North Coast road blocks - Beware

[stephenplumb]

I was heading up to Sodwana today and there were multiple roadblocks. I had my trailer "delicensed" as my trailer GVM was over my tare mass. There was no interest in the actual trailer mass, just the GVM on the license disc, so this could mess up a few peoples holiday.

I kind of expected this in Cape Town, however I did not think the guys in KZN were that boned up on the trailer laws but there were totally up to speed.

Beware as soon as you head north of Ballitto.

[Hilux01]

Stephen

Which areas along the N2?
We are heading from Secunda, Ermelo via Piet Retief and Pongola to Hluhluwe

[jurgen10]

I do not understand, GVM will always be greater than Tare.

GVM is the total mass that includes the empty trailer weight and the load.
Tare is the weight of an empty or unloaded trailer.

Did they weigh the trailer on a weighbridge?

[JohanMaree]

I believe he means his trailer GVM was higher than the tow vehicle tare.

True.

That is illegal and rightly so.

[lizardalpha]

I believe he means his trailer GVM was higher than the tow vehicle tare.

True.

That is illegal and rightly so.

But would that allow them to "deregister" the trailer?

[janseekat]

You must have towed a very heavy trailer. Amarok tare 1848 kg.
Xplorer Gvm 1650 kg. As a reference.

[jelo]

But would that allow them to "deregister" the trailer?

They take your license disk and mark the vehicle as unroadworthy due to mass on eNatis.

[Ama-newbie]

I believe he means his trailer GVM was higher than the tow vehicle tare.

True.

That is illegal and rightly so.

How does that work, Johan? My vehicle (as with many other double-cabs) has a tare (which I understand is unloaded mass) of around 2,000kg, yet is rated to tow a trailer with a GVM of around 3,000kg.

[Jeanvn]

How does that work, Johan? My vehicle (as with many other double-cabs) has a tare (which I understand is unloaded mass) of around 2,000kg, yet is rated to tow a trailer with a GVM of around 3,000kg.

If your trailer has service brakes, electric/air etc you can tow up to the 3/3.5t manufacturers claim.
With run in brakes you can only tow up to the Tara of your tow vehicle.

[JohanMaree]

What is rated by the manufacturer (what you mention) and what the law specify is two different stories.

You can accept that on the farm you can safely tow that weight but not allowed on a public road.

Same with trucks. Tow allowance is not only determined by number of axles. Here you may have enough axles but the hp and brakes may not be enough.

[Ama-newbie]

If your trailer has service brakes, electric/air etc you can tow up to the 3/3.5t manufacturers claim.
With run in brakes you can only tow up to the Tara of your tow vehicle.

Sounds sensible, although I don't recall ever having read that in any sales brochure or road test. I'll go check my manual (although I'm terrible at reading the manual, until AFTER I've needed the info )

[Tedx2]

I believe he means his trailer GVM was higher than the tow vehicle tare.

True.

That is illegal and rightly so.

I'm confused, please give an example with numbers to show what you mean, many thanks

[JohanMaree]

What the official checks are the discs and do they correspond. Whether the trailer is loaded up to gvm is not regarded.

Similar to spotties on the roof or light bars. Whether they are connected or switched off is irrelevant. Fitted on a road vehicle is illegal finish and klaar.

[Koebelwagen]

But how can they deem the trailer unroadworthy? Surely the problem is the combination i.e. if he were towing it with a Ford F350(Just an example) then it would have been a legal combination, not so?

[JohanMaree]

I'm confused, please give an example with numbers to show what you mean, many thanks

Go to your tow vehicle and trailer/caravan and read the license discs.
Is the trailer gvm figure higher than the tare of the tow vehicle? Then a nono.

[janseekat]

Here an article from Carmag explaining the above issues.

https://www.carmag.co.za/technical/t...-the-law-says/

[Estee]

On news24 yesterday (Dstv) they reported that the authorities are also clamping down on vehicles with ''modifications''.

[JohanMaree]

But how can they deem the trailer unroadworthy? Surely the problem is the combination i.e. if he were towing it with a Ford F350(Just an example) then it would have been a legal combination, not so?

Yes! The F350's tare will be higher than the trailer's.
This whole scenario is for example will the tow vehicle be able to control the weight if the trailer in perhaps a critical situation? Not only brakes. Many other scenarios.

[lizardalpha]

But how can they deem the trailer unroadworthy? Surely the problem is the combination i.e. if he were towing it with a Ford F350(Just an example) then it would have been a legal combination, not so?

So in my simple mind I would have thought maybe just a fine, but then I thought a bit further.

If you are towing the trailer illegally, then the problem is the tow car plus trailer. Since the car on it's own is fine, they can't really take the car, but since the trailer combination is the problem, they probably deregister it so that you cannot just continue on?

[supersunbird]

I'm confused, please give an example with numbers to show what you mean, many thanks

If your vehicle tare is 1200kg, you can tow an unbraked trailer with GVM of up to 600kg (but no unbraked trailer may have a GVM of over 750kg)

If your vehicle tare is 1600kg, you can tow a run-in braked trailer with GVM of up to 1600kg