Towing Capacity

What is towing capacity, and why is it important?

In order to tow safely and legally, you must tow within your car's towing capacity, which is the maximum amount of weight your vehicle is able to tow as recommended by the manufacturer.

How is towing capacity measured?

Towing capacity is usually listed as two separate figures, both of them in kilogram measures: one figure applies to unbraked towing, the other to braked towing. Never exceed those figures, but more about unbraked and braked towing below.

What is the towing capacity of my car?

Your vehicle's towing capacity figures should be listed in the owner's manual, and they should also be easily tracked down within vehicle specification sheets or sourced from a vehicle manufacturer's website.

The big question is: how much weight can my vehicle tow? Towing capacities can range from 640 kg (unbraked) and 1200 kg (braked) in a compact AWD SUV, to 750 kg (unbraked) and 3500 kg (braked) in many large SUV wagons and dual-cab utes, through to the 6989 kg (braked) towing capacity of a some full-size pick-ups from America.

The maximum weight you can haul differs from vehicle to vehicle and even between different variants in the same line-up: a manual HiLux, for instance, can have a towing capacity of 3500 kg (braked), but its automatic stablemate can have a towing capacity of 3200 kg (braked).

According to Roads and Maritime Services NSW, "the minimum braking system for a trailer depends on the type of trailer, its weight and the weight of the vehicle: 0 – 750 kg loaded weight – no brakes required. [referred to as "unbraked"]; 751 – 2000 kg loaded weight – braking on both wheels on at least one axle. ["braked"]; and 2001 – 4500 kg loaded weight – braking on all wheels, and an automatic breakaway system in case the trailer becomes detached from the vehicle ["braked"]".

Why is measuring towing capacity important?

It's crucial to be aware that a vehicle's towing capacity is reduced when taking into account how much of a load the tow vehicle itself has onboard (passengers, aftermarket mods, camping equipment, etc) and – remember this – the vehicle-and-trailer combination always has to weigh within the Gross Combined Mass (GCM) limit, that is the maximum your vehicle-and-trailer combination can legally weigh.

It's also important to keep in mind your vehicle's real-world weights, including its tare mass (a vehicle's weight when it is empty or unladen), ball load (how much weight a trailer or caravan imposes on your tow ball when it is hitched to your vehicle and the jockey wheel is not taking any weight), as well as things such as aggregate trailer mass, which RACQ describes as "the combined weight of the trailer and its full load when it is not coupled to a tow vehicle". For more on vehicle and trailer weights, read Mark Oastler's yarn.

Before you tow anything over any substantial distance, use your local weighbridge to get an accurate idea of the weight of your vehicle and trailer to make sure you're driving within legal limits.