[Bill]

Let me take a slightly different approach to the question.

All of us ask the question "How much can my tow vehicle tow? What is the tow rating?" And we expect the manufacturer to provide an answer - "It will tow x thousand pounds." But the question itself is nearly meaningless because it is so undefined. Until you specify HOW you will tow and WHERE you will tow, no single number can represent the vehicle's REAL towing capacity.

If you are going to be towing at 55mph on Interstates in the flatlands of the midwest or the Gulf coast, then your vehicle can handle quite a bit of weight. If you get into the Appalachians, like Virginia/Kentucky/Tennessee, where most of the road is a 4% grade, 6% grades are common, and 8% is occasionally encountered, then you can tow considerably less. And if you get into the Rockies or the Sierras, and off the Interstate, where the roads are twisty, almost everything is 7-8%, 10% is not unusual, and 12% can be found - well, your real tow capacity may be only half of what it was back in southern Illinois. So first and foremost, you need to know where you are going to tow.

You also need to understand that the car manufacturer is anxious to sell cars, so when you ask "How much can it tow?", he is going to give you the biggest answer he can - the flatlands-of-southern-Illinois answer. And TM wants to sell trailers, so with no disrespect to Bill Hulsey, when you ask him "Can I tow a 3023 with vehicle X?", he is also going to give you the southern Illinois answer. In both cases, the answer isn't wrong, but it is only applicable to southern Illinois. And if that's where you are going to be towing, that's fine.

But if that's not where you're going to be towing, it is important that you not let the southern Illinois answer mislead you. The results can be unsatisfactory ("Why can't I go up this hill faster?"). Or they can be bad ("Damn - my transmission blew!") Or they can be catastrophic ("In the crosswind, the trailer apparently took control of the tow vehicle and pushed it off the edge of the mountain - film at 11").

Fortunately, the latter scenario doesn't play out very often. We are better drivers than we think. But the other two play out daily.

From my own experience on twice-yearly cross-country trips, I can tell you that my Ford Explorer (V-8, 5-speed automatic, 3.73, factory tow package, 7000-pound tow rating) feels like gross overkill as we zip along the Interstates from eastern Colorado to Ohio at (Colorado Cop, stop reading here) 70 mph. "Tell me again why we bought all that?" my wife asks. But that same Explorer, pulling that same TM, feels barely adequate as we chug up into campgrounds at 8000 feet in Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks. "Wish we had a little more power", my wife says. The towing capacity in Illinois might very well be something like 7000 pounds. The towing capacity in the Sierras is barely 3500 pounds.

So where are you going to tow, and camp? You need to answer that question - not for us, but for yourself. We can help you evaluate your trailer/tow vehicle combo once you tell us the answer. But without it, neither this board, nor the Jeep dealer, nor Bill Hulsey, can really be much help.

Bill

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A couple other notes - my answer wouldn't be complete without them.
1. There is a tendency for many of us to concentrate on the tow vehicle's POWER, as if pulling up steep grades is all we do. My post tends to fall into that trap, but that's not wise. Safety issues are even more important, and in this respect, Ray's answer is much more balanced than mine. Things like braking capacity are vitally important. On this board I have related my horror story of losing one of the TM brakes as we went through a tight downhill turn on a twisty, miles-long 10-12% downgrade on Rte 191 in Arizona - and the fact that I had no choice but total reliance on the Explorer's brakes to bring the entire rig to a straight stop before we went over the canyon wall. A lighter vehicle wouldn't have made it. Wheelbase - the tow vehicle's ability to resist being snapped around by the trailer - was also vitally important there.
2. Even in the best case, a vehicle's "tow rating" is a MAXIMUM number. On a routine basis, you shoudn't plan to operate at or near this number, because it stresses your tow vehicle into early failure. False economy.
3. Surely some members of this board live in southern Illinois. I assure you I mean no disrespect to your area of the country - I use it simply to illustrate one extreme of the towing experience. No corn was hurt in the making of this post. In fact, having lived in Chicago for a couple years in the 60's, I have to say I prefer your section of the state .... oh, nuts, now I have to apologize to Chicagolanders.

Colorado Cop, you may re-enter the room now.

Bill