What’s the point of hubodometers?

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › What’s the point of hubodometers?

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tweake

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#3176318 30-Dec-2023 12:20

K8Toledo:

Currently, motorhomes with a GVW of 6T, but a GLW (actual weight) of 4.5T or less can be driven by someone holding a Class 1 car license.

Without the amendment many motorhome owners in NZ would need to obtain Class 2 or Class 3 combination vehicle license.

FWIW....most of the braking (say ~85%) on Truck and Trailer/Semi/B-Trains is done by the trailer(s).

its actually

A holder of a Class 1 full licence can drive:
• a vehicle that has a GLW of not more than 6000kg (this
includes tractors, but does not include motorcycles)
• a combination vehicle that has a GCW of not more than
6000kg (this includes a tractor towing a trailer)

your allowed 6 ton GCW. so 3 ton ute with 3 ton trailer or a 6 ton motorhome.

the 4.5 ton is for learner/restricted drivers.

with light vehicles and light trailers, most of the braking is done by the utes front wheels. ie most of the braking is at the wrong end, which is why i would like to see that improved.

K8Toledo

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#3176338 30-Dec-2023 13:59

tweake:

its actually

A holder of a Class 1 full licence can drive:
• a vehicle that has a GLW of not more than 6000kg (this
includes tractors, but does not include motorcycles)
• a combination vehicle that has a GCW of not more than
6000kg (this includes a tractor towing a trailer)

your allowed 6 ton GCW. so 3 ton ute with 3 ton trailer or a 6 ton motorhome.

the 4.5 ton is for learner/restricted drivers.

You're right, I didn't see the R/L..... that makes more sense.

tweake:

with light vehicles and light trailers, most of the braking is done by the utes front wheels. ie most of the braking is at the wrong end, which is why i would like to see that improved.

I agree, but you also have to consider the weight of the trailer in proportion to the vehicle towing it...

With 50 tonne combination vehicles, say a fully loaded B-Train and 6x2 tractor unit, the trailer units might account for 35 tonne, there may only be 15 tonne on the tractor (@6.5T max per axle).

If an average ute vehicle 1.5T? then at what weight should trailer braking be enforced?

tweake

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#3176342 30-Dec-2023 14:47

K8Toledo:

If an average ute vehicle 1.5T? then at what weight should trailer braking be enforced?

generally speaking utes are 2T with 1T load capacity. manufactures specs is typically a max unbraked capacity of 700kg which is about as high as light vehicles go. consider than many 2500kg rated trailers are 500kg empty and then some. many horse floats are 1T unloaded. of course 2T with no brakes is currently legal here.

so bare minimum brakes should be required on anything over the tow vehicles maximum unbraked rating. which is at least every trailer rated for 700kg or more as no light vehicle is rated higher.

the other factor is what size brakes and under what load should they come on. to me the trailer brakes should handle all of the trailer load all the time so the trailer has no impact on the tow vehicle.

Geektastic

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#3177132 2-Jan-2024 15:57

Thanks for all the handy information.

What’s a bit strange to me is that the licence to drive a heavy motorhome requires you to know all manner of transport industry related things like how far loads can exceed length of width of trucks, how much allowance is made for lashing heights over the allowed load heights and so on and so forth.

All of which is utterly irrelevant to someone wanting the licence to drive a larger motorhome rather than work as a truck driver.

It seems to me that there should be a specific Class 2 (Motorhome) category that has no requirement to pass theory etc related to road transport industry tasks.

BlakJak

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#3177139 2-Jan-2024 16:19

I have my class 2 license for purposes associated with firefighting. I don't drive for hire or reward either. No reason not to have a well rounded knowledge of the regulations associated with heavy vehicles, and it's been handy to have the license outside of firefighting once or twice.

No signature to see here, move along...

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