Mike -
That is a great example of the way to figure out what you REALLY have for available tow capacity. And I'm with you, I don't want to operate with no margin.
By the way, I notice you didn't subtract any cargo weight, but rather saved it for "weight of the trailer and any cargo". I can't speak for most people, but at least on long trips, I have at least 300 pounds of "stuff" in the wayback of my Explorer. (I actually weighed it once as I unpacked - and I was surprised!) And I admit, I have travelled with considerably more than that. So if 300 pounds is a reasonable estimate, and I enter that into your calculation above, it leaves a real tow capacity of 2936 pounds. All of a sudden, my 3500-pound trailer is looking like a real moose!
Bill
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