Y61 Tow ball load

[Dean Jones]

So I’ve seen a thread on here regarding tow ball download, GVM and GCM etc and a lot of the info is conflicted.
I have confirmed with the vehicle standards section of the Transport and main roads department of Qld and have a definite answer to the following issue:
The towing sticker located on the small barn door has the following info regarding tow ball download:
200kg - GVM
250kg - below GVM by 150kg
300kg - below GVM by 220kg
350kg - below GVM by 290kg

Now there is a lot of confusion here and it’s being misinterpreted.
According to Vehicle standards this actually means in their eyes and the police, and vehicle inspectors that if you load 200kg on your tow ball the GVM is reduced by 200kg, however as per the sticker, if you increase that to say 250kg you reduce the GVM by 250 PLUS 150kg a total of 400kg that has to come off of your GVM and the more load that sliding scale increases.

I contacted Nissan Australia for clarification as this does not make sense. They sent me a Nissan Patrol towing guide which clearly states that this towing sticker and tow ball download scale is a guide only, and they have started removing it from later vehicles due to the confusion.

However the vehicle standards department have told me in writing, that no where on that towing sticker does it mention it’s only a guide and they would take that information as part of the vehicle specifications and charge me if my vehicle when pulled over by the police or vehicle inspectors is overweight according to the sticker, unless I had a letter in writing from Nissan Australia clearly stating that this is a GUIDE ONLY.

So I hope this clears up any misinterpretation.