I stand corrected. I found my sticker at the very bottom of the "B" pillar, the vertical column between the front and rear seats,
previously covered in dirt...
GCWR from the Owners Manual = 7,694 lbs
GVWR from the sticker - 4,850 lbs
Front axle GAWR - 2,590 lbs
Rear axle GAWR - 2,645 lbs
Maximum occupant and cargo weight - 970 lbs
2020 Premier 2.0L AWD with factory V92 towing package.
Let's do the math to see if I could ever safely tow 3,500 lbs and not overload the vehicle. HINT: Not a chance.
GCWR minus GVWR = 2,844 lbs
3,500 lbs, the purported towing capacity, minus 2,844 lbs = 656 lbs
Since (GCWR minus GVWR) is less than 3,500 lbs, the alleged towing capacity, the extra 656 pounds must be "stolen" from the allowed occupant and cargo weight of 970 lbs.
970 lbs is greater than 656 lbs, fortunately.
970 minus 656 = 314 lbs.
In order to not exceed GCWR all of my stuff and people could not exceed 314 lbs, just under 1/3rd of what the "maximum occupants and cargo" sticker shows, IF I wanted to actually tow 3,500 lbs horizontally. So maybe one "American-sized" adult could be in the car.
But that's not all we need to look at.
I could not tow 3,500 lbs if I was trying to tow a ball hitch trailer.
Why? Because the tongue weight needed for a stable "bumper pull" trailer is 10% to 15% of the actual trailer weight and tongue weight is considered cargo weight. (Tongue weight is how much vertical force the tongue of the trailer pushes down on the ball with.)
10% of the 3,500 lbs is 350 lbs, the tongue weight rating of the hitch. That 350 lbs must be added to the actual "occupant and cargo" weight, which is only 314 lbs allowable so I would be overloaded
even with no one and nothing inside my Equinox. That means it is IMPOSSIBLE for me to safely tow 3,500 lbs ever.
If the tongue weight was 15%, which is more desirable than 10% for a stable tow experience, the maximum trailer weight could only be 2,333 lbs
2,333 times 0.15 = 349.95 lbs, which is close enough to call 350 lbs, the tongue weight limit of the hitch.
BUT...that 350 lbs still needs to come off the 970 lbs of occupant and cargo carrying capacity. Fortunately, since (GCWR minus GVWR) of 2,844 lbs is greater than 2,333 lbs we do not need to steal capacity from the occupants and cargo; we can use the full 970 lbs for that, sort of. Remember, tongue weight is considered to be cargo.
970 lbs sticker minus 350 lbs tongue weight = 620 lbs of actual allowable cargo and occupants. That's not a horrible number.
Realistically, since tongue weight is a variable based on how the trailer actually is loaded, my safe trailer weight should not exceed 2,500 lbs and preferably be closer to 2,000 lbs actual weight in order to not be overloaded.
Interestingly, U-Haul's web site shows that the maximum trailer weight for all versions of the 2020 Equinox is 1,650 lbs. They claim they base that on the curb weight but they got that 200 lbs low for my version without any options. (With my options the U-Haul curb weight number actually is about 400 lbs low.) See the pic, please.
I suspect that's part of it but they also know that people don't weigh things so they provide a hefty safety margin.
Wait, what, you ask? Many Equinoxi only have a 1,500 lb hitch, not a 3,500 hitch, you say? Because the manual says your towing capacity is only 1,500 lbs?
Hmmm.
Page 260 of the Owners Manual says this:
Do not exceed a maximum trailer tongue weight of 159 kg (350 lb).
But, but, but the tongue weight rating of a hitch is almost always 10% of the hitch rating. For a 1,500 lb hitch the tongue weight limit should be 150 lbs, not 350 lbs!
So how the heck does a 1,500 lb rated hitch have a tongue weight rating of 350 lbs instead of 150 lbs?
I'd bet that Chevy installs the same hitch on all versions of the Equinox and limits the allowable trailer weight in the manual due to engine and transmission limitations. But I don't know for certain because I don't have a Chevy parts manual.
I won't even get into whether the rear axle gross axle weight rating of 2,645 lbs would be exceeded. That's pretty much impossible to calculate. The car would need to be driven on to a CAT Scale with one axle on each scale platform to determine that.
Clear as mud, eh?
Oh, and if I got any of the math wrong please feel free to point it out, if you happened to even read this far.
