Pick your tow vehicle and caravan for a checklist built around your rig: brakes and breakaway, safety chains, coupling ratings, weights, tyres, lights and mirrors. Tick it off as you go, then print it, save a PDF or share it.
General checklist. Pick your rig above to personalise it.
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Check the ATM on the van's compliance plate. Water in the tanks counts, at about a kilogram a litre.
Find the braked towing capacity in the vehicle's owner's manual. The loaded van must weigh no more than that.
As a guide, aim for 8–10% of the loaded van's weight on the towball, and never more than the vehicle's or towbar's maximum.
Check the GVM on the vehicle's compliance plate. Passengers, fuel, gear, accessories and the towball download all count.
Check the GCM in the vehicle's owner's manual. The vehicle and loaded van together must weigh no more than that.
Only use one if the vehicle, towbar and van makers allow it, set it up to the hitch maker's instructions, and never use it to fix a badly loaded van, too much towball download or an overloaded rear axle.
50 mm ball couplings are rated 750 kg, 2,000 kg or 3,500 kg. The stamped rating on the coupling and towball must cover the van's ATM.
Check the towbar's ID plate. Its rating must be at least the loaded van's weight.
The WA towing guide says the anti-rattle bolt must be removed when towing, or the towbar can be damaged.
Vans up to 2,500 kg ATM need at least one safety chain, and heavier vans need two, rated to AS 4177.4.
What's required depends on the GTM on the van's compliance plate: no brakes up to 750 kg, working brakes over 750 kg (on one axle is enough up to 2,000 kg), and brakes on every wheel over 2,000 kg.
Vans over 2,000 kg GTM must have breakaway brakes that apply on their own if the van comes off, and stay on for at least 15 minutes.
Use the vehicle's tyre placard (often on the driver's door pillar) or owner's manual. Some manufacturers recommend higher rear pressures when towing.
Use the van's tyre placard and the manufacturer's recommendation, and never go past the maximum pressure or load marked on the tyre sidewall.
Tyres warm up and read higher once you have been driving, so check them first.
Test them with a helper. Check the front, side and rear reflectors are clean and intact too.
Front position lamps are required on vans over 1.8 m wide (or over 4 m long and 1.6 m wide), clearance and side-marker lamps over 2.1 m wide, and side-marker lamps over 6 m long.
If you can't, fit extended towing mirrors. WA requires towing mirrors when you tow a load wider than your vehicle, and the ACT requires extended mirrors if you can't see down the length of the van.
Compare against your cold readings rather than letting air out of warm tyres.
A hot hub can mean a dragging brake or a failing wheel bearing.
Guidance only, not legal advice. Towing rules differ between states, and your compliance plates, owner's manuals and state transport authority have the final say. Weigh your loaded rig to know where you stand.
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