Towing over the rated capacity

[Xuf]

Hi, I have a 2000 Mitsubishi Mirage DE sedan which is rated to tow up to 1,000 pounds. The trailer hitch on the car is rated to 2000 pounds. I plan on towing some appliances, which combined with the trailer weight will equal about 1600 to 1800 pounds, which is 600 to 800 pounds over the rated limit. obviously this will affect the performance of the vehicle negatively, but what other ill effects could it have that are stressful to the vehicle?

Thank you for your time and insight
Sean

[DeltaP]

Not only is it unsafe to overload the vehicle it can be downright deadly. The steering, suspension and brakes have design limits that you'll exceed. The suspension and/or brakes will fail and loss of control will occur resulting in a crash. Seems like the driver usually survives alive as most drunk drivers do but at the cost of killing others. Don't do it. Are you aware of the tongue weight limit of the vehicle or just the towing load limit? That 2k limit on the hitch is just for that part... the hitch itself.

[CaneWhite]

I do a lot of towing and I use a personal benchmark of 75% of rated capacity as my normal maximum load.

[JNevil]

Originally Posted by DeltaP

Not only is it unsafe to overload the vehicle it can be downright deadly.

This. There's no point taking an unnecessary risk.

[jdmccright]

As mentioned, the hitch rating is just for that...the hitch itself. When determining the safe tow capacity of a vehicle's setup, the "weakest link" is what you go by.

Vehicle's rated towing capacity (owner's manual or door jamb)
Hitch tow rating (attached sticker or stamping)
Ball hitch (stamped on top)
Ball mount that slides into the hitch receiver (stamped or sticker)

Extra care should be taken regarding tongue weights when towing with front wheel drive vehicles as the weight on the rear will unload the front wheels and cause instability and poor braking. 10% of towed weight should be the maximum tongue weight.

Finally, the weight should be distributed slightly forward of the trailer's wheel axle to prevent "waggle", a side-to-side harmonic motion of the trailer at speed.

For your case, if you can split the loads into two trips, that would be much safer.

Hope this helps and safe towing!