It seems wrong that people advise you to not push the towing limits of your tow vehicle. If the manufacture says it can, then why not.
Experience says otherwise and many things about the manufacturers specifications are not easy to find or understand.
Trailer:
Forget "dry weight" or "unloaded weight". It is a useless specification for planning purposes. Actual weight while towing is what matters. You cannot know actual weight before buying and loading the trailer. Use Maximum Gross Weight of the trailer as the best substitute.
Published tongue weights are fictitious. Manufacturers often calculate them based on an over simplified mathematical formula. Tongue weight on a small trailer may be more than twice the published value.
Both of my small travel trailers came in at more than double the published tongue weight and dealers refused to allow me to weigh the tongue before buying them.
Wind resistance at highway speeds is a major downside to a fixed height travel trailer. The height and width produce high wind resistance regardless of how long it is or how heavy it is.
Your tow vehicle is not designed to run at or near full power for long periods. Even on flat terrain and without a head wind, the engine will be under high strain.
A trailer that folds or collapses will greatly mitigate wind resistance. Rounded front, rear and corners on a TT will help greatly, so a tear drop or molded fiber glass trailer will make a big difference.
The rounded front cap found on many TT's is not a solution. There are four front corners and four rear corners. (Yes, the rear matters as much as the front.) Rounding one on the front is a small fraction of the turbulence produced. Turbulence loading from each 90 degree corner increase with the square of the speed.
Tow Vehicle:
Many possible tow vehicles have a "Maximum Towing Capacity" on a sticker on the driver's door frame. That indeed is the maximum safe towing capacity. Never exceed that for highway driving.
However, it always overstates the capacity. You will never tow under conditions that the specification requires. Absolutely everything you put into or add onto that vehicle subtracts from the specified capacity.
Passengers, luggage, trailer hitch, aftermarket accessories weights all subtract from specified capacity. For small tow vehicles like yours, the "Cargo Capacity" (also specified on the door sticker) is usually the limiting factor.
Subtract the weight of absolutely everything added to the vehicle since it left the factory. (The spec includes 150 pounds for a driver.) What remains is available for trailer tongue weight. Remember published tongue weights are fictitious.
Learn to do the math. It is complicated. It is required for pushing the tow vehicle limits.
I wish you good luck and happy trails ahead!
New here, advice on travel trailers, solution for a (hopefully) growing family
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