Toy Haulers for Sale in Australia

What a toy hauler is

A toy hauler puts a load space at the back of the van, opened by a rear door or ramp, so motorbikes can roll straight in. Some layouts turn the garage into extra living space once the toys are out, often with beds that fold down from the walls. Others keep the garage closed off from the living area, which keeps the mud out of the bedroom.

Jayco is one Australian maker that builds them. Its history page dates its Basestation toy hauler to 2008, and its current range lists the Basestation alongside the Crosstrail ⁶⁵. They show how wide the category is:

• The Basestation is a full-size caravan with what Jayco calls a heavy-duty rear garage with tie-down points for motorbikes, and the one set of specifications on its page gives a tare of 2,559 kg and a towball weight of 289 kg ⁷.
• The Crosstrail is a smaller aluminium-bodied hauler on independent coil suspension with folding loading ramps, which Jayco says can carry up to three large motorcycles or one quad bike; Jayco gives a tare of 1,735 kg and a towball weight of 137 kg ⁸.

Both pages warn that weights and dimensions are a guide only and change with the accessories fitted ⁷⁸. Treat any brochure figure the same way, and go by the plate on the van you are buying.

Toy hauler or caravan with a big boot?

If the only toys are two pushbikes, a toy hauler may be more trailer than you need. A standard caravan with a bike rack, a hybrid camper or an off-road caravan with a big front boot can carry plenty of gear for less weight. A toy hauler earns its place when the toys are heavy enough, or valuable enough, that you want them locked inside.

The weight sums for a toy hauler

Start with the definitions. The Western Australian Department of Transport's towing guide says the ATM is the most a trailer may weigh as set by its manufacturer, and the payload is the ATM minus the tare, which must not be exceeded ³. For a toy hauler, the motorbikes and their gear come out of that payload. So does everything you would carry in any other van.

Then do the sum the other way, from the vehicle. The WA guide uses an example of a vehicle with a 4,600 kg GCM that may pull a trailer of up to 2,250 kg ³. With the trailer loaded to the maximum, that leaves 2,350 kg for the vehicle and everything in it, and with the vehicle loaded to its 2,740 kg GVM, the trailer can only weigh 1,860 kg ³. A toy hauler can push a combination past its GCM long before it reaches either the van's ATM or the car's towing capacity, so add up both halves.

Our tow-match tool searches for the towables whose ATM fits your vehicle's towing capacity.

Where the toys sit changes the ball weight

The garage sits behind the axles, so loading it moves weight off the towball. NSW advises keeping loads low and close to the axles, with about 60 per cent of the total weight in front of the axle centre and about 5 to 10 per cent of the trailer and load carried on the coupling ¹. The WA guide puts its rule of thumb at 8 to 10 per cent of the ATM and says that too much or too little download reduces the stability of the combination ³.

The fix is to weigh it as you would tow it. The WA guide says vehicle and trailer weights can be measured at a public weighbridge, and that the download can be found by weighing the trailer at the coupling point ³. Do that with the toys loaded, the tanks at their travelling level and the car packed for the trip.

Brakes and couplings for a heavy trailer

The Basestation's tare alone is over 2,500 kg, so a van like it sits above the 2-tonne line in the brake rules that follow ⁷. In NSW a trailer from 2,001 to 4,500 kg GTM needs brakes on all wheels and an automatic breakaway system, and the brakes must work from the driver's seat (NSW Government).

The coupling and chains step up with the weight as well. The WA guide says the common 50 mm tow balls are not rated beyond 3,500 kg, so a trailer between 3,500 kg and 4,500 kg needs a 75 mm ball or another coupling rated to its ATM (Department of Transport WA). Trailers over 2,500 kg ATM and up to 3,500 kg need two safety chains marked to the Australian Standard, and heavier trailers need two chains made from Grade T steel ³.

Speed and licence

NSW limits a vehicle towing a single trailer to 100 km/h whatever the posted limit when the vehicle's GVM or the combination's GCM is over 4.5 tonnes ¹. The WA guide says a vehicle towing a trailer in Western Australia cannot exceed the lesser of the posted limit or 100 km/h ³. A car licence in NSW covers vehicles up to 4.5 tonnes GVM ², so a heavier tow vehicle needs the licence class that matches its own GVM.

Buying a used toy hauler

A toy hauler's garage takes a beating, and the rest of the van shares the same chassis. Before you pay:

• Walk the ramp or door and check the hinges, seals, struts and locks, then look at the garage floor and walls for cracks, delamination and fuel or oil stains.
• Check every tie-down point is solid in the floor, not just screwed into a thin skin.
• Look under the van at the chassis, the axles and the suspension for bends, fresh welds and rust, and check the tyres for uneven wear.
• Test the brakes and the breakaway system, the water system, the fridge and the batteries on the van's own power.
• Compare the plate's ATM and tare with the seller's figures, and ask whether accessories have been added since it was built.
• Match the VIN on the plate to the rego papers, and run a PPSR search before you hand over money.

Buying from a business brings the consumer guarantees with it. Consumer Affairs Victoria says goods bought from an Australian business are automatically covered, while a one-off sale by a private seller may not be ⁴. Read our safety tips for buyers and sellers before you pay a deposit on any van.

Selling your toy hauler on Caravan Domain

Private ads cost $23 a month for Basic or $35 a month for Premium, and you can cancel at any time. You can upgrade a Basic ad to Premium at any time and pay only the difference for the rest of the month. Your ad renews monthly until you cancel it, under our terms of use ⁹.

Buyers of toy haulers shop on numbers. Put the plate's weights in the ad, give the garage's inside length if you have measured it, and say what the garage has held. Photograph the garage empty with the ramp down, then the living area, in daylight. Sell your toy hauler.