1988 e250 GCWR?

[jayro88]

Hello,
I am trying to find what my '88 E250 GCVW is? I searched and found all kinds of definitions, but no chart anywhere. I am going to be buying a Travel Trailer in the future and was trying to narrow down the weight range to look at. I have my vehicle manual and for my engine/gearing/trans combo it has 3 different GCVW listed. On the different Ford websites I was not able to find anything listed far enough back. I also tried running my VIN and it keeps saying it is an error......even though I have triple checked it. Any ideas?

1988 E250 7.3IDI
3.54 Gears c6


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[aofarrell2]

Are you wanting to know how much you can pull of a trailer? Find the gross vehicle weight rating, should be on a sticker on the drivers side door pillar (or door) or in the glovebox. If you can find that, weight the vehicle to find your curb weight, then subtract curb weight from GVW and there is how much you can tow.

 

[jayro88]

Are you wanting to know how much you can pull of a trailer? Find the gross vehicle weight rating, should be on a sticker on the drivers side door pillar (or door) or in the glovebox. If you can find that, weight the vehicle to find your curb weight, then subtract curb weight from GVW and there is how much you can tow.

I am looking at getting a travel trailer and was figuring what kind of weight range I could tow.

I appreciate your input, but I believe you are mistaken. The GVWR is how much the vehicle can carry as a payload. The process you described would tell me how much weight I could carry in the van itself (or in the bed if it were a truck). The vehicles GCWR (Gross Combined Weight Rating) is the weight of the vehicle and the trailer. You would subtract the vehicle weight from the GCWR to find the weight of trailer you can tow. The max GCWR assumes you are using the correct equipment (brake controller, weight distribution hitch, etc). You do have to add the trailer tongue weight to the curb weight to make sure it doesn't put you over your GVWR.

Or atleast this is what I have found. If I am wrong, please let me know.

 

[aofarrell2]

Oops yes you are correct. My bad.

 

[OLDBULL8]

IIRC you can tow up to 7500# with a weight distributing hitch. Older trailers up to 1990 weigh usually more than tag trailers after then.

Edit: What has changed since then, a year ago? http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?61119-Opinions-on-Travel-Trailer-size-weight

 

[gandalf]

It's hard to give an exact answer to your question without absolute specifics on the tow vehicle. However, generalities are easier.

Here is a VIN DECODER, perhaps an alternative to the one you're using. Be sure to real the year limitations. Further down the page on that same site, is a Towing Guide link. That, unfortunately, does not go back to 1988, but it may point you in the right direction, and it will give some basic and useful information.

 

[jayro88]

IIRC you can tow up to 7500# with a weight distributing hitch. Older trailers up to 1990 weigh usually more than tag trailers after then.

Edit: What has changed since then, a year ago? http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?61119-Opinions-on-Travel-Trailer-size-weight

There isn't anything mechanically that changed with the tow vehicle. It is just looking like the funds for the trailer maybe available early next year so I am doing research. I was hoping to find the actual data to back up what I was told in the previous thread you linked. I have found that it is always good to research and verify before making the decision on a large purchase.

It's hard to give an exact answer to your question without absolute specifics on the tow vehicle. However, generalities are easier.

Here is a VIN DECODER, perhaps an alternative to the one you're using. Be sure to real the year limitations. Further down the page on that same site, is a Towing Guide link. That, unfortunately, does not go back to 1988, but it may point you in the right direction, and it will give some basic and useful information.

Thanks for the link. I think I have the numbers all figured out.

 

[terryh]

An '88 E250 with 3.54's, a 7.3, and a C6 has a GCWR of 12,000. It's 14,000 with 4.10's.