Vehicle towing capacity

What ever the engineers think is a good capacity...................

It's all up to the manufacturers.

They decide the capacities, they decide the loads it can tow.

The limiting factors are the tyres and axle group load capacity.

They use the same method that Caravan manufactures use to establish the tare weight of a new van to put on the compliance plate! It is simply a weight that their marketing people think might be suitable/acceptable to a wide range of potential customers for their product. LOL & cheers

Use some common sense, for example a Navara can tow 3 tonnes legally but I know from experience with a mate of mine and his 2 tonne boat that is about the limit when it comes to power to tow and weight balance etc etc. I wouldn't tow anything over 2 tonnes in my Hilux whereas the Landcruiser is good for 3 tonnes etc.

It is not a bad idea to check towing capacities with the car's manufacturer to see if they recommend a reduction for off road use. A couple of months ago somebody on another site posted an email they received from Land Rover on the off road towing capacity of the Defender. It is advertised at 3500 kg. Land Rover recommended a maximum of anything from 500 to 1500 kg depending on the trailer or van brake design for off road conditions. That is a 2000 to 3000kg reduction! It probably explains why you don't see huge heavy loads behind Army Land Rovers.

Someone, I think it could have been on this site from memory, recently said the maximum off road capacity for a Disco was only 1000kg.