With proper maintenace there really shouldn't be a noticeable down grade in any kind of rating. There are old planes like DC-3's and Ford Tri Motors(still flying today) and they aren't limited by half of what they were originally intended to carry. I know of elevator motors from 1923 and older that run EVERY day and can still carry the same load and run the original contracted speed. If a car is maintained within the factory tolerences a degrade in rating shouldn't be an issue. Poor maintenace and then that is a different story.
The most important factor is the performance of the vehicle(accelerating,control of vehicle, stopping) becomes greatly degraded as you get closer to the max tow rating. Robert
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