Towing in the UAE: Tow Hitches, Weight Limits and How to Tow a Trailer Safely

A tow hitch turns a pickup or an SUV into something that can move a boat, a camping trailer, jet skis or a project car. It also adds a few thousand kilos behind you that brake, steer and sway in their own way. Most towing problems trace back to one of three things: a number nobody checked, a load in the wrong place, or a trailer that is not road-legal. Here is how to get all three right.

Last checked on 29 October 2026. Vehicle limits come from your own owner's manual, and registration rules come from your emirate's licensing authority. Both always win over this article.

Start with the weakest link

A towing setup is a chain of parts, and each one has its own rating. Your safe limit is the lowest of them, not the highest:

• The vehicle's towing capacity, from the owner's manual. Many manuals give two figures: one for a trailer with its own brakes, and a much lower one for an unbraked trailer.
• The hitch's rating, printed on a label or plate on the receiver.
• The tow ball and ball mount, which have their own stamped ratings.
• The trailer's coupler and its gross weight rating, on the trailer's plate.

Tow with a hitch rated for 3,500 kg and a vehicle rated for 2,000 kg, and your limit is 2,000 kg. Remember too that the weight pressing down on the hitch counts against the vehicle's payload. A full cabin plus a heavy tongue load can overload the rear axle well before you reach the towing figure.

Tongue weight: the 10–15% rule

Tongue weight is the part of the trailer's weight that pushes down on the tow ball. Vehicle manufacturers commonly ask for about 10 to 15 per cent of the loaded trailer's weight. A 1,500 kg trailer should press down with roughly 150–225 kg. Your own manual gives the exact figure and the maximum for your hitch.

• Too little (load behind the trailer's axle) makes the trailer prone to sway, the most dangerous thing a trailer can do at speed.
• Too much squats the rear of the vehicle, lifts the front and takes grip away from the steering and front brakes.

Load heavy items low and slightly ahead of the trailer's axle, tie everything down so it cannot shift, and check that the vehicle and trailer sit level once hitched. A drop or rise ball mount fixes a trailer that sits nose-up or nose-down.

Choosing a hitch

For most SUVs and pickups the right answer is a vehicle-specific receiver hitch: a bar that bolts to the chassis at the factory mounting points, with a square receiver that takes the ball mount. Common receiver sizes are 2 inches for SUVs and pickups and 1.25 inches for lighter vehicles. A vehicle-specific hitch matters because the mounting points, the bumper cut-out and the spare-wheel clearance differ from model to model.

That is why our hitches are listed by model and year. Examples are the Toyota Hilux Revo and Vigo steel tow bar, the Toyota Fortuner receiver hitch (2015–2020), the Jetour T1 heavy-duty tow bar and the BYD Leopard 5 and 8 tow bar. The full range is in Hitches & Towing. Bolts must be torqued to the hitch maker's specification, and it is worth re-checking them after the first trip.

A tow ball is not a recovery point. Never use it to snatch a stuck vehicle out of sand: a tow ball loaded that way can snap off and fly. Use rated recovery points and soft shackles instead.

Lights, wiring and safety chains

• Lights: the trailer must show working tail lights, brake lights and indicators that match the towing vehicle. Check that the plug matches your vehicle's socket, and test every light with a second person before each trip.
• Safety chains: cross the chains under the coupler, so that if the coupler ever lets go the tongue drops into the cradle of the chains and not onto the road. Leave enough slack for turning, but not so much that the chains drag.
• Mirrors: if the trailer is wider than your vehicle, you need to see past it. Extendable towing mirrors are made for this.
• Tyres: set the vehicle's tyre pressures to the towing or full-load figure in the manual, and check the trailer's tyres too. Trailer tyres often sit unused for months in the sun.

Driving with a trailer

• Allow far more distance to stop, and brake earlier and more gently.
• Take corners wider: the trailer's wheels cut inside the vehicle's path.
• If the trailer starts to sway, ease off the accelerator and keep the steering straight. Do not brake hard or steer against the sway.
• Respect the posted limits. Some owner's manuals also set a lower maximum speed while towing.
• Practise reversing in an empty car park before you need to do it at a busy slipway.

Registering and testing a trailer in Dubai

In Dubai a trailer is a vehicle in its own right. The RTA's vehicle inspection service lists trailer and semi-trailer inspection at its testing centres. The trailer is brought in, inspected, and its plate numbers are issued. The RTA also lists a chassis-number engraving fee of AED 150, and its FAQ caps a trailer's height at 4.2 metres from the ground.

When the RTA brought light trailers into its system in 2018, it said that trailers towed by light vehicles must be registered with their own number plates, and must display the towing vehicle's plate numbers on each side. Testing was set at every three years for privately owned trailers and every year for commercially owned ones, and the announced fine for an unregistered trailer was AED 300. Rules can change and differ between emirates, so check with the RTA, or with your own emirate's authority (TAMM in Abu Dhabi), before you buy or tow a trailer. Ask your insurer as well whether your motor policy covers towing.

Before every trip

1. Total weight within the lowest rating in the chain.
2. Tongue weight around 10–15%, with the load secured and the combination sitting level.
3. Coupler latched and pinned, safety chains crossed, plug connected.
4. All trailer lights tested.
5. Tyre pressures set on the vehicle and the trailer.
6. Mirrors adjusted so you can see along both sides of the trailer.
7. Trailer registration and test current.

Not sure which hitch fits your vehicle, or whether your model has factory mounting points? Send us your VIN through a part request and we will confirm before you order.

Sources

• RTA Dubai — Apply for Vehicle Inspection (trailer inspection, plate issue, chassis-number engraving fee, trailer height limit).
• Gulf News — Get your trailers tested, registered by April 16 (RTA light-trailer rules as announced in 2018).
• Tongue-weight guidance as printed in vehicle owner's manuals, for example GMC Yukon owner's manual — Weight of the Trailer Tongue. Always use the figure in your own vehicle's manual.

PartMate sells parts and accessories. This article is general guidance; your vehicle's manual and your licensing authority are the authorities for your setup. It is not legal advice.