What is GVM when towing a caravan?
The most your car is allowed to weigh, counting people, gear and the van's ball weight.
GVM is the most your tow car may weigh fully loaded. It counts passengers, fuel, luggage, accessories and the ball weight on the towbar. It is in the owner's manual, or on a GVM upgrade's label and certificate when one is fitted. Hitch up a van with, say, 250kg on the ball and you have spent 250kg of the car's own carrying capacity.
Also called Gross Vehicle Mass.
- Set by - the car's manufacturer
- Found - in the owner's manual, specifications section
- Counts - people, fuel, luggage, accessories and the van's ball weight
What counts against GVM
GVM covers the car and everything it carries.
That includes passengers, fuel, luggage, a bullbar, a canopy, a fridge and roof racks.
When you tow, the van's ball weight presses down on the car as well.
It counts against GVM in the same way a passenger does.
What a typical caravan asks of your GVM
Among the caravan ranges we list, the middle published ball weight is about 190kg.
A van with that ball weight uses about that much of the car's payload, and packing changes the figure.
How a caravan uses up GVM
The car's payload is its GVM minus its kerb weight.
Kerb weight is the car ready to drive, usually with a full tank and nobody in it.
Everything you add comes out of that payload, and the ball weight is often one of the biggest single items.
Where to find the GVM
GVM is in the owner's manual.
So is the kerb weight.
If a GVM upgrade is fitted, its label and certificate carry the new figure.
How fast a ute's payload goes
These figures are made up and rounded to keep the sums simple.
Take a dual-cab ute with a 3,200kg GVM and a 2,300kg kerb weight.
Its payload is 900kg.
Two adults weighing 160kg together, a 70kg bullbar, 100kg of canopy gear and a 280kg ball weight use 610kg.
That leaves 290kg for everything else in the car.
Common mistakes with GVM
- Leaving out the ball weight - it counts against GVM the way a passenger does
- Forgetting accessories - bullbars, canopies, drawers and racks all use payload
- Using a brochure kerb weight - weigh the car loaded for the trip, with the van still hitched, its wheels off the scale and any weight-distribution hitch released