Hi, new to the site although I have been following for some time as a visitor and have now joined as it seems you are great bunch of people who are willing to help & support like minded people.
My wife and I had a small Winnebago Motor home on a ford econovan chasis for a couple of years, then progressed to a Venture Van 5th Wheeler which we bought when it was a year old in early 2003 and kept for 10 years. We then sold that a few years ago and bought a 2006 26ft Rockwood 5th wheeler and a Mazda BT50 tug which is what the previous owner used. We travelled from Adelaide to Lakes Entrance, then up the Alpine Way to Hotham, then back to Adelaide which the BT did extremely well. However after seeing some of the weight issues brought up on this site I put the set up over the weigh bridge & found with water tanks & gas bottles full it only left me about 20 Kilo's for alcohol, food, & clothes. My BT 50 had a steel bull bar which is very heavy in itself, but I reckon the mounting plates alone are another 20 to 30 Kilo's, which the previous owner of the 5th wheeler didn't have. The expensive moral of the story is don't believe the sales blurb that your vehicle can tow 3.5 ton, yes it can if you don't add any accesories such as bull bar, canopy, drawers, fridge, long range fuel tank, spare battery, generator etc. I didn't have any of these except for the bull bar and I went over the 5.9 ton combined gross mass limit. We now have an Iveco dual cab which allows plenty of lee way weight wise which is handy because the wife likes to take everything.
The wife hates leaving the grandkids so only likes going away for a couple of weeks at a time although we have just come back from a 6 week trip to Perth & southern WA which was very enjoyable.
Thay's it for now, hope to catch up on the road sometime.
Cheers
Ian
Gaylehere said
09:47 PM Oct 16, 2016
Welcome to the forum. Great to here about your setups. Happy you enjoyed the west. We did a trip over that way last year after a quick detour to Adelaide. Cheers.
-- Edited by Gaylehere on Sunday 16th of October 2016 10:13:41 PM
Tony Bev said
10:04 PM Oct 16, 2016
Welcome to the forum from me also, Retiree2
You have confirmed what a lot of people are saying about weight, so thanks for that info
As you say, hope to see you on the road sometime
Woody n Sue said
10:16 PM Oct 16, 2016
And it's welcome from us two 2 retiree 2
Glad you found this site informative
Sales people are not to be believed about van and tug weights that's for sure
Travel safe
Woody
Dougwe said
09:15 AM Oct 17, 2016
Welcome to the gang retiree2, enjoy here and out in the playground.
Don't walk behind Woody as that tail of his will hurt ya big time. Oh! If you do meet him will give him a good feed please, he's looking very thin these days, he reckons it's his 6 pack..........but, just say'n.
Hi, new to the site although I have been following for some time as a visitor and have now joined as it seems you are great bunch of people who are willing to help & support like minded people.
My wife and I had a small Winnebago Motor home on a ford econovan chasis for a couple of years, then progressed to a Venture Van 5th Wheeler which we bought when it was a year old in early 2003 and kept for 10 years. We then sold that a few years ago and bought a 2006 26ft Rockwood 5th wheeler and a Mazda BT50 tug which is what the previous owner used. We travelled from Adelaide to Lakes Entrance, then up the Alpine Way to Hotham, then back to Adelaide which the BT did extremely well. However after seeing some of the weight issues brought up on this site I put the set up over the weigh bridge & found with water tanks & gas bottles full it only left me about 20 Kilo's for alcohol, food, & clothes. My BT 50 had a steel bull bar which is very heavy in itself, but I reckon the mounting plates alone are another 20 to 30 Kilo's, which the previous owner of the 5th wheeler didn't have. The expensive moral of the story is don't believe the sales blurb that your vehicle can tow 3.5 ton, yes it can if you don't add any accesories such as bull bar, canopy, drawers, fridge, long range fuel tank, spare battery, generator etc. I didn't have any of these except for the bull bar and I went over the 5.9 ton combined gross mass limit. We now have an Iveco dual cab which allows plenty of lee way weight wise which is handy because the wife likes to take everything.
The wife hates leaving the grandkids so only likes going away for a couple of weeks at a time although we have just come back from a 6 week trip to Perth & southern WA which was very enjoyable.
Thay's it for now, hope to catch up on the road sometime.
Cheers
Ian
Welcome to the forum. Great to here about your setups. Happy you enjoyed the west. We did a trip over that way last year after a quick detour to Adelaide. Cheers.
-- Edited by Gaylehere on Sunday 16th of October 2016 10:13:41 PM
Welcome to the forum from me also, Retiree2
You have confirmed what a lot of people are saying about weight, so thanks for that info
As you say, hope to see you on the road sometime
Glad you found this site informative
Sales people are not to be believed about van and tug weights that's for sure
Travel safe
Woody
Don't walk behind Woody as that tail of his will hurt ya big time. Oh! If you do meet him will give him a good feed please, he's looking very thin these days, he reckons it's his 6 pack..........but, just say'n.
Keep Safe on the roads and out there.
Cheers
Ian