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Can a Toyota Prado GXL tow
a Zone RV Expedition?

The Toyota Prado GXL (5-seat) (250 Series) (2024) is rated to tow 3,500kg braked.

Inside the published limits, and close to them

The Zone RV Expedition's published ATM of 3,500kg exactly matches the Toyota Prado's braked towing rating.

Braked towing rating
3,500kg
The Prado, manufacturer published
Towball rating
350kg
The Prado, our estimate at 10% of the braked towing rating
ATM
3,500kg
The Expedition, maximum loaded weight, manufacturer published

Important checks

  • This check used an estimated ball weight for the Zone RV Expedition - 10% of its ATM rather than a published figure. Check the van's compliance plate before you rely on it.
  • The towball limit we hold for the Toyota Prado is our estimate at 10% of the braked towing rating. Check the compliance plate or the owner's manual for the Toyota Prado's own figure before you rely on this check.
  • We could not run the GCM check for this pairing - that is the combined weight of the loaded car and caravan together. The Toyota Prado's compliance plate or owner's manual carries its GCM figure.

This is a guide off the makers' published figures.The legal numbers are the compliance plates on your car and the van. Weigh the loaded rig at a public weighbridge to know for sure, then read the ticket.

Jade's loan specialists compare loans from major banks and other lenders, and negotiate with them for you.

For example: same van, two loans with rates 2% apart. Over seven years, the loan with the lower rate saves you about $12,600 in repayments.

Get a free loan quote from Jade

Need a different tow vehicle as well? Get a free loan quote from Jade →

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What happens when you press the button

  1. Jade's form opens in a new tab on Jade's website. The form takes about two minutes, with no credit check.
  2. Jade's form sends a code to your mobile to check your number. Type the code into Jade's form yourself.
  3. A Jade loan specialist then gets in touch about the loan you want, and sends you your quote. Whether you take a loan is up to you.

Example figures: 20% deposit, seven years, rates 2% apart.

Toyota Prado towing capacity and all the caravans it can tow →

Your shortlist keeps every saved van on one page to compare side by side, and you can email the list to yourself.

Towing a van close to your limits

This pairing is inside the published ratings, with not much room left.

The published weights sit close together here. A weight distribution hitch moves some of the towball load onto the car's front axle, which is where the ball weight takes it from. Some car makers advise against one, or approve only their own. Check your handbook before you buy one.

Before you tow

Towing weights are enforced against the plates on the two vehicles. The comparison above puts the Zone RV Expedition's published weights next to the Toyota Prado's published ratings, so you know which numbers to look for on those plates.

Always check your compliance plate

Online databases use factory-standard specs. They do not know about the bullbar on your car, a suspension upgrade, or how much you are carrying. Each one changes your real limits.

How to find it

Open your passenger or driver door. Look for a silver or black metal plate riveted to the pillar.

Where the plate is and how to read it

Why the numbers move once you load up

The figure most often left out of the sum is payload, which is everything you add after the vehicles leave the factory.

  • Bullbar and winch: both add weight to the front of the car, and it comes out of your payload.
  • Passengers: everyone in the car, including the driver, comes out of its payload.
  • Ball weight: the weight the van puts on the towball comes out of your car's payload as well as its towing limit.

Work out what this van is allowed to carry, then check the figures before you pack it.

Learn to tow on a course

An instructor can teach you to hitch up, reverse and handle a loaded van before your first trip.

  • Tow-EdNSW, ACT, Queensland, South Australia and Victoria

    A nationally recognised one-day towing course, in your own car and van or a hired trailer.

  • RACQMount Cotton, south of Brisbane

    A caravan workshop on a closed course, with a weight check of your rig.

  • RAASouth Australia, at a place you choose

    Safe caravan and trailer use, taught in your own rig.

  • RACPerth, WA

    Tow Safe sessions on reversing and hitching, with the car and van supplied.

Toyota Prado

GXL (5-seat) (250 Series) (2024)

Specs apply to 2024+ models
Tow capacity3,500kg
Ball weight limitOur estimate at 10% of tow capacity350kg

Zone RV Expedition

Starting from $185,000

Zone RV Expedition
ATM (max weight)3,500kg
Ball weightEstimated at 10% of ATM350kg

Keep this tow check

Leave your email or mobile and we will keep the Toyota Prado and Zone RV Expedition figures on file for you, so you can ask us about them later.

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These are factory figures for a standard vehicle. A bullbar, a winch, a second battery or a full water tank all come out of what you have left to carry.