GVM Upgrade Calculator: Payload and Towing
Want an extra 10% GVM without breaking the bank? Check if your vehicle qualifies, how much you’ll gain, what the job involves and how it affects your towing.
Your vehicle
Utes, LandCruisers, Patrols and most cab-chassis trucks and motorhomes have a separate chassis. Car-based SUVs usually don’t.
On the compliance plate or in the owner’s manual.
Axles and tyres (optional)
From the owner’s manual or the manufacturer.
On the tyre sidewall, after the size. For 265/65R17 116S it’s 116.
Weighbridge figures (optional)
Weigh the vehicle as fitted out, with full fuel but no people, gear or caravan. Front plus rear is your tare.
Towing (optional)
Gross combination mass, from the owner’s manual.
From the caravan’s compliance plate.
Usually 5 to 10% of the caravan’s ATM. Leave blank and we’ll use 10%.
Guide only, based on Queensland code LS11 (Feb 2023). LS11 can’t change GCM or towing capacity. Every vehicle is different, so talk to us before you buy parts.
What the weights mean
- GVM: the most the vehicle can weigh fully loaded, including the tow ball mass.
- Tare: the vehicle as fitted out, with fuel but no people or load. Here it’s your front plus rear axle weights.
- Payload: GVM less tare. People, gear, water and the tow ball mass all come out of it.
- ATM: the loaded caravan unhitched, sitting on its jockey wheel.
- TBM: tow ball mass, the caravan’s weight on the tow ball. Usually about 10% of the ATM.
- GTM: the loaded caravan’s weight on its own wheels when hitched. ATM less TBM.
- GCM: the most the vehicle and caravan can weigh together. It stays the same after a GVM upgrade. GCM = GVM + GTM, so weight added to the vehicle comes off the van.
- Braked towing capacity: the heaviest caravan (ATM) the vehicle is rated to tow.
Need a mod plate?
Send your rego, VIN, photos and a list of changes. We’ll confirm the codes and give you a fixed quote, usually within a business day. Mobile across Greater Brisbane. A travel fee may apply further out.