Tow vehicle matching for caravans: the Australian buyer's guide

“Can my Prado tow that van?” is the single most-asked question by first-time caravan buyers in Australia, and it’s also the question most often answered wrong by the person doing the asking.

The mistake almost everyone makes: looking only at the tow vehicle’s braked towing capacity and the caravan’s ATM, then concluding they’re a match. In reality, the legal limit you’ll hit first is almost always the tow vehicle’s GCM (Gross Combination Mass) — and once you do the GCM maths, the headline towing figures don’t mean what most buyers think they mean.

This guide walks the maths in plain English, then matches the most common Australian tow vehicles against the caravan size brackets they can realistically and legally tow.

The four numbers that decide what you can tow

Before you can match a tow vehicle to a caravan, you need to understand four numbers that work together:

Towing capacity (braked) — the maximum ATM the vehicle is rated to tow with a braked trailer. The headline number.
GVM (Gross Vehicle Mass) — the maximum loaded weight of the tow vehicle by itself, including passengers, fuel, accessories and ball weight from the trailer.
GCM (Gross Combination Mass) — the maximum combined weight of tow vehicle plus trailer. This is the legal hard cap, and it’s almost always lower than (vehicle GVM + trailer towing capacity).
Tow ball download — the maximum downward force on the tow ball (typically 200–350 kg on AU 4WDs).

For a deeper explanation of what these numbers actually mean, see our caravan weights guide.

The trap: a vehicle rated to tow 3,500 kg might only have a GCM that allows 3,200 kg of trailer once the vehicle itself is fully loaded. You don’t get to choose which of the four limits you hit first — you have to stay under all of them simultaneously.

How to do the GCM maths

Pick a tow vehicle. Get its GVM and GCM from the owner’s manual (or the manufacturer’s spec sheet). Then:

Maximum trailer ATM = GCM − (vehicle GVM)

This is the actual practical towing capacity for that vehicle when it’s loaded. It’s often 300–500 kg below the headline “braked towing capacity” figure.

Worked example: Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series Sahara

Headline towing capacity: 3,500 kg
GVM: 3,280 kg
GCM: 6,750 kg
Maximum trailer ATM in practice: 6,750 − 3,280 = 3,470 kg

So far so close to the headline. But that 3,280 kg GVM assumes the vehicle is fully loaded. Subtract a realistic load of 600 kg (driver + passenger + fuel + roof rack + recovery gear + 250 kg ball weight) and the actual practical caravan ATM becomes:

6,750 − (3,280 − safety buffer) − practical vehicle load

In real-world driving, most LandCruiser 300 owners find their comfortable upper limit is a caravan with an ATM of 3,200–3,300 kg, not the headline 3,500 kg.

Common AU tow vehicles vs caravan brackets

The brackets below assume real-world fully-loaded GVM use (driver + passenger + a sensible amount of vehicle gear and accessories). They’re conservative starting points for matching, not the absolute headline figures.

Light- to mid-duty (van ATM up to 2,500 kg)

Vehicle	Towing capacity	GCM	Practical caravan ATM
Toyota RAV4 Hybrid	1,500 kg	4,665 kg	Up to 1,200 kg (small camper trailer or hybrid camper only)
Subaru Outback	2,000 kg	4,600 kg	Up to 1,700 kg (compact pop-top)
Ford Everest 2.0 Bi-Turbo	3,100 kg	6,250 kg	Up to ~2,400 kg (mid-size caravan)
Mitsubishi Pajero Sport	3,100 kg	5,665 kg	Up to ~2,400 kg (mid-size caravan, watch GCM closely)

Mid-duty (van ATM 2,500–3,000 kg)

Vehicle	Towing capacity	GCM	Practical caravan ATM
Toyota Prado 250 Series	3,500 kg	6,600 kg	Up to ~2,800 kg (most mid-size touring vans)
Mitsubishi Triton GLS	3,500 kg	6,250 kg	Up to ~2,700 kg
Isuzu D-MAX X-Terrain	3,500 kg	6,000 kg	Up to ~2,600 kg
Ford Ranger Wildtrak V6	3,500 kg	6,400 kg	Up to ~2,800 kg

Heavy-duty (van ATM 3,000–3,500 kg)

Vehicle	Towing capacity	GCM	Practical caravan ATM
Toyota LandCruiser 200 Series	3,500 kg	6,850 kg	Up to ~3,300 kg (most heavy-duty vans)
Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series	3,500 kg	6,750 kg	Up to ~3,300 kg
Volkswagen Amarok V6	3,500 kg	6,000 kg	Up to ~3,000 kg (watch GCM — this is the trap)
Ford F-150	~4,500 kg	7,800 kg	Up to ~4,000 kg (typically only relevant for heaviest off-road tourers)

The Jayco Silverline Outback we reviewed at ATM 3,293 kg sits right at the upper limit of what a Prado, Triton or Ranger Wildtrak can realistically handle once loaded — and below the comfortable bracket for a 200/300 Series.

Things buyers commonly get wrong

1. Ignoring ball weight rating. Most AU 4WDs have a maximum tow ball download of 200–350 kg. A caravan with a 350 kg ball weight will overload the ball weight rating of a Triton (250 kg) even though the towing capacity is fine.

2. Forgetting passengers count toward GVM. Two adults at 80 kg each, half a tank of fuel, a 50 kg roof rack and 50 kg of recovery gear is over 400 kg before you’ve packed a single suitcase. That all has to fit inside the vehicle’s GVM with the ball weight.

3. Treating “braked towing capacity” as the law. The legal limit is whichever rating is breached first — towing capacity, GVM, GCM, ball weight, axle weight. Police roadside weighing operations check all four.

4. Assuming the dealer will refuse to sell an unsafe match. Dealers will sell you whichever caravan you’ll write a cheque for, regardless of whether it’s a safe match for your tow vehicle. The maths is your responsibility.

5. Buying the van first, then the tow vehicle. This is the most expensive mistake in caravanning. Buy in the right order: assess what tow vehicle you’ll realistically own, do the GCM maths, then shop for vans that fit.

Practical buying order

Pick a tow vehicle bracket first — light-duty SUV, mid-size 4WD ute, heavy-duty 4WD wagon, F-Truck. Set your budget here.
Calculate the practical maximum trailer ATM using GCM minus realistic vehicle GVM load.
Subtract a buffer of 200–300 kg from that practical maximum — you want headroom for the inevitable “we’ll just add one more battery” upgrade.
Shop caravans within that bracket — and stay within it. If you fall in love with a heavier van, the answer is a heavier tow vehicle, not stretching the maths on the one you already own.