Best Dual-Cab 4x4 Ute 2022: Towing and payload

All seven contenders in carsales’ Best Dual-Cab 4x4 Ute 2022 can carry plenty of gear in their tray and tow a heavy trailer.

This is one of the key advantages of buying such a ute, and plenty of owners use them this way.

The ute-makers know it, too. Over recent years they have been gradually upping the towing capacity of their utes to 3500kg to make them as versatile as possible.

All except two utes on test have a maximum 3500kg braked towing capacity (with a 350kg tow ball download maximum).

Those utes with a lower braked towing capacity are the GWM Ute Cannon-X with 3000kg (with 300kg tow ball mass, or TBM) and the Mitsubishi Triton GSR with 3100kg, allowing 310kg to be plonked on the tow ball.

If you’re planning to buy a ute and carry a lot of stuff in or on it, plus tow a heavy trailer at the same time, you’ll need to get very interested in weights and payloads. Even an off-road-kitted 4WD SUV loaded only with passengers can fall foul of weight laws, but those loading up mid-size utes and towing are particularly at risk of exceeding weight limits if they’re not paying attention.

Have a look at our advice articles such as the one here to get an idea of the issues involved.

The 3500kg tow-capacity utes on test here are the Ford Ranger XLT 2.0, Isuzu D-MAX LSU+, Mazda BT-50 SP, Nissan Navara PRO-4X and Toyota HiLux SR5.

With the maximum 350kg pressing down on the tow ball, they can then carry from 579kg (Ford Ranger) to just 264kg (Toyota HiLux) on board.

Some utes here are better than others at being able to lug a heavy trailer in terms of ride, stability and performance.

We measured up the utes then took them on two different real-world tests: a payload test with 400kg of sand in the tray and four occupants on a loop that included smooth bitumen and chopped-up gravel roads, then a towing comparison with two occupants on board and a 2600kg tandem-axle caravan tucked behind.

The 40km towing included a 60km/h urban zone, 110km/h freeway with both a long hill-climb and flat sections and an undulating 100km/h secondary road with steep climbs, descents and everything in between.

Tray sizes are similar, with the Ranger being the widest and equal-longest with the HiLux, while the GWM Ute has the deepest tray. See our specs below for full details.

On the payload test, the Ford Ranger proves to be the best in class. It has the most responsive performance, is the quietest, smoothest-riding and most stable. It really doesn’t feel much different to how it drives unladen.

The Isuzu D-MAX and Mazda BT-50 are next, the platform twins not surprisingly handling a payload equally well.

Step-off acceleration is very good and the ride is very comfortable in both. The steering feels a bit light and road debris hitting underneath the vehicle can be distracting for rear passengers, but otherwise both are very good load luggers.

Next up is the Toyota HiLux, which just gets on with the business of hauling with ease. Performance is good (although the engine gets noisy from about 3800rpm), and Toyota’s top-selling ute offers a fairly settled, composed ride.

The sound of stones flicking up into the rear wheel-arches dominates the HiLux cabin when driving on fast gravel, but otherwise it’s smooth sailing.

The Nissan Navara is close behind the HiLux, offering a settled ride over big bumps and solid performance. However, the steering is notable for its inconsistent feel and rear passengers on test noted a booming sound in the rear when driving over rough terrain.

Following the Navara is the Mitsubishi Triton. The addition of about 600kg doesn’t do much to settle the Triton’s ride; it’s still about as fidgety as when driving solo.

The Triton becomes unsettled by big bumps, resulting in either the front or rear stepping out. The engine also has to work a fair bit harder with the payload, its noise obvious to all occupants.

The GWM Ute is at the back of the field. Although it rides well over medium bumps and corrugations, it’s susceptible to crashing over large bumps or potholes, unsettling the body.

While engine noise is relatively well suppressed, performance in the GWM is sluggish with the extra load on board.

The order of merit for towing among our seven dual-cab 4x4 utes follows a similar theme.

Again, the most accomplished performer is the Ford Ranger. It’s the most stable at 100km/h, with minimal yaw movements, and while its ride is a little terse over rippled surfaces at city speeds, it smooths out on the highway.

The Ranger’s hill-climbing performance is the best of this group, and the transmission is smooth and decisive. It simply feels the easiest and most comfortable to tow with.

The Ranger’s new towing features are also noteworthy, including trailer light check, trailer incorporation for blind spot monitoring and standard-fit electric brake controller.

The Isuzu D-MAX and Mazda BT-50 are in equal second place for towing too. Both are identical in terms of their towing abilities, which is no surprise given they are identical under the skin.

These two utes share a well-controlled although rather firm ride under towing conditions, with no unsettling sway movements. While performance is quite good, you really notice the engine noise when they are working hard on steep hill-climbs.

The transmission in each ute is decisive and happy to cruise in a higher gear without swapping ratios all the time to keep momentum.

The Toyota HiLux is next on the towing points ladder, with its rather firm ride yet mostly stable towing platform making it quite easy to tow with.

Despite having the same torque and just 4kW less power than the Ranger (and weighing 87kg less), the HiLux engine performance when towing is not quite as eager when climbing hills as you might expect.

Following the HiLux is the Nissan Navara. The Navara’s towing stability has been an issue in the past, but Nissan seems to have fixed it with the latest upgrade. No more does the Navara suddenly want to yaw at speeds beyond 85km/h; it is far more settled than before.

The ride is well controlled over bumps, which the Navara seems to smooth out with minimum fuss. However, the Nissan ute still moves around a bit and is not quite as settled towing heavy stuff as those above.

Having said that, the engine offers acceptable performance, and the transmission’s gearing seems well suited to towing.

The Mitsubishi Triton is next, with a towing performance that is best described as unsettled at speed with a heavy caravan. While it never felt dangerous on our test loop, the Triton would either yaw or seemed to be tracking at the front, which required regular, gentle correction.

Dynamically, the Triton proved to be the unhappiest of our contenders with a caravan behind. Ride quality was also lacking, the front-end prone to float while the rear would thump and jitter.

On a positive note, the Mitsubishi’s powertrain is up for the job of towing. Although not by any means a great hill-climber, the engine is smooth and well-teamed to the transmission, offering relaxed mechanical progress down the highway.

At the back of the field for towing is the GWM Ute. Our testing found that it would begin a sway movement, and that yawing motion would become accentuated by the sensitive lane keeping system.

This meant you’d end up applying force to the steering wheel to counteract the corrections to avoid sway increasing.

The ride in the hitched-up GWM Ute is also fairly abrupt, the rear-end bordering on harsh over bumps while the nose is bounding over them.

The engine also simply lacks towing power in this company, the GWM working the hardest of the group to maintain speed and the transmission regularly changing down a gear or two to try and get into the power band to keep up momentum.

Ford Ranger XLT 2.0
Tray dimensions: (LxWxH, as measured): 1550x1590x525mm
Tie-downs: 4
Hoop bar: Yes
Tonneau cover: No
Tray liner: No
Braked towing capacity: 3500kg
Tow ball download mass: 350kg
Payload: 959kg
Kerb weight: 2271kg
Gross vehicle mass (GVM): 3230kg
Gross combination mass (GCM): 6350kg

GWM Ute Cannon-X
Tray dimensions (LxWxH, as measured): 1540x1510x555mm
Tie-downs: 4
Hoop bar: Yes
Tonneau cover: No
Tray liner: Yes (spray-on)
Braked towing capacity: 3000kg
Tow ball download mass: 300kg
Payload:1050kg
Kerb weight: 2100kg
Gross vehicle mass (GVM): 3150kg
Gross combination mass (GCM): 5555kg

Isuzu D-MAX LS-U+
Tray dimensions (LxWxH, as measured): 1450x1460x480mm
Tie-downs: 2
Hoop bar: No
Tonneau cover: Yes (roller type)
Tray liner: Yes
Braked towing capacity: 3500kg
Tow ball download mass: 350kg
Payload: 988kg
Kerb weight: 2112kg
Gross vehicle mass (GVM): 3100kg
Gross combination mass (GCM): 6000kg

Mazda BT-50 SP
Tray dimensions (LxWxH, as measured): 1450x1460x480mm
Tie-downs: 2
Hoop bar: No
Tonneau cover: Yes (roller type)
Tray liner: Yes
Braked towing capacity: 3500kg
Tow ball download mass: 350kg
Payload: 985
Kerb weight: 2115
Gross vehicle mass (GVM): 3100kg
Gross combination mass (GCM): 6000kg

Mitsubishi Triton GSR
Tray dimensions (LxWxH, as measured): 1410x1410x460mm
Tie-downs: 4
Hoop bar: No
Tonneau cover: Yes
Tray liner: Yes
Braked towing capacity: 3100kg
Tow ball download mass: 310kg
Payload: 901kg
Kerb weight: 1999kg
Gross vehicle mass (GVM): 2900kg
Gross combination mass (GCM): 5885kg

Nissan Navara PRO-4X
Tray dimensions (LxWxH, as measured): 1490x1520x520mm
Tie-downs: 8
Hoop bar: Yes
Tonneau cover: Yes
Tray liner: Yes
Braked towing capacity: 3500kg
Tow ball download mass: 350kg
Payload: 1004kg
Kerb weight: 2146kg
Gross vehicle mass (GVM): 3150kg
Gross combination mass (GCM): 5910kg

Toyota HiLux SR5
Tray dimensions (LxWxH, as measured): 1550x1520x490mm
Tie-downs: 4
Hoop bar: Yes
Tonneau cover: No
Tray liner: No
Braked towing capacity: 3500kg
Tow ball download mass: 350kg
Payload: 940kg
Kerb weight: 2110kg
Gross vehicle mass (GVM): 3050kg
Gross combination mass (GCM): 5850kg