HarveyRV stated
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None of the vehicles or equipment ratings can be exceeded.
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That's certainly correct, as far as it goes. But just because the ratings are not exceeded doesn't necessarily mean that you have a good tow vehicle for your load.
The thing that continues to bother me about this whole issue is that some people talk tow ratings, some people talk GVWR, GCWR, and all the other numbers. But seldom does anyone ask "
Where are you going to tow?" It should be clear that if your towing will be restricted to Florida or the midwest, then meeting the numbers may be both adequate and safe. But if you are going to climb into the Rockies or the Sierras, or even some parts of the Appalachians, then that same vehicle will be neither adequate nor safe, no matter what the numbers tell you. The altitude and grade (both uphill and downhill) that you ask your tow vehicle to conquer are extremely important.
And adequate means more than "I can maintain 40 mph on a modest upgrade if I downshift 2 or 3 times and mash the accelerator." It also means not beating your car to death. As an example, my Explorer is rated for over 7000 pounds of trailer weight, so a 3500-pound TM is certainly well within the numeric limits, no matter how you figure them. And Iowa/Illinois/Indiana/Kansas are a breeze. But we often travel I-25 at the Colorado / New Mexico border. At the border is Raton Pass. Not particularly dramatic like the approaches to the Eisenhower Tunnel in Colorado. But about 8000 feet of elevation and about 5 miles of 6% grade on either side. How high do you think the tranny temp rises as we go over that gentle pass with the TM behind? I didn't know, and I bet you don't either, because no production car that I know of, including my Explorer, has a transmission temperature gauge. I installed one, specifically to watch this situation. And even with my vehicle, the tranny temp rises to about 210 degrees. That is not catastrophic, but it is far above normal. And I keep thinking, if my vehicle were rated 3500 pounds instead of 7000 pounds, what would the tranny temp be? All I know is that I don't want to find out.
If you don't have a tranny gauge, you'll never know, no matter where you drive.
Some people say I am "truck obsessed", apparently thinking that the Explorer is a truck. Whatever your feeling, I don't want my transmission to die a death that is both expensive and premature, just because I set my goals at some minimum numbers. And I don't want to sound argumentative about it, because it just makes sense. IMO, a tranny temperature gauge is one of the best ways to get a real handle on how hard your vehicle is being stressed.
As they say, YMMV. And please don't take this as a rant. I just can't figure out why people concentrate on the numbers, and never consider the WHERE of towing. It is certainly not less important than the numbers.
Bill