Ranger data plate

[Big Jim]

Hello all , me again . Could someone translate the info on this plate for me ? I put the rig on a weigh bridge today to try to work out what I need to do .
Thanks

[zildjian]

unladen (kerb weight)
Max train weight so truck and trailer
1 - front axle max loading
2 - rear axle max loading

[Big Jim]

Thanks
Weigh bride results for an empty camper , no people and 1/2 tank of fuel.
Front 780 kg
Rear 1600kg
Total 2380kg

With 2 people may be 2530kg , and I guess most of that would go on the front axle.so that leaves me 220 kg luggage etc ( maybe 120 on the back) Does that make sense .
Going back to tyres , the highest load tyre available in 205 75 14 are 109 so that would give me a total load of 4120kg
Sorry to ramble , does that all add up ?
Jim

[Gary W]

Thanks
Weigh bride results for an empty camper , no people and 1/2 tank of fuel.
Front 780 kg
Rear 1600kg
Total 2380kg

With 2 people may be 2530kg , and I guess most of that would go on the front axle.so that leaves me 220 kg luggage etc ( maybe 120 on the back) Does that make sense .
Going back to tyres , the highest load tyre available in 205 75 14 are 109 so that would give me a total load of 4120kg
Sorry to ramble , does that all add up ?
Jim

Hi Jim

109 rated tyre is rated at 1030kg per tyre at the recommended pressure (on the tyre, not the truck), so as you say 2060kg maximum per axle. The correct pressure is crucial though.

From your figures it looks like you have 295kg total payload to play with.
Some of that will certainly have a forward bias (driver and passenger) but if you have a double cab, the rear axle becomes a fulcrum so any load added to the camper will apply a load greater than it's weight to the rear axle (while reducing the loading on the front axle of course). Not desirable, but unavoidable.

In this case, of your total available payload of 295kg the driver, passenger and topping up the tank will absorb maybe 195kg(?) leaving you with around 100kg of usable payload.
While not a huge amount with care enough it should be enough, and as long as you're careful how you stow it you should everything should be within limits too. A fair result.

Should that not be sufficient you could consider upgrading the suspension or fitting air assistance and talking to Zildjian so see if it might then be possible to uprate/upgrade your axle weights to the limit of the available tyres. You'll probably find airbags obligatory anyway so considering the small additional costs involved why not?

Best wishes

Gary

[Big Jim]

Hi Gary
Thanks for a very full answer . I have found a bit more to play with today , there was 10 litres of water in the tank . My Ranger is a super cab , so I have a bit more room to shove things forward between the 2 axles .
I will get airbags on it as soon as I establish the truck is ok , it's 10 years old now.
Jim

[Gary W]

Hi Gary
Thanks for a very full answer . I have found a bit more to play with today , there was 10 litres of water in the tank . My Ranger is a super cab , so I have a bit more room to shuv things forward between the 2 axles .
I will get airbags on it as soon as I establish the truck is ok , it's 10 years old now.
Jim

Super Cab... That explains it. I was wondering how you were getting such reasonable axle weights. All makes sense now The air bags are pretty universal, just the (unbelievably crude) fitting kits that vary usually so you can always whip the kit off and stick in on the next truck when the time comes. Super Cabs of any make are rare as Hen's teeth though and those Rangers are tough little trucks so don't imagine you'll be in any hurry to change.

Best wishes

Gary

[zildjian]

[derestrictor]

"The air bags are pretty universal, just the (unbelievably crude) fitting kits that vary usually so you can always whip the kit off and stick in on the next truck when the time comes"
think they only usually clamp over springs at bottom and chassis rail at top, crude yes but only there really to keep air bags upright and in place, not much more

[Toshbins]

I'm having an interesting time looking up all the information that I can find about axle loadings etc. OK, these relate to the VW Amarok, but it's still interesting when look at data from other vehicles. I've come across the VW handbook for body conversion firms, with all the information you could ever want on putting special bodies onto the Amarok. They have a stipulation that for all loading situations, there must be at least 38.8% of the load on the front axle in order to maintain stability. I'm not sure how bigger demountables will achieve that so it's certainly making me think.

[zildjian]

Typically the percentage between front and back axles is around 30% on these trucks,
its interesting DVLA prefer apportion any weight allowance to (only) the rear alone, while its true the majority of the sprung weight is being increased with the addition of air bags,
then of course you are after all improving its unsprung envelope by replacing the (Four) road tyres with better rubber.

I can only imagine they are leaving the policing to VOSA at roadside with a calculator to work out the revised percentage,
and that dependant on how affable they find the driver.

on my Hilux for example, increasing its GVW to 3500 raises its rear axle and front axle rating proportionally at same 30% (ish)
my front axle was well within with camper anyway, now its slightly more well within,
with rear axle safely inside its new rating.

Manufacturers sell vehicles into different territories with varying specs on weight/power/suspension depending on local conditions, so I would imagine each countries version of DVLA are allowed some leeway on granting quite small adjustments in each category