Caravan weights and safe towing are issues we discuss a lot on these pages. So much so, I sometimes wonder if readers tire of our sermons about GVM, ATM, Tare and carrying capacity. But if the statistics from safety campaigns are to be believed, as many as 80% of caravanners are driving with caravans, tow vehicles or both at illegal weights.
If I were to be honest, our old 100 Series was pushing the limits when we bought our new twin axle offroader last year. If we filled up the long-range tanks, then the weight was probably too high for the Toyota's 3260kg gross vehicle mass (GVM). It was time for some serious soul searching.
The answer revealed itself when we discoveredLandCruiser in northern NSW on a trip back from Queensland. It was stock and as a GX version it had the advantage of an 165kg extra carry capacity courtesy of its five rather than eight seat layout. Even so, a stock GX has only around 700kg of capacity to its gross mass of 3350kg.
