Car and Trailer Weights – The Words (and Letters) We Use
Tare Mass
In simple terms, the Tare Mass of your car or trailer is its empty or unladen weight.
For cars, this empty weight does however include “fluid reservoirs [such as oil and brake fluid etc] filled to nominal capacity except for fuel, which shall be 10 litres only, and with all standard equipment and any options fitted” (source: https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/).
Similarly for caravans and campers etc BUT the “fluid reservoirs do not include water tanks and waste water tanks fitted to caravans” (source: ibid). But it would include spare tyre/s, empty water tanks, empty grey water tanks and empty gas bottles
Manufacturers take on Tare Mass
Phil Lord wrote a good article on www.caravancampingsales.com.au that touches on the relevance of Tare Mass and when its measured by manufacturers.
The bottom line is that this is perhaps not a well-regulated area and doesn’t really serve to do much other than to potentially provide (what should be) a baseline from which to compare caravans and campers.
By this I mean, if all caravans and campers were reliably and consistently weighed by all manufacturers and all those attractive accessories (eg stone guard, grey water tank, bigger fridge etc) ordered with the new buy were provided with equally reliable and documented measurements, then maybe the amount of Payload (refer to my next blog), or the available weight for you to pack your clothes and knives and forks etc, could be know with some certainty.
So, again, don’t overthink this because the Tare Mass is a somewhat fictitious number that you will never see again. The minute you fill the gas bottle/s, store your rolled up extension lead and hose, fill the water tank/s, put your cutlery in the drawer along with your pots and pans its gone.
Don’t Dismiss Tare Mass
The Tare Mass can however provide you with a quick ready reckoner when looking at a new caravan or camper that you may have your eye on. If you know your car can tow a maximum of say 2.5 tonne then I would shy away from any trailer with a Tare Mass over say 2 tonne (just my opinion and for example purposes). If you add 80 litres (80 kg) of water plus a couple of gas bottles (at say 18 kg each) to those 2 tonnes you soon start eating into your allowable load – keeping in mind that you may not want to travel at the absolute maximums.
But!!! You ought to get some idea of how much you caravan or camper actually weighs before you go adding too much to your load and you need to understand the impact of where you place that load.
Safer Way to Look at Loads
Did you know that adding a bicycle to the back of a caravan or camper can add that much and more to the trailer’s axle load. On top of that it takes weight of the Ball Load at the hitch. But we’ll explore more on this in later articles.
Identifying key items that you want to carry, determine where to place them and how they affect various loads before you pay for brackets to carry them or seek extra storage can lead to a saving of time, effort and money as well as a more relaxed and safer trip for you and others.
The App ‘LoadGood’ takes key measurements for your car and/or trailer and helps you understand the affect of the loads you place in front or behind your car’s rear axle or your trailer’s axle.
