| 75% guideline
For longevity of the tow vehicle and satisfaction of the driver, it is a very common rule of thumb to not tow more thn 75% of the tow rating. That would mean you would be looking for a A/S with a loaded weight of not over 3750#. In other words, you would be looking for a small and older Airstream to meet this criteria.
My previous trailer was a TrailManor. Astro vans are very popular for towing the smaller TrailManor models that gross out around 4000# and usually are lighter since they have a high useful load. None of my friends that I have spoken to would advise using Astros to tow the larger models that gross out at near 5000#. The usual sentiment was that the Astro is only sufficient for the smaller models. Several of my friends wanted to upgrade their trailers, but didn't because it would require a new tow vehicle.
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John W. Irwin
2005 Classic 28 "Sabre-Dog III"
2007 Silverado 2500HD Duramax/Allison LTZ
WBCCI Region 9 Webmaster, #9632
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