Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

I read somewhere that the 3500kg you are licenced to drive does not include whatever trailer you are towing (as it is GVM, not GCM), as long as it's not a fifth-wheel type trailer, so that is not the problem here.

The problem here is if they pull you off at a weighbridge on your way to holiday...

Net so

Dan is jy in sop

If your vehicles GVM exceed 3500kg ,you need a code 10 licence (C1 or greater)
If you go on holiday with your Patrol and with all the brown Fanta and families loaded and you exceed the GVM as printed on your licence dics,like Josh is 3080Kg and he is arguments sake weighs in at the weighbridge at 3200kg, his going to give that officer some of that brown fanta because he exceeded the vehicles GVM:rolling:

GCM is the maximum gross vehicle mass of your Patrol and trailer combined and I think that also varies from model to model
if some has a owner manual ,it should be in there ,would be interesting to know

As far as i'm aware its like this:

GVM = Max your vehicle can weigh, loaded or otherwise. Which would fall within our Drivers License parameters (Standard Code 8 / B)

Trailer weight is vehicle dependant:( ie: 750kg / 2750KG Braked Trailer) . I'm seriously unsure now as to weather or not this is matched to your Drivers license or not now.... i cant see how it could be. I have never operated like that before.

Let me try again.The way i understand it:
1) if you have a code EB licence, you can drive a car that weighs 3500kg gross. As far as I know, that does not include the trailer.
2) The Patrol's gross weights are all less than that, somewhere between 2960kg (GQ) and 3200kg.
3) A equiped with run-in brakes may weigh up to the Tarre weight of the vehicle. So for Patrols, this is between 2160kg (GQ) and circa 2350kg.
4) The combined mass is thus the gross mass of the vehicle and the trailer added together. Thus somewhere between 5100 and 5550kg.
5) for the guys with pickups, it gets even more complicated, because then you are not allowed to exceed the individual axle's maximum masses, so weight distribution can also come into play.

Further to this, let us say you get stopped on your way to your holiday, and your car weighs 3400kg. Your trailer, which ghas a gross mass of 2000kg, weighs 1500kg. You will be eligable for a fine, but you will also be able to continue on your yourney if you can re-pack in such a way that you move 400-odd kg from your car to your trailer. You should also not be elligable for a second fine for exceeding the limit of your driver's licence.

However, if your rig exceeds the allowable combined gross masses of the car and trailer, you will not be allowed to continue on your yourney...

Ja ,this is confusion of note
your drivers licence works on GVM of the vehicle you are operating and if you have a light motor vehicle licence you cannot operate a vehicle of which the GVM exceeds 3500KG
therefor you are licenced to drive your Patrol +towing a trailer off which the GVM is not greater than 3500KG.your licence does not refer to Gross Combination Mass (GCM)
Its loop holes in the system.
how many times have we seen Isuzu bakkies loaded 4m high towing 6m high small venter trailers going far north and the only offence they get nail for is exceeding the GVM of the trailer......????
I will definitely investigate and give feedback

Hierdie sal dalk help, daars darem prentjies by...
http://www.foresightpublications.co.za/Dlic.html

In die nuwe Augustus uitgawe van Wegry ( Drive out ) tydskrif word die gewig kwessie mooi bespreek.

Ek het dit ook gistraand raakgelees, en dis nog meer kompleks as wat ek gedink het.

I'm glad this topic has come up, as it may also alert people to how dangerous it can be to be too loaded up, in addition to what legal issues are brought into the equation. Please post back some definitive answers if you can.

Thanks chaps.