How much can your 4WD actually carry?

Payload is the number that catches almost everyone out. Add a bull bar, a canopy, drawers and a long-range tank and a lot of utes are over their legal limit before anyone gets in.

GVM (kg) required Gross Vehicle Mass, from the compliance plate — a metal or sticker plate usually inside the driver's door jamb, sometimes under the bonnet. Kerb weight (kg) required What the vehicle weighs empty. A weighbridge ticket beats the brochure figure — most vehicles weigh more than the spec sheet says once they've been used. Tow ball download (kg) If you tow, the download presses on the vehicle and counts against payload — not against the trailer. Leave blank if you don't tow.

What you're carrying

Where these numbers come from

Everything above comes off your vehicle, not a database. We don't look up specs by model, because a figure that's close but wrong is worse than no figure — it's the difference between legal and not.

The compliance plate — usually inside the driver's door jamb, sometimes under the bonnet. GVM and often GCM are here.
A weighbridge — the only honest source for what your vehicle actually weighs now. Public weighbridges are cheap and most tips and grain depots have one. Brochure kerb weights are for a brand new vehicle with no accessories and often no fuel.
The owner's manual — roof ratings live here, and rarely anywhere else.

If a number isn't published, ask the dealer or a certifier rather than guessing. Nothing on this page is engineering advice, and being under every limit isn't the same as being safe or roadworthy — load distribution, tyre ratings and how it's secured all matter too.

Read the full guide: Canopies and trays: why payload is the number that catches people