Your ute is rated to tow 3,500 kg. Can it really?
Free towing calculators for Australian cars, utes, 4WDs and caravans. Enter the numbers from your compliance plates and see every limit in kilograms, before you hitch up.
Towing calculators
- Towing calculator: is your setup within its limits?
Check your car or ute and trailer against GVM, GCM, towing capacity and towball download in one go.
- How much can I tow? GCM calculator
Find the heaviest trailer your vehicle can legally pull as it's loaded today, and which limit stops you.
- Ute and 4WD payload calculator
Add up accessories, passengers, gear and towball download to see how much of your GVM is left.
- GVM upgrade calculator: what you gain and what you lose
See how a GVM upgrade changes your payload and how much you can still tow, with and without a GCM upgrade.
- Towball weight calculator
Work out your towball download as a percentage of the trailer and check it against your vehicle and towbar.
- Caravan payload calculator (ATM minus tare)
See how much you can really pack in your caravan once water, gas and extras are counted.
- Weighbridge calculator for caravans and trailers
Turn weighbridge readings into GTM, towball download and trailer weight.
- Trailer tyre load rating calculator
Turn the load index on your caravan or trailer tyres into kilograms and check they can carry your GTM and ATM.
- Towing fuel consumption and range calculator
Work out fuel use, range per tank, refuelling stops and trip cost when you tow a caravan or trailer.
- Trailer brake, safety chain and coupling requirements
Enter your trailer's ATM to see the brakes, breakaway system, safety chains and coupling it needs in Australia.
The six numbers that decide what you can tow
Every towing limit in Australia comes back to these. You'll find them on the vehicle's compliance plate and owner's manual, the trailer's compliance plate, and the towbar.
- ATM
- Aggregate trailer mass
- The most the loaded trailer may weigh on its own, including the part carried on the towball.
- GTM
- Gross trailer mass
- The most the loaded trailer may put on its own wheels when hitched. ATM minus towball download.
- Tare
- Tare mass
- The empty trailer or vehicle, ready for use. For vehicles this includes only 10 litres of fuel.
- GVM
- Gross vehicle mass
- The most the loaded vehicle may weigh, including the towball download when towing.
- GCM
- Gross combination mass
- The most the loaded vehicle and loaded trailer may weigh together.
- TBM
- Towball mass (download)
- The weight the trailer puts on the towball. It counts against the vehicle's GVM.
Guides
Do you need towing mirrors in Australia? The rules explained
If your caravan or trailer blocks your view of the road behind and to each side, you need extended towing mirrors. What the road rules say, with sources.
How much towball weight should a caravan have?
As a guide, 8 to 10% of the caravan's loaded weight, up to your vehicle's and towbar's limit. What WA's Safe Towing Guide says, with examples and how to check yours.
Towing speed limits in Australia: the rules in each state
WA caps every towing vehicle at 100 km/h and NSW caps most ute and caravan setups at 100 km/h. What each state's official source says, checked October 2026.
Overweight caravan: fines, risks and how to check you're legal
What counts as an overweight caravan or tow vehicle in Australia, the fines we could verify, the other risks, and how to check your own setup.
Can you tow on L or P plates? The rules in each state
Whether learner and provisional drivers can tow a trailer or caravan in each Australian state and territory, from official sources, checked October 2026.
Why a 3,500 kg towing capacity often isn't 3,500 kg
How GCM limits what your ute or 4WD can really tow, how to work out your own figure, and what you can do about it.
How to weigh your caravan and tow vehicle at a weighbridge
A step-by-step method for weighing a caravan or trailer setup at a public weighbridge, and how to turn three readings into GTM, ATM, towball download and GCM.
ATM, GTM, GVM, GCM and tare explained, with one worked example
What every Australian towing weight term means, where to find it on your plates, and how the numbers fit together for one ute and caravan.
Trailer brake and safety chain rules in Australia (2026)
When a trailer needs brakes, when override brakes stop being allowed, when you need a breakaway system and how many safety chains, under VSB 1 Revision 6.
Where the rules come from
Trailer brake, breakaway, chain and coupling rules on this site come from Vehicle Standards Bulletin 1 (Revision 6, August 2026), the national standard for trailers up to 4.5 tonnes, and from state transport authority guidance. Every calculator lists its sources. We last checked them on 12 October 2026. See every source and how each calculation works.