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Alex and Tee wrote:
Thanks for the information but it doesn't make sense that the tow capacity would have anything to do with the weight of the tow vehicle. I can't reasonably imagine that they would rate a MH to tow 5000 lbs and then you have to figure and subtract the weight of fuel, fresh water, black water, gray water, propane, cargo, passengers etc.

Why wouldn't the weight of the vehicle being towed factor in to the towing capacity? And that 5k towing capacity as advertised is the hitch rating. I could put a 5k hitch on a Miata, doesn't mean it can tow 5k. What's even worse, a lot of dealers won't touch the subject either because they don't know or don't want to disclose that a MH with a 5k hitch can only tow 2k. Either that or they give you false information. But yes, this is the case for MH's. They have to be weighed for travel and subtract the weight from the GCWR to arrive at what your tow capacity is. And it may or may not be less than your hitch. Often it is - especially on larger gassers because they have so many extras and extra weight simply by being larger. Example, a washer and dryer could easily make the difference between being able to tow your set up or not. All of this is moot if you don't care. Lots of folks on the road who never weighed their rig at all and take the hitch rating as gospel. I am not advocating you do that, but it happens - a lot. You get some folks on here that will give you the "it's fine, I've been towing a Sherman tank with my such and such RV forever with no issues" . My school of thought is, do it right or don't do it. There is risk, not only to the MH, chassis, and drivetrain itself, but to others should something fail or you don't have enough braking capacity. It may also invalidate a warranty issue should something fail because you are towing overweight.