[Mr. Adventure]

Most people don't know that Toyota tells you to figure your tow capacity differently than most other manufacturers. With Toyotas, you are rated with a full 3500# in towing capacity on top of your gross vehicle weight, whereas most manufacturers tell you to subtract the load you put in the tow vehicle from your towing capacity. So another vehicle that's rated at 5000# with 1500# in the tv is just like your RAV4: 3500# tow rating.

My first thought when we discussed this a year or two ago was that the RAV4 was too small, but that was me thinking about older RAV4s, not about the new ones like yours which are bigger, heavier, and rated for more. In the case of your RAV4, you're about the same weight as my Highlander and have a wheelbase that's only a few percent shorter.

Your wheelbase and the weight, height, and balance of your trailer are important for towing. I've never seen an identifiable source for the length-of-trailer rationale along the lines of the anonymous old trailer towers table, which relates wheelbase to trailer length. But when you measure it out, you'll probably find that you're fine there with the smaller TM's.

I don't think you'll find places on the Interstate highway system that you can't reasonably go with your RAV4. Load management (you'll want to keep your trailer load on the light side), attentive driving, careful trailer brake adjustment, and conservative towing speeds are mandatory for safe towing for everyone. A properly adjusted weight distributing hitch is very important for almost everyone.

If you regularly tow at high altitudes out West, you need substantially more tow vehicle than us Eastern flatlanders for towing performance, vehicle durability, and maybe an additional margin of safety too.