It is important to understand the difference between towing capacity and payload capacity.
The towing capacity is model and feature specific. The payload is vehicle specific and is related to how many bells and whistles your truck has. The pay load or cargo capacity the vehicle will carry is usually listed on the door jamb.
If you have a proper WD Hitch your truck and trailer will ride level. If the trailer brakes are good the rig will stop okay.
However, you cannot escape the fact that the the truck is over loaded. That is you will exceed the design cargo limit and most likely the maximum axle ratings.
I did not know any of this then I bought my trailer, I assumed that my F-150 4x4 with a 9500 lb towing capacity would easily handle a 5000 lb dry weight trailer.
I was wrong. Across the CAT scales, my loaded for the road trailer weighs 6200 lbs. with 750 lbs. on the tongue. The door jamb sticker shows my fancy pickup's max cargo capacity, is 1411 lbs. That leave a bit over 650 lbs for two adults a large dog and camp gear.
So, as it turns out, I am at my max cargo limit. The combo works well and we have towed over 30,000 mile in four years. But there is no getting around the fact that the truck is at capacity for wear and tear and towing anything bigger is out of the question.
Folk do indeed tow above the rated limits of their vehicle but usually not that long or often. If you have a really bad trailer and tow vehicle miss match, no one will have to tell you, it is obvious.
Good luck and let us know what the scales showed.
