Kia Tasman towing capacity: 55 mm of sag at 170 kg of ball, and Kia says that is the design

What the Kia Tasman can tow, and what it can carry while towing

Kia rates the Tasman at 3,250 kg GVM and 3,500 kg braked, a 6,750 kg sum against 6,200 kg GCM. At full GVM, only 2,950 kg of trailer fits. A full 3,500 kg van caps the ute, occupants and cargo at 2,700 kg. The towing-capacity comparison chart shows where that 550 kg gap sits in the class.

Two payload figures fall out of that and they are easy to confuse, so label them. Taken on its own, the GVM side leaves 675 kg on an S, SX or SX+ (3,250 kg less the 2,225 kg brochure kerb and the 350 kg ball) and 663 kg on the X-Pro's 2,237 kg. The combined-mass side is tighter, and it is the side that governs at the rating: with 2,700 kg of ute permitted, payload at full tow is 475 kg on an S, SX or SX+, 477 kg on an X-Line at 2,223 kg of brochure kerb, and 463 kg on an X-Pro. About 200 kg of the GVM-side figure is claimed by the combined ceiling, and the ball is never subtracted twice because its mass already rides inside the van's ATM. Every payload number here uses the brochure kerb for the named grade; the gross combination mass guide works the subtraction through in full.

The complaint: a new ute already sitting on its bump stops

The Tasman had been in Australian showrooms about three months when tow tests began recording rear settlement. caravancampingsales put a number on it in October 2025: 55 mm of rear-axle dip with a 1,695 kg trailer and roughly 170 kg sitting on the tow ball. The Tasman is rated to carry 350 kg there. So the ute had spent under half its tow-ball allowance and had already dropped more than five centimetres, with delivery plates still on it.

At 170 kg of ball, caravancampingsales described comfort-biased roll yet no trailer sway or porpoising. Eight months later, carsales found its 3,000 kg combination unsettled until a fifth leaf flattened the stance. Kia's local suspension engineer has answered the complaint on the record, and his explanation changes how the measurements should be read.

Kia's answer: the bump stop is designed to carry load

The Tasman's rear end is a rigid axle on leaf springs, and Kia's Australian calibration gives it three stages instead of one. Stage one is a four-leaf variable-rate pack tuned for an unladen ute. Stage two is progressive leaf engagement with polymer dampers as load comes on. Stage three is the bump stop, which Graeme Gambold, the engineer behind the local tune, has described to AutoExpert as a tertiary spring first and a bump stop second. On his account a 2.3-tonne trailer at about 260 kg of ball sits squarely inside the design intent, and an unladen Tasman leaves roughly three fingers of clearance above the stop. That interview is the maker's whole defence, and AutoExpert prints it with a 19 March dateline and no year against it, so treat the account as current and undated.

Read that way, the settling is a working spring stage, not unused clearance. Gambold's advice is to stay inside the ball and GVM limits and accept a firmer laden ride; he gives no factory airbag or GVM-upgrade prescription. CarsGuide's October 2025 load test found the rear rubbers meeting the rails early and removing hard thuds from a fully laden tub.

The case against: a 3,000 kg van and a fifth leaf spring

carsales then spent six months and 10,000 km towing with an X-Pro and published the result in June 2026. Behind a van at 3,000 kg ATM, the standard four-leaf pack was found wanting: the rear dipped far enough that the tertiary spring was into the chassis rail, the nose of the ute rose in sympathy, and the combination turned unsettled with it. The test team inserted one extra leaf into the pack, which lifted rear ride height about 30 mm and left that Tasman sitting flat and stable behind the same van.

The detail that matters is that none of the reported vehicle limits was over. Weighed on test, the combination read 5,476 kg against the 6,200 kg ceiling, the X-Pro's rear axle carried 1,814 kg against its 2,002 kg rating, and the ball sat at 319 kg of a permitted 350 kg. That setup still wanted a fifth leaf before it behaved. The same test recorded 21.773 L/100 km at its worst into gradients and headwinds, mid-to-high teens at 92 km/h, and rated the Tasman's towing acceptable rather than great.

The number that settles it: 1,435 mm of arm on a 3,270 mm wheelbase

Both accounts describe the same physics from opposite ends, and the geometry reconciles them. Rear overhang on every Tasman dual cab is 1,285 mm. The house method places the coupling about 150 mm beyond that published body dimension, producing a working arm of roughly 1,435 mm. Set that against the 3,270 mm wheelbase and the multiplier is about 1.44. Every kilogram on the coupling therefore presses on the rear axle harder than it weighs, and lifts a smaller share off the front. Kia does not publish a ball-to-axle dimension, so the arm is a documented approximation and every figure below is stated as about.

Put the full 350 kg on the coupling and about 505 kg arrives at the rear axle, while about 155 kg lifts off the front, and a steer axle carrying less has less grip to steer with. The axle has the headroom on paper: 2,040 kg on the S, SX, SX+ and X-Line, and 2,002 kg on the X-Pro, the one grade Kia certifies lower. That 2,040 kg equals the headline rear-axle rating the Mitsubishi Triton carries. What decides how the ute behaves is how much spring travel is left once the arm has multiplied the load. Run 170 kg of ball through the same multiplier and about 245 kg lands at the axle, well inside the range where stages two and three of the pack are already working. That is your 55 mm.

Where the 6,200 kg ceiling goes once the accessories are on

Kia's current payload tool lists the tow bar kit at 45 kg, full-hoop bull bar at 102 kg, sports bars at 23 or 29 kg and side steps at 55 or 60 kg. The tow bar plus full-hoop bull bar total 147 kg, leaving 328 kg of an S, SX or SX+'s 475 kg full-tow allowance before occupants or luggage.

Kia publishes a payload and towing tool on the Tasman's model page, and it does the combination arithmetic instead of restating each limit on its own. When caravancampingsales ran a 3,200 kg camper trailer through it in October 2025, the tool came back 117 kg over the 6,200 kg ceiling. Feed the same tool a compliant pairing and the picture is workable but tight: on the configuration that reviewer settled on, about 303 kg of payload remained once spares, tools, two occupants and luggage were aboard.

One paperwork wrinkle is worth knowing about. Kia also sells lower-plated 0.9T versions: its live payload-calculator data gives the S 4x2 a 3,100 kg GVM and the S 4x4, SX, SX+, X-Line and X-Pro 3,200 kg. Each retains the 6,200 kg GCM, 3,500 kg braked rating and 350 kg ball limit. The ATO defines a car for fringe-benefits purposes as a road vehicle designed to carry less than one tonne and fewer than nine passengers, but the tax treatment of a particular arrangement still belongs with an adviser. At full 3,500 kg tow, GCM already caps the ute at 2,700 kg, below either plate, so the lower GVM changes no full-tow payload figure. Read the actual compliance plate before calculating.

What four dated tow tests actually towed

Start light. Exhaust Notes Australia hitched a 1,750 kg ATM Jayco Swan with 140 kg on the ball in May 2026 and reported the Tasman planted under load, without porpoising or a nervous shimmy through the steering; the locally tuned dampers kept the trailer settled even over patchy coastal roads. Payload after occupants and cargo came to 366 kg and the whole combination weighed 4,232 kg of the 6,200 kg allowed. Under 2 tonnes, the verdict was a drama-free tow.

The middle of the range is where opinions start to separate. Caravan World towed a 2,200 kg twin-axle Jayco in September 2025 at about 16 L/100 km, worked through three tow-mode levels that alter shift patterns and an integrated brake controller with 20 levels of adjustment, and then set the reviewer's own recommended ceiling at 2,200 to 2,500 kg once a bull bar, a winch, the tow bar and cargo are accounted for. caravancampingsales, with only 1,695 kg behind it, reported the ute holding 80 km/h up Mount Ousley with nothing left in reserve, at 15.4 L/100 km against a claimed 7.6. And carsales, at 3,000 kg, reached for the extra leaf. Four tests, four different trailers, one shape of conclusion: untroubled to about 2 tonnes, competent to about 2.5, and asking for help beyond 3.

Carrying is a different story from towing. CarsGuide loaded a rear-drive S with 890 kg in the tub plus about 180 kg of crew in October 2025, roughly 50 kg under that test vehicle's published payload allowance, and the ute made light work of a 2 km climb at 13 per cent and 60 km/h — same springs, same bump stops, no complaints. A tub load sits over and ahead of the rear axle; a tow ball sits 1,435 mm behind it. What finds the Tasman's limits is the arm behind the axle.

The ruling on the sag, and the loading decision it changes

On this evidence the early bump-stop contact is deliberate, not proof of a defect. Kia's engineer describes it as the third spring stage, and independent load testing found it working early. The caveat is behaviour: 170 kg on the ball produced 55 mm of squat, while a 319 kg ball on the 3,000 kg test rig preceded the extra-leaf change that made that combination sit flat. A plated limit and a comfortable setup are separate questions.

Ball weight changes with where the van carries gear. A generator or jerry can in a front boot usually adds coupling load, but the amount depends on its distance from the trailer axle group; do not assume every kilogram becomes a kilogram on the ball. Measure the loaded coupling and follow the caravan maker's loading instructions.

loadmate maps a proposed item across the ute, van and coupling, so the projected ball and axle effects move together before you repack. Use that to compare positions the caravan maker permits, then remeasure after a material change. On a Tasman whose third spring stage works early, the location of heavy gear matters more than the 350 kg maximum alone reveals.

Extra leaf springs, weight distribution hitches and GVM upgrades

The test team's extra leaf lifted the rear about 30 mm and made its 3,000 kg combination sit flat. That is one tested setup, not a universal prescription. A weight-distribution hitch has a different job: it redistributes coupling load but removes no mass, and its use and adjustment must be approved by both vehicle and trailer makers.

Aftermarket GVM upgrades for the Tasman are advertised as high as 3,800 kg, but Pedders' public product page does not publish a matching GCM or towing re-rating. The 2,400 kg trailer figure sometimes attached to that upgrade is therefore conditional, not a kit specification: it follows only if the vehicle's exact approval leaves GCM at Kia's 6,200 kg, because 6,200 less a 3,800 kg GVM is 2,400 kg. Read the approval and certificate for the actual variant, then have the engineer confirm every resulting limit before committing.

Choose the van against the combined ceiling, then weigh the loaded rig axle by axle. Check this Tasman's VIN in the national recall register as well: REC-006557 was published on 6 March 2026 and covers a possible blank or slow instrument cluster on 2025-build Tasmans, with a free software update. The Tasman's tow rating also has to work with the accessories and load you carry. Get the loadmate app to add your canopy, passengers and gear to a measured baseline and see what they leave under the combined ceiling. Use the compliance plate and approved modification documents for ratings, and a certified weighbridge ticket for the masses on the day.