I don't think dry weight includes a battery or any propane, and I forget what else.  Certainly no water, food, clothes, cooking utensils, blankets, toys, etc.  I don't know that FR is dishonest about this, but they probably do encourage you to think too optimistically about tow weights.

In my opinion, a 4-cylinder vehicle is always going to be marginal at best.  People use them and get away with them.  Make sure your trailer brakes are working correctly.

TT

You should always add 800 - 900 pounds to the dry weight when estimating the loaded weight. Beyond that, don't use the dry weight to calculate anything.

A 3500 lb tow SUV is not considered a mid size, it is a compact. You need at least a mid size one, like my Highlander or equivalent, at 5000 lbs/500 tongue. AWD and also be sure the manufacturer authorizes the use of  a weight distribution hitch.  About a 20 gallon fuel tank, the 15 or so gallons in the compact SUV's will drive you crazy after awhile. 

With the Highlander,  I can load the trailer to near its max gross wt of 3800 lbs, put myself, my wife, a modest amount of gear in the TV and be about 800 lbs under the max gross combined vehicle weight rating. And keep the tongue weight up near 500 where the trailer is stable and doesn't sway. I consider that the minimum TV , I wouldn't tow anything heavier. 

You really want to stay well under the MCGVWR. Weigh the rig and see. Its not a horsepower issue, its a load handling issue. You can always climb hills slowly, but if your TV doesn't have the capacity to control the trailer, or you are lightening the tongue weight too much to try to get that in spec, then you have an accident waiting to happen. All that is needed is an unexpected wind or slick pavement event or some traffic blocking the roadway on a turn somewhere when you don't expect it. 

Not sure which Escape you have, but it looks like they have an EPA rating around 22 city/28 highway. My Highlander V6 AWD is rated at 17 city/ 22 highway. I'm rarely that low but I drive conservatively. That works out to about 120 gallons a year difference in fuel consumption if you drive 12000 miles a year not towing. You won't have any noticeable difference towing, more than likely. From a cost standpoint that's pretty negligible. From a pollution standpoint its significant but not worth dying in an accident for. The cost difference between a compact and midsize SUV is not that much and can be made up for by buying a slightly older version midsize. 

Re FR actually weighing the trailers, I'm quite certain mine was not. My sticker weight numbers are identical to the published ones, the likelihood of that happening is near zero, and I've never been able to account for about 150 lbs of weight when I've compared my actual weight to published numbers. 

Many people own trailers that they don't have vehicles to tow. The are permanently set up at campgrounds, or on private property. Or they rent or borrow a capable vehicle a couple times a year to move them. 

The general concept of having some kind of clearer go/no go reference point is a good one but not sure this is a place for restrictive government intervention. 

Maybe a reference website where a prospective owner can put in his particular situation and get an estimated set of recommendations would be appropriate. There are lots of similar .gov websites, for example for Medicare supplements, roof solar systems, auto fuel economy. The are not regulatory but to help educate folks and are independent of the manufacturers who are just trying to sell you something. 

This has happened MANY times. 

The OP is not alone in being a bit mislead by numbers printed on a sticker or in an owners manual, or the salesman's 'puffery'...

Many times in this forum and other forums I have stated that you really need 'towing authority' to be safe, comfortable, and relaxed while towing. This cannot happen with a trailer that weighs (supposedly) 3000 pounds and a tow vehicle that can pull 3500 max.

Yeah the dealer says, no problemo...I say otherwise and I AM CORRECT every time.

The solution is to always figure your trailer at the max weight, and to do a reality check on what your tow vehicle can actually handle. After we subtract people and gear, we come in at a max towable weight of around 9,000 lbs. This handles the Rpod with ease, and so we go without any worries.

Originally posted by offgrid Re FR actually weighing the trailers, I'm quite certain mine was not. My sticker weight numbers are identical to the published ones, the likelihood of that happening is near zero, and I've never been able to account for about 150 lbs of weight when I've compared my actual weight to published numbers.

I was at the factory and saw them weighing the trailer in order to generate the sticker. I stand behind my comment as being accurate.

The chart shows the maximum trailer frontal area that must be considered for a vehicle/trailer combination. Exceeding these limitations may significantly reduce the performance of your towing vehicle.

Doesn't say it will void warranty.  I was getting 15 to 16 mpg from Penn. to VA. and I ran between 55 and 60 most of the way.   So I am not seeing a big hit on performance.

Not sure where you are getting your numbers. My Highlander curb wt is 4600 so it weighs about 1000 lbs more than the Escape. And its 270 hp, not that I think the hp matters much. And yes I really think that the wt and wheelbase difference are significant. As is the hitch weight capacity. And so does Toyota. The comparable compact SUV from Toyota is the Rav4, 3500 lbs curb wt, 106 inch wb, comes with the same 270 hp V6 as the Highlander, Tow rating 3500 lbs. I like Toyotas but I wouldn't tow my 179 with a Rav any more than I would with an Escape. 

Trailer drag is much more a function of the rear shape of the trailer than the front. That's because that's where a vacuum is created unless the taper angle is very shallow, around 15-20 degrees. Most teardrops' taper is much higher that, much less an rpod. And its easy to find lots of people doing lots of dumb things on the internet. 

No one is trying to look for reasons for you not to tow with your Escape. We are trying to share our experiences to help keep and others on the road with you safe. Do what you want.  But please as a minimum get your actual trailer, tow vehicle, and combined vehicle weights and see if you are within specs at least. You won't want the liability if you aren't and have an accident where others are involved. 

So, you saw them weigh your trailer. I am not challenging that. Extrapolating from there to the statement that FR weighs ALL trailers is what I challenge. How could you know that? I'll stand by my statement that it is extremely unlikely that my trailer sticker represents its actual weight. 

I don't believe they weighed mine, because the weight on the sticker is exactly the weight listed in their brochure with the options the trailer came with. That means that the actual weight matched the predicted weight to within about 0.03%. Extremely unlikely. 

Maybe their scale was down the day that my trailer came off the line and their default procedure under that condition is to put the standard weight sticker on the trailer. That kind of thing is very common in industrial manufacturing.

+1. And the only way to really know that is to load up and get an actual weight at a public scale.

Sometimes I think folks acquire an RV because it will be a cheap way to travel.  I have found that it is not necessarily cheaper than traveling by car and staying in a hotel or motel.  In fact I have stayed in a motel with my RPod parked in the motel lot when I was trying to cover a lot of miles and didn't want to take time to set up and take down the trailer.  There are many cost in addition to the purchase of your RV.  As was discussed here many of us have had to upgrade our everyday ride to comfortably tow my Pod.  There is the additional cost for fuel, additional time on the road to tow at a lower speed, additional cost for campsites, additional time to setup and take down and then all the specialized stuff we buy for our camper.

That said, I have "camped" or "RVed" for many years.  I like being out in nature.  I like being able to be right by the natural attraction in a state or national campground.  I like being in my own bed, with my own sheets and pillows, a shower only my family uses, and a mattress that I've selected to suit me.  I like getting up on the morning with my dog going for a walk and visiting with other RVers all while dressed in my pajamas and no one thinking a thing about it.  How often do you visit with your neighbors while staying in a hotel or motel?  I'd like to think I'm saving money, but as an old accountant I know I'm not and I don't care.  I've drank the koolaid, I'm in it for the lifestyle.  

When you say 50 lbs on the trailer do you mean the trailer weighed in at 3450 lbs? And 100 total means the combined rig weighed in at 100 lbs under the MCGVWR on your driver's door sticker? Don't forget passengers, fuel, and your weight distribution hitch in your calculations. 

As far as fuel economy is concerned you would get pretty much the same fuel burn with a heavier tow vehicle under the same conditions. We all do. Those that report worse fuel economy are driving faster, hitting a headwind, or are climbing hills or mountains. I drive at 60 and get 14 mpg on flat ground with no wind. I would get about 15.5 at 55. 

Why? Because air drag on the trailer is the dominant hp demand when towing on flat ground. That drag doesn't change with the size of your TV, because the trailer frontal area is always larger than the tow vehicle's,  but it goes up really fast with speed (its proportional to the square of the air speed). Most all modern engines have similar efficiency, they have to or that manufacturer would go out of business. So the only thing that really changes with a heavier TV is rolling resistance (which is proportional to total rig weight) but that is a small effect. 

You will feel like the towing is going fine....until its not. That will be in bad weather or in the mountains or when you have to make a sudden lane change.  I know I64 in the Norfolk area very well. I used to live on the Outer Banks. You get to go over one of the few bridges in the country where you have to stop and prove your propane tank is shut off. Those bridges can get really scary when there is a blow creating a cross wind, its best to stay off them towing when there is a nor'easter or tropical storm. 

I am very familiar with the bridges as I used to commute across the HRBT.  We are going to the Eastern shore next week so I will keep a check on conditions before leaving. I thiink on the Chesapeake Bay bridge you don't pull off you just tell the toll person the propane is shut off.  We are going to Cape Charles so it is only about an hour or so trip.

I hate motels.

Just a note that the Chesapeake Bay Bridge (which is in Maryland) and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel (which in is Virginia) are two different things.

But yes, at the CBBT, you just let the toll taker that your propane is turned off.

At the HRBT, you have to pull into the inspection station and tell them that your propane is turned off. They write down your license plate number on their log.

I think you will be okay with the Hayes. Please check with Hayes to make sure it is one that is newer or if older has had the recall applied to it. See this for details. If you had purchased direct from Hayes, it would not be an issue, but I have no idea how old the unit you purchased is since you say you purchased it on ebay.

http://www.hayesbc.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Sway-Master-NHTSA-Recall-18E-045.pdf - http://www.hayesbc.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Sway-Master-NHTSA-Recall-18E-045.pdf

You need to be at or below 350 on the tongue, not just closer to it. 

Be careful moving weight rearwards to get the tongue weight down, that will increase sway risk. Don't let the tongue weight get below 10% of the trailer weight as an absolute minimum, preferably 11-12%, and consider that this minimum applies to all expected loading conditions, not just the load out at the beginning of a trip. Don't depend on the Hayes antisway system to save you, you need to start with a stable rig and consider the Hayes system as a backup. 

If you think these tight constraints are kinda like being stuck in a little box with no room to maneuver you are absolutely right. This is the kind of thing that makes folks get a higher capacity tow vehicle. Please be careful and stay safe.