2016 Chevy Equinox Towing Weight Limit for Trailers Without Brakes  

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The online edition of the owner's manual for your 2016 Chevrolet Equinox does indicate on page 193 that the maximum trailer weight that can be towed is 1000-lbs if the trailer itself does not have brakes. The vehicle certainly can tow more weight than this, up to 3500-lbs for the V6 version towing a trailer WITH brakes, but the issue here is stopping power and control rather than the sheer muscle to pull the trailer.

The vehicle itself has a curb weight of about 3700- to 4000-lbs and a 1000-lb trailer that relies completely on the Equinox's brakes would present a substantial load pushing on the rear of the vehicle. In straight-line driving on dry roads the car might tolerate the trailer weight if has time to slow down gradually. But the concern is that if you had to make a hard emergency stop, say for a deer that suddenly appeared in front of you on the highway, the trailer's weight could lead to instability and put you or others in danger. In a worst-case scenario the trailer's forward momentum pushing on your hitch ball could break the traction of the car's rear tires and cause it to fishtail. This ruins even the best day of camping.

It is not hard to add electric brakes to a camper. In fact enough folks do it that we created a help article on that specific subject. I linked this article which covers all the aspects of adding electric drum brakes to a trailer. If your axle has brake flanges already (many trailers without brakes still have flanges installed) you may be able to bolt on brakes without replacing the axle.

We even have complete axle assemblies with brakes already installed, such as the 3500-lb-rated axle kit # e43SR.

expert reply by: Adam R

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