Snuffy,
I know that "
clean your shorts" feeling, too!! Many, many moons ago before I really knew anything about towing, ("If it has a hitch ball I can tow with it!"), I had a similar incident.
We hooked up the "homemade" car trailer to the newest truck in our arsenal, an '85 F150 300ci w/granny 4spd, because it had a class III receiver! We were into demolition derbys back then (so you know what shape the trailer was in...JUNK, but it had brakes...Surge brakes!
We loaded our prized find, a '73 Chrysler Imperial.."The Tank". Of course we loaded it incorrectly..way to heavy on the tongue. Threw on a couple safety chains and down I-70 towards Frederick, MD we headed. After slugging up Braddock Mtn we (I) coasted down the other side trying to cool off the Inline-6. Cruising right along....until everyone in front of us saw Maryland's finest sitting at the bottom with radar... CRAP, BRAKE CHECK!
Remember I said we had surge brakes? I learned right then and there that they are absolutely no help when there is 4500+ lbs of car & trailer "wagging" your little 1/2 ton downhill at 60-70 mph! Luckily the shoulder was open and I was able to get it under control. We were lucky that no one was killed that evening!
This is probably why I am over-conservative when it comes to matching a TV with trailer nowadays.