Towing vehicle

Kaycol · Newbie

Towing vehicle

Wayne D · Member

Its not the length of the van, it's the weight that decides what vehicle will be best to tow it. You will see vehicle specifications state what it can tow, e.g 3000 kgs. What is the ATM (Aggregate Trailer Mass) of the van you are looking at?

travelyounger · Guru

Kaycol wrote:
Looking to purchase a new twin cab vehicle to pull a 21ft van Any suggestions on the best make

Hi

More of a personal choice when buying a new vehicle but beware as mentioned in the previous post as most twin cab utes will be over on their gcm once the van is loaded and the vehicle is loaded and tow ball weight is added to the vehicles gvm .
Gcm and gvm upgrades are available for certain vehicles and each state has their own set of rules for suspension modifications good luck

cheers

yobarr · Guru

Kaycol wrote:
Looking to purchase a new twin cab vehicle to pull a 21ft van Any suggestions on the best make

Hi Kay.Despite the advertising hype,and the spiel you'll get from salesmen if buying new,none of the popular lightweight twin-cab utes can safely tow a van that weighs much more than 3000kg-3100kg ATM.As far as makes go,it really is a toss up between Ford Ranger,Mazda BT50,Isuzu DMax, Holden Colorado, VW Amorak and Toyota Hilux,with the Triton and Navara being only outside chances for those who understand weights,IMO. As John has mentioned,you can spend heaps of money on a GCM upgrade,but far better to buy a more suitable car in the first place.Being a new member,you may not be familiar with the acronyms being thrown around? GCM is Gross combination mass,and is the TOTAL weight of car and van combined. GVM is Gross Vehicle Mass,and is the maximum allowed weight of the car.ATM is Aggregate Trailer Mass,and is the total allowed weight of the van.When you connect a van to a car,the towball weight becomes part of the car's weight,so it is much more complicated than simply adding the weights of the two vehicles together and setting sail.The biggest limitation for almost all cars is low rear axle carrying capacity.You no doubt will now have many questions,so please come back to us,and we'll try to help,but weights are an absolute minefield for beginners,who may well receive 'help' from well-meaning people,or unscrupulous car salesmen,so be wary! Good luck with your search.Cheers

-- Edited by yobarr on Wednesday 1st of September 2021 09:18:31 AM

Possum3 · Guru

Kaycol, As enumerated above, weight is the key factor in matching vehicles to required task.
I suggest that you download all the relative key information and check lists at www.caravancouncil.com.au/ and determine the correct information required to select a tow-vehicle that is Legal, Safe and desirable.

KJB · Guru

yobarr wrote:
Kaycol wrote:
Looking to purchase a new twin cab vehicle to pull a 21ft van Any suggestions on the best make
Hi Kay.Despite the advertising hype,and the spiel you'll get from salesmen if buying new,none of the popular lightweight twin-cab utes can safely tow a van that weighs much more than 3000kg-3100kg ATM.As far as makes go,it really is a toss up between Ford Ranger,Mazda BT50,Isuzu DMax, Holden Colorado, VW Amorak and Toyota Hilux,with the Triton and Navara being only outside chances for those who understand weights,IMO. As John has mentioned,you can spend heaps of money on a GCM upgrade,but far better to buy a more suitable car in the first place.Being a new member,you may not be familiar with the acronyms being thrown around? GCM is Gross combination mass,and is the TOTAL weight of car and van combined. GVM is Gross Vehicle Mass,and is the maximum allowed weight of the car.ATM is Aggregate Trailer Mass,and is the total allowed weight of the van.When you connect a van to a car,the towball weight becomes part of the car's weight,so it is much more complicated than simply adding the weights of the two vehicles together and setting sail.The biggest limitation for almost all cars is low rear axle carrying capacity.You no doubt will now have many questions,so please come back to us,and we'll try to help,but weights are an absolute minefield for beginners,who may well receive 'help' from well-meaning people,or unscrupulous car salesmen,so be wary! Good luck with your search.Cheers

Probably settle on the tow vehicle that you can afford or desire then choose from the list of caravans in the weight (not length) range that the vehicle (single or twin cab will be an important aspect to consider ) is capable of towing - the list will be a lot shorter probably and not necessarily include the van you first desired. KB

bomurra · Veteran Member

Hello Kay,

To confuse you a little further and offer further input, there is a guy called John Cadogan who calls himself AutoExpert.Com, he has been posting some info on this topic recently.

Cadogan is not a caravan fan, so take a lot of what he says with a "pinch of salt", but there is some useful explanations contained in his stuff.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Bob