Best Can-Am Towing & Hauling Accessories (Defender, Outlander & Commander)

A Can-Am earns its keep when there’s a trailer behind it or a load in the bed. The Defender in particular is built to work — it’s rated to tow 2,500 lb, the most in the lineup — and the right towing and hauling gear turns that capability into something you can actually use safely. This list ranks the accessories that matter most for owners who haul, in the order most people should buy them. For used and OEM versions of any of these, the eBay Motors buttons open live listings — eBay Motors is where OEM receivers, discontinued cargo systems, and factory take-off racks tend to surface.

Before you load anything, one rule: know your machine’s actual tow rating and hitch class. The Defender’s 2,500 lb figure is BRP’s rating for good conditions on level ground; Outlander ATVs and Commander UTVs are rated well below that, and every model varies by year and trim. Grades, mud, and a poorly balanced trailer all cut into the real number. Confirm yours in your model-year operator’s guide — the model & fitment reference is a good starting point for sorting out which platform you’re on.

1. Hitch receiver & ball mount — the foundation

Everything starts here. Most Defenders ship with a rear 2-inch receiver from the factory, and many trims add a front receiver (or the mounting points for one) that’s invaluable for pushing a plow, mounting a winch cradle, or spotting a trailer in tight quarters. Outlanders and Commanders typically use a smaller ball-mount or standard ATV hitch.

The part you’re actually buying is usually the ball mount and ball, matched to two numbers: your receiver size (2” on most Defenders) and your trailer coupler’s ball size (1-7/8” for light utility trailers, 2” for the heavier loads a Defender can pull). Match the ball to the number stamped on your coupler — getting that wrong is the most common towing mistake there is. A locking hitch pin is cheap theft insurance worth adding while you’re at it. Used and OEM receivers for older model years show up regularly on the eBay Motors rail below.

2. Trailer wiring harness — legal and visible

If your trailer has lights — and if you cross or ride on any public road, it needs them — a trailer wiring harness taps the machine’s lighting circuit so the trailer’s running lights, brake lights, and turn signals work. Most UTV kits are a plug-and-play flat-4 connector that installs in under an hour. Even purely off-road, working trailer lights are cheap insurance for visibility around a job site or camp at dusk. This is a small purchase that’s easy to skip and genuinely unsafe to skip.

3. Recovery kit — for when the load gets stuck

Towing multiplies the ways you can get stuck, and a loaded trailer doesn’t back out of a mud hole on its own. A basic recovery kit — a rated recovery strap or kinetic rope, a pair of soft shackles or rated D-rings, and gloves — lives under the seat and earns its space the first time you need it. Pair it with a proper winch and you can self-recover a buried machine or straighten a jackknifed trailer without waiting on help; our Defender winch guide covers sizing (aim for roughly 1.5× your loaded weight).

Two hard rules: never use a trailer ball as a recovery point, and never use a ratchet strap as a recovery strap. Recovery shock-loads gear far beyond a tie-down’s static rating, and a failed ball or strap becomes a projectile. Recovery gear and tie-downs are different tools for different jobs.

4. Cargo rack & bed accessories — haul more, haul it secured

The Defender’s cargo bed and the rack space on every Can-Am are only as useful as how well you can secure a load to them. Bed extenders, cargo racks, and modular tie-down systems turn open space into organized, secured capacity — for a chainsaw and fuel cans, a couple of hay bales, or hunting and camp gear. On ATVs, front and rear cargo racks and dry boxes do the same job. The accessories category collects the storage and cargo hardware we stock; for factory bed rails and discontinued rack systems, the cargo rail below opens live eBay Motors listings.

Don’t overlook bed weight when you tow. Weight in the bed sits over or behind the rear axle and changes how the trailer tracks — a well-balanced load in the bed can settle a trailer down, while a heavy tail load makes it wag. Which is the whole point of the next item.

5. Tie-downs & load control — the part everyone underrates

A trailer that tows badly is almost always a loading and tie-down problem, not a machine problem. Quality ratchet straps, cam-buckle straps, and anchor points keep your load from shifting, and where you put the weight determines whether the trailer tracks straight or sways.

The basics that prevent most towing scares: put roughly 60% of the trailer’s load ahead of its axle so you keep positive tongue weight (a trailer that’s light on the tongue sways; a chronically heavy tongue overloads the hitch). Strap loads down at four points and re-check them after the first few miles — straps settle and loads shift. And keep your total trailer weight under your machine’s real rating with margin to spare, because that rating assumes good conditions you won’t always have.

How to prioritize

If you’re outfitting a Can-Am to work, buy in this order:

1. Hitch/ball mount matched to your receiver and coupler — nothing tows without it
2. Trailer wiring — legal, visible, cheap, and unsafe to skip
3. Recovery kit — a strap, shackles, and a plan for when it gets stuck
4. Cargo/bed hardware — organize and secure what rides in the machine
5. Tie-downs and good loading habits — the free-to-nearly-free upgrade that prevents most towing problems

A Defender set up this way is a genuine light-duty work truck; an Outlander or Commander outfitted for its lower rating is a capable hauler for camp, hunt, and property chores. For the underbody protection that towing and hauling over rough ground demands, see the skid plates & armor guide; to keep a working machine reliable under load, the maintenance schedule & parts checklist covers the wear parts that a hard-working Can-Am goes through faster. And for the broader work-machine build, the best Defender accessories list rounds out comfort and protection.