You can find plenty of websites on towing by googling "trailer towing". Since towing is officially sanctioned for your car, I would think that your owners manual would have extensive guidelines.
I had a commercial license in the early 1970's so I could tow mobile homes to their final resting places. And I have had a trailer hitch on all my primary cars I've owned since the 1970s including both my first 90 LS400 and my current 2000 LS400. I've done quite a bit of towing.
From a comfort and safety standpoint, I wouldn't feel comfortable towing a trailer that exceeded one half a vehicle's curb weight unless I was towing a short distance. If we round the curb weight of your RX up to 4,000 pounds, this would limit your trailer gross weight to 2,000 pounds -- that would be the total trailer weight including everything you are going to pack into it.
Sure, you can tow a lot heavier trailer with a 4,000 pound vehicle but it can be stressful, especially if you are driving in high winds and in hilly country. I don't like stress -- it's not fun. I know a couple of people who tow substantially heavier pop-up tent trailers but they are using a full size van and a crew cab F150 pickup truck with full towing packages.
I once towed a 2,800 pound sailboat/trailer combination about 100 miles with a 3,500 pound 62 horsepower midsize Mercedes Diesel sedan. I proved it could be done but it wasn't a pleasant experience -- wished my trailer had brakes. And the sailboat/trailer tended to whipsaw the car around in the high winds -- the wind always blows in Kansas. Needless to say, I rented a full size pickup truck the next time I needed to move the boat.
If you don't have much experience with tent trailers, you might consider renting one at least once before you buy one. I've known several people who have rented tent trailers and even large RV's before they figured out what they really wanted. There sure are a bunch of used tent trailers for sale on Craigslist in my area -- like this barely used one: http://kansascity.craigslist.org/rvs/884205098.html The Forest River 176LTD like this one on Craigslist is more like the size I think is appropriate to pull with an RX -- "GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating) 2,049 lbs." --> http://www.forestriverinc.com/nd/default22...&series=MAC
At this time of year and in this economy, I'd bet you could buy a barely used nice tent trailer for a song.
lots of good info, thanks!
so. in my case, don't exceed 2,000lbs - should that include the total weight of passengers and gear in the car itself, as well as the trailer and contents? and what kind of tongue weight should i be looking for with this car? i've read that that's 10-15% of the gross weight of the trailer but that can also be affected by how you load it and where the trailer's water tank is located - how that affects the overall balance. i've looked on several websites about towing but for a newby like me, it's a little daunting to think of the consequences of getting it wrong! and i've so far gotten a lot of conflicting info about my car specifically. appreciate hearing your experience! thanks.
