GCM & Braked Towing Capacity Upgrades

Yes.​These are allowed under limited circumstances.​Usually this occurs as a result of a Second Stage of Manufacture, the common ways people refer to this are: Federal Approval or Pre-Rego. The way this works is: 1. A customer selects and purchases a vehicle - 2. The vehicle is re-manufactured according to the SSM 3. The vehicle is registered. The registration must occur after the re-manufacturing, thus the term Pre-rego.These kinds of changes are accepted by most jurisdictions, with the notable exceptions of QLD, WA, ACT and the NT. These jurisdictions do allow these under limited circumstances.

No.The Vehicle Standards Office does not recognise any change in GCM from the original, first stage manufacturer. This determination applies to both in-service and SSM upgrades that purport to increase the GCM.

GCM Upgrades: Yes. The Department of Transport allows this under VTB 181A. Depending on the popularity of the vehicle type, we may need to wait until there are multiple customers before conducting the required tests.​BTC Upgrades: No.​The Department of Transport directs people to section 168 of the Road Traffic (Vehicles) Regulations 2014 where it says that only the manufacturer of the vehicle can define the BTC of a vehicle. The department's interpretation of this manufacture is the first stage manufacturer of the vehicle only.​Refer to the DTMI FAQ page here for more details.

For many years LandCruisers were produced without a specified GCM. This value is specified by the Manufacturer. If the manufacturer does not specify it, then your vehicle does not have a specified GCM. Typically people will simply add the GVM and the BTC together to get a pseudo GCM (if these were loaded to their maximums, then you can't theortically carry anymore without exceeding either your GVM or BTC so it is crude, but it works). But this is not the GCM for the vehicle as it doesn't have one. Where people get into disagreement about this is when a vehicle has a GVM Upgrade, and then the question is, what is the new pseudo GCM. Is it the old pseudo GCM (original GVM + original BTC), or is it a new value (new GVM + original BTC). The truth is, it doesn't matter, as the vehicle does not have a GCM...​To know if your vehicle has a specified GCM, it will be based on the age of the vehicle - see attached links for 2x 70 Series spec sheets - 1 from 2016 showing no GCM listed, and one from 2018 showing a GCM. You can look these up for Prados and the 200 Series as well.As a result of popular demand, we now conduct these assessments in person for a fee of $990. We inspect your vehicle thoroughly and then issue you with a vehicle placard and letter specifying your undefined GCM. This should avoid you any awkward conversations with vehicle enforcement officers across Australia.