Recently passed my class 2 and there’s a very good chance ill be starting my driving career next month driving anywhere around England,Wales and possibly Scotland.
So starting to get some kit together for the long days out.
Ordered a 2020 edition AA truckers atlas for GB. When it gets here ill be jemming up on how to use that, bridges, weight restrictions etc etc…
Bought myself a Tomtom 6200 sat nav today. Got the facility to input vehicle specs in.
Thing is, are they compatible with lorries? Doesn’t say weather its 12 or 24v.
Are truck sockets 12v?
Stupid question im sure but…
A- want a working satnav on day 1
B- dont want to watch £350 go up in smoke on day 1.
If its not going to be fit for purpose I’ll take it back tomorrow.
I’m sure you know this but there is a tomtom Go 6200 (car) and 6200 Professional (truck).
The tomtom cig lighter adaptor is fine on 12v or 24v. Other ebay ones occasionally go pop on 24v, last time this happened to me it just blew as soon as I used it.
Most tractor units ive driven have 12v around as well as 24v. I have got a hella to cig lighter adaptor in my rucksack just in case but not seen those sockets recently.
Lighter stuff might not have 12v outlet or less sockets so a 2 output usb can be handy sometimes. All too often radios have a usb port which could keep the sat nav powered but I find them slow to charge a phone. Renault its often up by tacho so rubbish to have a lead coming out.
Its the 6200 professional.
Now out of the box so will be keeping it:)
Just went to load the official Tomtom app onto my (Samsung android) phone and found the reviews are absolutely shocking. Id say 90% are 1 star!
Are there any better apps that can be used with this satnav?
Im not that tecky so just giving myself plenty of time to get everything set up and in use before I start the new job.
TomTom being the reputable company that it is wouldn’t provide you with a socket adapter that wasn’t fit for purpose. They usually offer up a 12/24V input / 5V output adapter that is fine for all manner of things, including charging a phone via a USB lead. If you go for a double one or something, just make sure it is 12/24 V input and go for a reputable brand rather than from the pound shop. I went for Ravpower for my double one on the occasion I am using a satnav and wanting to charge a phone as well.
I’ve got at least half a dozen Tomtom faglighter chargers of various vintages knocking around, and they all are marked at 12/24V input. You may need a magnifying glass to read it, but they all have that marking.
Just went to load the official Tomtom app onto my (Samsung android) phone and found the reviews are absolutely shocking. Id say 90% are 1 star!
Then you’d be mistaken - the Play store helpfully shows a little bar chart which shows that around 1/3 of reviews are 5 star, about the same are 1 star, with the rest being evenly spread between 2 and 4 stars.
The good news is that you don’t need the App to use your Satnav - the 6200 Pro has its own built-in SIM card for mobile online stuff (including traffic). I have the earlier 6000 Professional and find no issues at all with the App - I find it easier to plan a route and look at alternatives using the App rather than on the Tomtom.
Roymondo:
The good news is that you don’t need the App to use your Satnav - the 6200 Pro has its own built-in SIM card for mobile online stuff (including traffic). I have the earlier 6000 Professional and find no issues at all with the App - I find it easier to plan a route and look at alternatives using the App rather than on the Tomtom.
It has been ages since I tried the app, something didn’t work well for me at the time so I didn’t carry on trying.
If you are fortunate enough to know your route while still sat at home or take a laptop / tablet with you the web interface I don’t mind at all. Plan multiple stops and shuffle order etc. Send to device when done or save to ‘my routes’.
GVW is listed on the weight plate
On a 2 axle rigid it is the top of the 4 numbers and the bottom 2 of the 4 numbers are for each axle
Axle weights will always add up to more than the GVW to allow for an amount of full load load placement
If they added up to the same then a full load would have to be placed so precisely so as not to overload an axle
Filled in the weight box but will take a look at the axle weights tomorrow.
On the Tomtom, you don’t need to concern yourself with axle weights unless you are doing specialised heavy haulage. For regular Class 2 (or even Class 1) stuff, just enter the GVW (or “Maximum Authorised Mass”) in the first field and leave the other one (axle weight) set to zero.
ROG:
GVW is for guiding you around those weight limits but in rare cases there are axle weight limits instead of GVW limits
The issue being of course that the GVW is as stated on the plate, regardless of the load (or absence thereof). An 18T lorry is an 18T lorry regardless of whether it is empty, fully loaded or something in between. Axle weights vary with the load carried (and the distribution of said load). The only way you’ll know the axle weight of your lorry is to run it over a weighbridge with the current load - and even then this will change through the day as you get the drops off/collections on.
The issue being of course that the GVW is as stated on the plate, regardless of the load (or absence thereof). An 18T lorry is an 18T lorry regardless of whether it is empty, fully loaded or something in between. Axle weights vary with the load carried (and the distribution of said load). The only way you’ll know the axle weight of your lorry is to run it over a weighbridge with the current load - and even then this will change through the day as you get the drops off/collections on.
In terms of being able to drive a section of road with an axle limit, I thought it was the maximum authorised figure that matters.
Axle weight limits are effectively history now. For almost two decades highways authorities are supposed to have been replacing practically unenforceable axle weight limits on bridges etc with GVW limits of 3t, 7.5t, 10t, 13t, 18t, 26t and 33t as appropriate for the structure or road in question.
