How accessories can eat into your vehicle's payload

So, you’ve bought a dual cab ute, SUV or van and the first thing you want to do is kit it out with the latest and greatest accessories for work or play, right?

That’s understandable given that most owners like to tailor their vehicles to best suit their requirements and Australia’s booming aftermarket produces some of the highest quality vehicle accessories in the world.

However, one critical factor that many accessory buyers either aren’t aware of, or don’t consider significant enough to worry about, is that every accessory is adding weight to your vehicle. And if unchecked it can have a serious effect on its load-carrying ability.

More accessories equals less payload

The Ford Ranger XLT.

Every vehicle has a payload rating measured in kilograms and it’s easy to calculate. It’s simply the amount of legal load-carrying capacity that remains after you deduct your vehicle’s kerb weight from its GVM, or Gross Vehicle Mass.

Kerb weight is what your vehicle weighs with all fluids including a full tank of fuel. GVM is the maximum it can legally weigh when fully loaded, as specified by the manufacturer. You’ll find this GVM figure in the owner’s manual or displayed on the weight placard which is usually found in the driver’s door opening.

Using CarsGuide’s Ford Ranger XLT long-term test vehicle as an example, it has a 3200kg GVM and a 2197kg kerb weight, which for ease of description we’ll round up to 2200kg. So, if you deduct that 2200kg kerb weight from the 3200kg GVM, that leaves a 1000kg payload limit.

While that might seem like a lot, keep in mind that we installed numerous Genuine Ford Accessories and Ford Licenced Accessories. They included a hard canopy, two pairs of roof racks, load tub lights, tailgate dust-sealing kit, ClearView towing mirrors, electronic brake controller, load tub floor mat, engine snorkel, steel bull bar, snowboard racks and rooftop box.

Their combined weight added almost 200kg to the Ranger’s kerb weight, which reduced its payload capacity by the same amount to 800kg. While that still sounds sizeable, remember that it has to accommodate driver, passengers, luggage and also tow-ball download if we were towing a trailer (tow-ball download is about 10 per cent of the trailer’s weight).  

So, we could easily use up 500kg of that 800kg just with five large adults aboard, leaving only 300kg  which could easily be used up or exceeded by their luggage and tow-ball download.

So, you can see that those 200kg of accessories use up valuable payload capacity, which could mean the difference between being under or over the GVM limit. And that’s critical because an overloaded vehicle is dangerous and illegal.

Also keep in mind that our Ranger XLT accessory program was relatively restrained. If let off the leash, we could easily have continued adding popular accessories like winches, steel side-steps and/or rock-rails, long-range fuel tank, under-body armour, load tub drawers, fridge, side awning, roof-top camper, you name it, all of which would have continued to increase its kerb weight and decrease its payload by the same amount.

The Ford Everest BaseCamp.

And don’t think this is only a problem for recreational off-roaders. Most work-focused cab-chassis utes also have a one-tonne payload rating, but if you install say a tough steel drop-side tray (300kg), bull bar and side steps (150kg) plus a tow bar (50kg), you’ve already added 500kg or half a tonne to its kerb weight - and halved its payload capacity by the same amount.

Then get two big blokes to climb aboard (200kg) and throw in their tools of trade (100kg) and you’ll only have 200kg of legal payload remaining. And that’s before what many would consider to be the ‘real’ payload like building materials, landscaping supplies, plant and equipment etc.

The same rules apply to hard-working commercial vans equipped with roof racks, ladders, internal storage systems, rear steps etc. Do your sums and you might well find that the combined weight of all those accessories have left your van with precious little payload.

Planning is essential

The best way to accessorise is to start with a whole-of-vehicle plan rather than impulse buy like a kid in a lolly shop. That way you can work out exactly what accessories you need and how much all of them will add to your vehicle’s kerb weight.

The Mazda BT-50 XT Freestyle Cab 4x4.

If that results in a payload that’s too small, you can either reduce the number of accessories you want to install or alternatively get a GVM upgrade. There are numerous reputable aftermarket companies that can provide this type of upgrade, with all the mandatory government approvals and certifications.

The key thing to remember is that every accessory adds weight. And the more accessories you install, the smaller your payload becomes.