2000 mile trip in 1990 F250 with 2,400 lbs in bed?

[IDIBRONCO]

285/75R16E is usually 3750# rated and fits nicely on a 16x7 wheel.

Off subject, but that's nice to know. For some reason I was thinking that they needed to be on 8" rims.

I have a standard thing that I do whenever towing or carrying a heavy load and that is whenever I stop, in addition to checking my strap tensions I'll feel all of the truck and trailer spindle hubs for temps, and place the upper sides of my fingers against the sidewalls on all of the tires.

I do the same thing if I'm hauling heavy.

Also, whenever towing / hauling heavy, I'll always inflate my tires to maximum recommendation inflation in order to minimize heat buildup due to sidewall flexing.

Oops. I'm not the best at that part. I had these 12 ply tires at only 35 PSI the last time that I had checked them before this. I compensated by only driving 60-62 MPH. This firewood was green and I estimated it at 8,000-9,000 lbs. I know that it was quite a bit heavier than the '91 F250, Ex cab, 4X4 with a 7.3 that I had hauled right after this. I did only have about 100 miles to go so I didn't mind taking my time.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

I'd like to source a good, used PTO drive for the passenger side of the ZF5 to run the driveshaft back to the dump bed.

I have one of those. I don't see it on the driver's side in this picture (this is the only picture that I took after getting the parts truck back)so it must be on the passenger's side. I'll have to look for farther details. DM me if you want to talk about it.

 

[Clb]

So for grins...
Dot might be watching the weight claims but it's not looking at the height.
I'm running a set of km3s listed as 35"
Actually measured almost 33"

 

[scsmith42]

235/80R16 trailer tires migt be 3800#, but 235/85R16 truck tires are typically only 3050#.

Well, you got me curious so I went and looked.

The F250 truck tires are Michelin LTX 265/75R16LT with a single tire rating of 3,415 and dual tire rating of 3085.

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On my 37' dual tandem trailer I run a 16 ply ST tire, but that trailer was not close by. On my welding / mobile fabrication trailer (parked near the F250), I run 235/85R16 14 ply ST tires with a rating of 4,400.

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[scsmith42]

How bout a hydraulic drive off the zf's driver drop, back to a remote gearbox drive for the dump bed drive?

That's a good option to keep in the back of my mind as an alternative approach. If I stick with the passenger side PTO drive on the ZF5, all that I should have to fabricate is a somewhat longer drive shaft. This is probably my easiest method.

 

[scsmith42]

I have one of those. I don't see it on the driver's side in this picture (this is the only picture that I took after getting the parts truck back)so it must be on the passenger's side. I'll have to look for farther details. DM me if you want to talk about it.

I'll definitely DM you about it (and thank you for mentioning it). You probably know more about this than I do.... but as I understand, I need to pull the side plate off of the transmission and count the teeth on the gear inside to make sure that they are a match for the model number of the PTO?

 

[scsmith42]

Off subject, but that's nice to know. For some reason I was thinking that they needed to be on 8" rims.

I do the same thing if I'm hauling heavy.

Oops. I'm not the best at that part. I had these 12 ply tires at only 35 PSI the last time that I had checked them before this. I compensated by only driving 60-62 MPH. This firewood was green and I estimated it at 8,000-9,000 lbs. I know that it was quite a bit heavier than the '91 F250, Ex cab, 4X4 with a 7.3 that I had hauled right after this. I did only have about 100 miles to go so I didn't mind taking my time.

Good old Kelsey Hayes axles! The industrial versions are a lot tougher than the mobile home versions, as I recall.

 

[scsmith42]

Oops. I'm not the best at that part. I had these 12 ply tires at only 35 PSI the last time that I had checked them before this. I compensated by only driving 60-62 MPH. This firewood was green and I estimated it at 8,000-9,000 lbs. I know that it was quite a bit heavier than the '91 F250, Ex cab, 4X4 with a 7.3 that I had hauled right after this. I did only have about 100 miles to go so I didn't mind taking my time.

I wouldn't know what it's like to tow a load in excess of the trailers axle rating for 100 miles..... Note - the 6.4 F450 (not shown) pulled it just fine, and I too took my time.

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[u2slow]

The F250 truck tires are Michelin LTX 265/75R16LT with a single tire rating of 3,415 and dual tire rating of 3085.

Nice! I prefer 265's over 235's for that reason.

Haven't seen those 14ply 235 skins in a long time. I had a set that were re-treaded... and that was 25 years ago.

 

[u2slow]

Off subject, but that's nice to know. For some reason I was thinking that they needed to be on 8" rims.

A tire catalog or tire shop might say that. I had no issues running them for about 10 years. Thats 285/75R16 Kelly ATRs on a ford 16x7 wheel. Kept the tire pressue rather low unless I actually had payload to haul.

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I save my 8" wide wheels for 315/75R16's.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Kept the tire pressue rather low unless I actually had payload to haul.

That's what I do too.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

You probably know more about this than I do.... but as I understand, I need to pull the side plate off of the transmission and count the teeth on the gear inside to make sure that they are a match for the model number of the PTO?

I have no idea about that. I know very few specifics about PTOs. It just happened to be on a parts truck (part truck?) that I picked up a couple of years ago. It's a 1989 FSuperduty that used to be a roll back. All I got was from the back of the cab forward.

 

[u2slow]

PTOs are very specific about what they fit for gear pitch and size. Only the 6 bolt flange is generic.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

I'll definitely DM you about it (and thank you for mentioning it). You probably know more about this than I do.... but as I understand, I need to pull the side plate off of the transmission and count the teeth on the gear inside to make sure that they are a match for the model number of the PTO?

I also happen to have a belt driver hydraulic pump that mounts to a IDI with V belts that I forgot about.

 

[lpennock]

Take the truck to a CAT scale and see what the current axle weights are. Then if your current weight plus the load you want to add is under the Rear GAWR you will be fine (assuming you are going to put the load directly over the rear axle). The payload rating is based on the GVW rating which is really a marketing number. It is designed to hit certain licensing break points. If you look at the combined axle weight ratings you will find you have more axle weight rating then the GVW number implies. Probably 90% of the truck camper rigs especially hard side models are over GVW and payload ratings but are under GAWR.

You could look in to a set of Timbrens rather than air bags. They replace your bump stops and once the load pushes the axle down on them the droop pretty much stops. Only warning I will give with them is make sure your load is fully on or fully off them. If you are right at the engagement point they will beat you up.