Top 10 tow rigs

The best 4X4s for towing.

There’s no news in saying that 4X4s make fantastic tow vehicles. Some are better than others though, and here we’ve nominated the top ten heavy haulers that have the backbone and stamina to do the job.

How do you tell if a 4X4 is a tough tow vehicle? It’s a case of the bigger the better with towing: maximum towing capacity and maximum towball download are a good start, but not the only way of knowing if your rig will tow like a champ. Chassis stability can vary according to what’s hooked up behind and how the load is spread out. Being built like a truck helps, that is, a separate chassis and live-axle leaf-spring rear suspension. An engine that pumps out plenty of torque is also great for towing.

When you start to tow things like horse floats, trailer boats and caravans you need to become a towing expert. Trailers have a compliance plate with mass figures such as Tare, Aggregate Trailer Mass (ATM), Gross Trailer Mass (GTM) and Tow Ball Mass. The ATM and GTM figures are the manufacturer’s not-to-be-exceeded weights that are a legal requirement.