I have not actually done any towing myself from the driver seat, but based on my recent experience... The difference in whether or not to cut it close is the terrain you intend to travel. If you are going up and down hills,obviously you need the power to go up and that load is going to be pushing hard when you try to brake downhill. That was a Sierra 1500 and the hitch was only rated at 5K. I figured we were around 4500. Regardless of hitch rating, I don't think I would have wanted another 2500lb behind us coming down the mountain.