Vehicle & Caravan Weighing
We offer a mobile weighing service that comes to you, providing vehicle and caravan weighing services. Checking your weights for your vehicle and caravan to make sure you can relax on your holiday knowing you are towing legal, safe and insured. We show you individual weights including left/right and front/back and can recommend how to balance your vehicle & caravan. Our weighing service covers the Cairns and Tablelands regions.
Our scales provide you with accurate vehicle weights to the kilogram. We weigh Vehicles, Caravans, Boats and Trailers to give you a report of your GVM, ATM, Axle Loads, GCM and Towball Weight. Everything you need for complete peace of mind before setting off on your next adventure.
NQ Dieselec also provides you with a 3 page comprehensive report and we will also give recommendations and tips on how to stay safe and tow legally.
Confused about what all the weights mean? See below for a better understanding.
Weights Explained
All the information you need to understand the weight acronyms so you can travel safe or choose the correct Tow Vehicle and understand your Caravan Weight and Tow Vehicle Weight.
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Weight of your vehicle when fully loaded
This is the maximum your vehicle can weigh when fully loaded as specified by the manufacturer. GVM is the Kerb Mass plus all accessories (bull bars, dual batteries, roof racks etc) and payload.
Most importantly, if you're towing something, the GVM also includes the Tow Ball Mass from your trailer.
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The maximum allowable weight on the axle of your tow vehicle. There is a separate allowable weight for front & rear axles. This is a very common weight that is missed or forgotten and is a very important one. It’s very easy to exceed your rear axle weight if you have a high TBM and loaded vehicle.
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BTC is the maximum allowable weight your vehicle can tow a braked trailer/caravan. It is normally on a sticker or stamped on your towbar.
Not many vehicles can tow this amount due to most vehicles they calculate this off kerb weight, that means no fuel, passengers, payload or accessories.
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The GCM is the maximum loaded weight of the towing vehicle and any trailer or caravan being towed while driving on the road.
GCM= GTM + GVMC
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Unhitched From Tow Vehicle
ATM is the combined weight of the trailer and its full load when it is not coupled to a tow vehicle.
The ATM includes the Tow Ball Mass as it is unhitched from the vehicle.
ATM = Caravan Tare Mass + Max Payload
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Hitched to Tow Vehicle
GTM is the weight of the loaded trailer imposed on the trailer’s axle when it’s hitched to the tow vehicle. Note, this is when the Caravan or Trailer is carrying its maximum load.
GTM will always be less than the ATM as some of the trailer weight is transferred to the tow vehicle when the trailer is hitched to it.
GTM = ATM – TBM
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TBM should be around 9-11% of the Aggregate Trailer Mass (ATM)
Tow Ball Mass is the amount of weight the fully laden trailer imposes (vertically) on the tow bar of the tow vehicle. TBM is not a specification defined by the trailer manufacturer – it is the actual weight imposed on the rear of the tow vehicle.
You may see Tow Ball Mass on your caravan or trailer compliance plate, this is the weight when the trailer/caravan was empty, it’s not helpful for determining the TBM of a loaded trailer/caravan as it can change quickly depending on weight distribution.
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Tare Mass is the weight of the Caravan or Trailer straight off the production line. This is the total weight of an empty caravan/trailer. It does not include, luggage, water or gas.
Something to be mindful of, is the Tare Mass recorded on your plate, may not be your actual weight. Additional aftermarket accessories are not included in this measurement from the manufacturer, as they are not original components. This includes items like toolboxes, solar panels added, bike racks and additional batteries.
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Payload is the trailer/caravans carrying capacity. It’s the difference between its Tare Weight (un-laden weight) and its ATM. Payload is very critical to campers and caravans, as many have quite limited carrying capacity to begin with. Modifications and upgrades to your caravan can quickly add up resulting in much less payload capacity.
Maximum Payload = ATM – Tare Mass – TBM
