740 towing capacity

[mduda]

i am looking into building a sailboat in my woodworking class at school and i have a quick question. how much is my 1991 non-turbo volvo 740 capable of towing? could it handle a 1200 pound boat? or should i opt for the much smaller (less fun) 400 pound boat?
http://www.ipdusa.com/ProductsCat.aspx? ... RootID=629
this is the hitch that i will get for my car. it says it can handle a 3500 pound load. but i kinda doubt the car can pull that much but maybe i'm wrong. how much can it pull?

[billofdurham]

There should be a plate in the engine compartment which will give you the gross vehicle weight and the gross train weight. Deduct the first from the second and that should give you the weight of any trailer + load the car will manage.

A word of caution. For safety reasons the trailer + load should not exceed the vehicle weight and, ideally, should be 85 to 90% of it. Car manufacturers often ignore this point in their quest for sales.

Bill.