Gympie Weigh-In: Why Keeping Car and Caravan on the Same Plane Matters
May 6, 2025
Thanks to David for using our car and caravan weighing service in Gympie — it was great to work with you!
We recently did a car and caravan weighing in Gympie and made a small but important mistake — we weighed the car without pulling the caravan onto the levelers.
It was a simple distraction, but it highlighted something crucial: you can be on a level surface and still get inaccurate results if the car and caravan aren’t on the same plane.
Here’s what happened:
We began by weighing the car, thinking everything was correctly set up. But partway through, we realised the caravan hadn’t been pulled onto the levelers — it was sitting lower than the car.
Once we corrected this and brought the caravan up onto the levelers to match the car’s height, we re-weighed the vehicle.
The result? A 9kg increase in the car’s measured weight.
Why the difference?
On a single axle caravan, if the drawbar is too high (like when the van isn’t on levelers), the towball weight becomes lighter.
That means less weight is transferred onto the car — which not only lowers the GVM reading, but also causes the rear axle weight to be under-reported.
And here’s the real kicker: you could be driving around thinking you’re under your weight limits — when in reality, you’re not.
Does 9kg really matter?
Absolutely. When you're operating close to your payload or axle limits, every kilo counts.
That 9kg could be the difference between towing legally and towing overweight — especially with the rear axle, which is often the first thing to go over.
The takeaway:
Even on a flat surface, make sure your car and caravan are sitting on the same plane when weighing.
It’s a subtle but critical step for getting accurate and compliant results.
(And yes — we now proudly offer our mobile weighing service in Gympie as part of our regular service area!)
