 80kgs to your weight.
Alloy bull bars weigh less, but still increase your vehicle weight by approximately 35kgs.
5. Winch & Cable (+30kgs to 45kgs)
If you’re heading off on the beaten tracks, or travelling bush as a single vehicle you may want to add a winch to your recovery gear. Winches with synthetic ropes are the lightest, but they still add around 30kgs to your vehicle tare weight. Those with steel cables will add another 10-15kgs to that weight.
Why is vehicle weight important?
The weight of your vehicle is important for a number of reasons. If you exceed the manufacturers weight allowances you can:
- Kiss goodbye your vehicle warranty
- Void your insurance policy
- Put yourself at risk of a Police fine.
- Damage your suspension, chassis or motor
- Put yourself at additional risk during an accident.
