I don't think it would be unsafe so much .....
as it might not be technically legal.......
and not OK with the renters.
I recently wanted to rent a simple tow dolly to move a vanagon about 6 miles
on level road....., like about the easiest simplest tow you could imagine
...
and the rental people gave me all kinds of grief about what size and weight
tow vehicle I was using etc. etc. .....and I couldn't convince them
otherwise.
'liability issues ' ............
4,600 lbs for a syncro is about as light as they EVER get.
I've weighed them at 5,100 lbs easily .....with soobie engine and some stuff
inside, and  not excessive amounts of stuff either.
I always put 'stuff' in the tower as much as possible, and keep the 'towee'
as light as possible of course.
Yuu want that ratio....tow car to towed weight ............as bigt as
possible.  A 5,000 lb truck has no problem with a 2,000 lb trailer ......for
example.
the heavier the tow vehicle the better, generally.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Schwenk" <steve@SYNCRO.ORG>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Monday, June 01, 2009 6:22 AM
Subject: Towing Syncro Westy on Rental Trailer

> Has anyone ever towed a syncro westy on one of those rental car carriers?
> I'm looking at Budget Truck rental using a 16 foot truck
> and their rental car carrier (full trailer, not a dolly).
>
> Their guide gives the "ok" for using it to tow a vanagon, but there is no
> choice in using their on-line thing for checkion a syncro
> westy. The extra weight is the issue. The trailer specs state a max
> vehicle
> weight of 4100 lbs. I think my van beats that by 500
> pounds or so.
>
> Too risky?
>
> I'm only moving it from coast to coast!
>
> Steve