Here's my experience. Had a V8 Jeep Grand Cherokee rated to tow 6500. Pulled my 4300lb travel trailer OK locally just fine for short trips, but it was a white knuckle experience on the interstate. Bought a Hemi Ram 1/2 ton with a 8900lb tow rating. Towed that 4300 Travel Trailer very comfortably on the interstates. We moved up to a 6000lb travel trailer, and interstate travel with the 1/2 ton truck became a white knuckled experience once again. We moved up to a Ram 2500 crew cab long bed single rear wheel diesel rated to tow 17000, and we are back in the comfort zone. My wife is happy to drive with the 6000lb load. She drove the 2nd leg home (4 hours) on the interstate on our last camping trip. She said it was "easy".
Note: All my setups had sway control devices. My 1/2 ton was upgraded to an 10k Equalizer load level sway control when we got the 6000 trailer.
Tow ratings are over inflated in my humble opinion. Personally, I like to be in the "comfort zone" and dominate my load when I tow. Braking and having the tow vehicle weigh more than the load also factor into that equation. The bottom line is that I just don't like the tail wagging the dog.
