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Realistic curb weight


zedevan

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Hey Guys,

 

Am wondering what a realistic weight for a 76 260z 2 seater would be in normal street trim with all fluids, so basically factory spec.

 

I'm hoping its under 1,200kg so I can tow it easier. From google its coming in at 1,100kg but I'm concerned this is for an early one that's a 240z shell.

 

Then ofcourse most of the weights people are talking about online is stripped out track cars, or 280z's being too heavy thanks to their bumpers!

 

Cheers, Evan

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Wiki has the later ones at 1100 kg, and a plus 2 at 1200.

Have seen plenty that are ( lightened, 'cos racecar) and they are still close to factory weights!

Some like to make all kinds of wild statements, but run a thousand miles when it comes to actually weighing their car!

 

My racer is 1125, a heavy body all steel Group S, it's had stuff out, and a cage put in.

Another 260Z has weighed at 980 kg. Cannot work out how, it is a Group S car, looks totally stock, and very original, but 140 kg less!!!

It can be done!

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I think it's a bit of a myth that early 240z's were lighter than later 240z's. I think that might only apply to heavy US bumper 73 models.

 

So far from what I've seen there would be very little difference in weight between my 70 240z and my 72 240z or the 73 I owned. As in any difference would be negligible.

 

If I recall correctly you're 75? 260z has a the shorter rear strut towers like the earlier S30z shells doesn't it? In which case it would definitely have to be less than 1200 kg.

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My old 2B racer was 960kg wet without me in it.

 

All steel panels bar bonnet, stripped interior, acrylic windows, glass screen. Guards were steel, but lighter than fibreglass, couldn't lean on them and they had dents from gravel being thrown up by the wheels.

 

Another 2F car I was involved with, was lightened as much as the rules of the day allowed and it was still around 1100kg ready to play on the track.

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Gidday Evan

 

What are looking at using as a tow car ?

The reason I ask is that the tow capacity of the vehicle is only tells you what is legal.

 

Cheers

 

PB

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Thanks for the weights of your cars guys, the 2+2 one makes me feel a bit more comfortable with the <1200kg weight.

 

revolutionary idea.... get it weighed ???  lol

well it's currently missing some bits and this would require towing it to some scales??? haha

 

How heavy is your trailer? My Tilta tandem is listed at 500kg which enables a wide range of tow car options.

That's what I'm trying to work out - if I'm only hiring trailers then I need a more serious tow car but I don't want a 'large' car or have to rely on swapping or borrowing cars in order to tow the zed around, as my mates with 4wd's or even commodores generally live 45min or so away and just makes it all too hard.

 

For the amount I will need to tow, purchasing a trailer nearly seems excessive but I kind of need a trailer for general house reno stuff anyway so am thinking I'll make up a box to sit on there for that sort of stuff. Since the zed should be under 1200kg I'm thinking a single axle tilta trailer (or other 300kg aluminium trailer) will suit fine and allow me to use a car with only a 1500kg braked limit. ie liberty wagon and a bunch of others. Any thoughts on the negatives of single axle trailers?

 

The next option up would be a tandom tilta trailer (or other ~500kg trailer) which would mean a 2003-2009 H6 liberty or 2010+ GT (the 'ugly' ones) is required to tow up to 1800kg, and therefore a 1300kg car could be transported. Being able to tow that bit extra is tempting me just incase anyone ever wants to tow a commodore behind a 4wd etc, since the tandom tilta trailers can tow up to a 1500kg car. Realistically I can only see myself ever wanting to tow light cars and go karts.

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Tandem trailers handle a whole letter than single axle ones.

Also the axle loading on a tandem is way less so your risk of blow outs and bearing failures is significantly reduced.

 

I can't recall having seen anything heavier than Clubman on a single axle car trailer.

 

A couple of things to think about.

 

What is the all up rolling mass of the complete rig, the GCM going to be?

Will you also have passengers and gear in the car ?

Will you be travelling long distances at open road speeds ?

How well will light weight trailer endure the hard work ?

 

The liberty has serious tow rating and has the safety of AWD to assist in keeping it all under control.

 

 

Having said all that, I always err on the side of caution and safety plus have the added advantage of easy access to serious tow vehicles.

 

Just my thoughts.

 

 

 

 

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cheers, I don't currently have the intention of transporting it on a trailer to track days or interstate etc. I'd basically written off the single axle trailers until I was watching someone putting some silvia's on and off one the other night - they stated they don't like taking silvias very far on it and mainly have it for transporting their track mx5 - which i'm guessing would be well under 1tone. A blow out would be dam scary though!

 

I'll likely end up going for a car with a 1,800kg rating as have a soft spot for the H6's and would like to not be pushing the car to its limit, however the rating itself would have a factor of safety on it (so an STI gt would be sweet but is only rated to 1,500kg also - on that topic I find it strange a 2007 gt forester can tow 1,800kg, but a gt liberty of the same year can only do 1,500kg even when its running the same suspension/wheels as a H6 liberty which is also rated up to 1,800kg)

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Hi,

 

I had a blow out on a tandem a few years back, scary but not a major drama. After this I did some research and discovered that a lot of LT tyres are rated to around 700 or 800kgs (and non LT's are much less) so if you only have one axle the tyres could be very easily overloaded  :o

 

The calculation of a vehicle's tow rating is a complex calculation that includes many things other than just power and strength, radiator cooling capacity is one of them. As an example the 2012 Lexus IS250 had braked towing capacity of 1500kgs but the more powerful IS350 was not approved for towing.

 

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PB260Z has pretty well covered everything. Just note that the braked towing capacity is to do with the vehicle's capability and may have nothing to do with it's performance when towing. If buying a towing vehicle, as well as looking at it's official towing capacity, look at the engine's power which of course indicates how easily it will tow, something very relevant to driver comfort and sometimes fuel economy.

 

As us Z drivers appreciate, you can't have too much power :) PS for towing I prefer a auto turbo diesel.

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Big difference between slipper leaf non load share, and rocker load share, on a tandem axle trailer.

The slipper type, when, say, you get it up over a driveway, at an angle, can lift a wheel, or a whole axle, thus putting maximum loading onto re,aing axle, ie overload, and these can bend/break.

 

The load share ( centre rocker arm pivot ) type, will keep all wheels in contact, this sharing load more evenly.

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so a rocker one has a hinge to allow vertical movement? I'd assumed most would be like this to ensure it sat evenly on all 4 wheels so thanks for pointing out the difference.

 

One a single axle trailer i'm guessing it's just a case of having the car centered? however making sure its perfectly balanced would be near impossible so there's likely a chance it will be putting extra load on or off the car?

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so a rocker one has a hinge to allow vertical movement? I'd assumed most would be like this to ensure it sat evenly on all 4 wheels so thanks for pointing out the difference.

 

One a single axle trailer i'm guessing it's just a case of having the car centered? however making sure its perfectly balanced would be near impossible so there's likely a chance it will be putting extra load on or off the car?

Gidday

 

The rocker (or loadshare) is a pivot between front and rear axles that pushes one up when the other other goes down. Where as in a slipper set up if one goes up the entire trailer lifts resulting in a lift in the other wheel. This results in uneven load share.

 

With all trailer you want them nose heavy, the ball weight as it called should be about 10% of the all up weight.

The issue with heavy loads in single axle applications, other then tyre ratings, is the tendency for the trailer to pitch and unsettle the entire car / trailer combination.

 

Personally I would think twice before towing much over 1,000kgs on a single axle setup.

 

The challenge is that dual axle trailers are heavier and as such require a bigger vehicle to tow than a single axle, but that is the price of towing larger things.

 

Cheers

 

PB

 

 

 

 

post-3930-144023764468_thumb.jpg

post-3930-144023764475_thumb.jpg

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I think it's a bit of a myth that early 240z's were lighter than later 240z's. I think that might only apply to heavy US bumper 73 models.

 

So far from what I've seen there would be very little difference in weight between my 70 240z and my 72 240z or the 73 I owned. As in any difference would be negligible.

 

If I recall correctly you're 75? 260z has a the shorter rear strut towers like the earlier S30z shells doesn't it? In which case it would definitely have to be less than 1200 kg.

 

The weight difference in '73 to earlier bumpers would not actually be the bumpers themselves, but the brackets. I would estimate the difference to be only a few kg at most. (I've had both in hand. ;)) The '74.5 (260Z) and later S30s in North America is when they got the rather large, bulky and fugly bumpers. ;)

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...

 

I'll likely end up going for a car with a 1,800kg rating as have a soft spot for the H6's and would like to not be pushing the car to its limit, however the rating itself would have a factor of safety on it (so an STI gt would be sweet but is only rated to 1,500kg also - on that topic I find it strange a 2007 gt forester can tow 1,800kg, but a gt liberty of the same year can only do 1,500kg even when its running the same suspension/wheels as a H6 liberty which is also rated up to 1,800kg)

 

I can give the thumbs up for the H6, I used a 2008 3.0R spec B wagon for a while and it tows well. My trailer is a a lightweight rocker arm with a bed 1700 wide and just 4m long (the bed), I think it weighs 285kg? or maybe it was 385kg. Only advice I can give with the Liberty is to get as smaller trailer as you need as it help keeps the weight down and it is easier to tow with the smaller car.

 

 

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Thanks PB, those pics really help explain it. I had incorrectly assumed it was referring to the way the arm was connected to the car, and that the weight was neutral with a tandem trailer.

 

Mooa42, was your trailer a custom one? most tandems that i can find weight specs for are closer to 600kg.

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Thanks PB, those pics really help explain it. I had incorrectly assumed it was referring to the way the arm was connected to the car, and that the weight was neutral with a tandem trailer.

 

No worries, happy to help.

If set up well, towing doesn't need to be a chore.

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Mooa42, was your trailer a custom one? most tandems that i can find weight specs for are closer to 600kg.

 

Yes, mine was built by a friend but may not suit your other requirements, unless you make up some sort of temporary floor. The open mesh is good for tying the car on and good for cleaning a muddy rally car too.

 

It's a bit hard to see in the photo but the trailer tilts from the back of the A-frame which means you can use shorter lighter ramps and still get low cars on. Also has the two pipes on the front where I slide my winch in if and when I need it. Plus the wheel stop is removable if you have a low spoiler or different length car.

 

Cheers

Tony

 

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