Your vehicle may get "overweight"

If you’re carrying heavy loads, towing, or heading off-road, your vehicle’s standard Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) may not be enough. Exceeding factory limits can lead to unsafe handling, reduced braking performance, premature suspension wear, and even insurance or legal issues. A Tough Dog GVM Upgrade increases your vehicle’s legal load capacity, giving you improved stability, safer braking, and compliance with regulations. Whether you’re touring, working, or towing, a certified Tough Dog GVM Upgrade helps protect your vehicle, keeps you road-legal, and ensures you can confidently carry what you need.

Carry More – Safely & Legally with a Tough Dog GVM Upgrade

A Tough Dog GVM Upgrade allows you to increase your vehicle’s legal payload capacity while staying fully compliant with Australian Design Rules (ADRs). As a recognised Second Stage Manufacturer (SSM), Tough Dog Suspension develops and federally certifies suspension components to raise your Gross Vehicle Mass safely and legally. Each complete GVM upgrade kit is rigorously tested to ensure your 4WD maintains roadworthiness, safety, and performance — even under heavy load.

Safety and Performance by Design

Every federally approved Tough Dog GVM Upgrade undergoes extensive testing to ensure your vehicle handles as well as, or better than, when it left the factory. This includes:

• Finite Element Analysis (FEA): Confirms axle load-carrying capacity.
• Brake Testing: Laden, unladen, and partial system failure tests to comply with ADR35/00.
• ESC Testing (where required): Ensures electronic stability control continues to perform to original or improved standards.

With a Tough Dog GVM Upgrade, your 4WD will continue to stop, steer, and handle safely — even with the increased load.

Understanding GVM and Compliance

The Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) is the maximum legal weight your vehicle can carry when fully loaded. Tough Dog GVM Upgrade kits allow your 4WD — whether it’s a LandCruiser, Hilux, Ranger, Patrol, D-MAX, or other popular models — to be certified for a higher GVM without breaching ADRs or state laws.

• Pre-Registration (Federal Approval): If your vehicle hasn’t yet been registered, the upgrade can be certified at the federal level. The Tough Dog kit includes an additional compliance plate fitted to the vehicle.
• Post-Registration (State Approval): For vehicles already on the road, data from federal testing is combined with a state-based inspection by an authorised engineer to certify the upgrade.

With Tough Dog’s proven suspension technology and full federal accreditation, you can tow, carry, and tour with confidence, knowing your GVM upgrade is both legal and safe.

At All Four x 4 Spares, we’re proud to be authorised dealers and fitters of Tough Dog GVM Suspension Upgrades. As a registered Production Facility under the Second Stage Manufacturer (SSM) guidelines, we can supply, fit, and certify your vehicle’s GVM increase, all under one roof.

Based in Kotara, Newcastle, we service customers across New South Wales, including the Hunter Region (Newcastle, Maitland, Lake Macquarie, Port Stephens, Cessnock, Singleton, Muswellbrook) through to the Central Coast and Sydney. Whether you drive a work ute, tow a heavy caravan, or run a fleet of service vehicles, our team provides expert installation, compliance certification, and tailored suspension advice to ensure your vehicle is safe, capable, and road-legal.

With decades of 4WD suspension experience, we specialise in fitting and certifying Tough Dog GVM Upgrade kits for a wide range of popular vehicles, from Toyota LandCruiser and Hilux to Ford Ranger, Nissan Patrol, Isuzu D-MAX, Ram 1500, Suzuki Jimny, and more. Unlike many workshops that can only install suspension kits, our federal SSM accreditation means we are authorised to complete fully compliant, road-legal GVM upgrades.

We take care of everything; from the engineering approval and modification plate, through to submitting paperwork to authorities such as NSW Service (formerly RMS), so your increased GVM is officially recognised, insurable, and compliant with Australian Design Rules (ADRs).

At All Four x 4 Spares, your GVM upgrade is not just a suspension job, it’s a complete, certified solution backed by experience, compliance, and trust.

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GVM Upgrades suitable for most 4WD's

Another big benefit is that Tough Dog GVM kits can suit a wide range of popular 4WDs, from Toyota LandCruisers and Nissan Patrols, through to the Ram 1500 and even the compact Suzuki Jimny, making it a flexible solution no matter what you drive.

Select your vehicle below to explore vehicle-specific Tough Dog Suspension GVM Upgrade Kits:

Do you have any questions about GVM Upgrades? Please check the FAQ section of our GVM page HERE

Do you wish the explore more about the topic? We wrote these blog posts articles where we explained it more in depth:

GVM / BTC Upgrades – what are they and why are they important?

Understanding Vehicle Weights