I have some questions regarding towing, the owners Manuel of my 86(truck in sig). Says max gcwr is 1200 for a 6.9 Manuel transmission 3.55 or 4.10 gears. Well my truck weighs 6500 wet so that means I can tow 5500 no matter what. That seams like crap to me. With a proportional controller, air bags in the rear and a gooseneck hitch I can barely legally tow some trailers that are available to me empty. I am about to do a cummins and 5 speed swap and the truck should then be able to handel 12k on a trailer no problem. So is it really a big deal to overload if I'm not commercial? I feel like a extended cab or 4 door dually is your typical hauling truck and an 86 f350 one of those aparently can only haul what,3000 lbs? Also if I get pulled over how do they know my gcwr since only gvwr is on the sticker.
Towing
- Thread starter S-west
- Start date
As far as I know you won't get any fine, and it's not necessary illegal for being over the GCWR. Exceeding the GVWR or GAWR does matter though. Look at it this way, in the '86 Ford manual is shows something like 12k GCWR for 3.55 gears, 14k for 4.10 gears and then for the 460 gas engine, the GCWR is something like 18k I think. Basically that number is a factor of capability in terms of what they rate the engine to handle and the gear ratios. The truck itself can handle the same kind of load the 460 can, probably the reason they down-rated it for the diesels was because the 460 was more capable sorry to say. Don't forget that our engines didn't come turboed. I'm not saying though you should exceed your GCWR, I'm just saying my take on why they rate the trucks that way.
I have towed 12lbs before without too much of a problem, but I didn't realize the gcwr was that low. It's in the original 86 Manuel, it says 6.9 diesel Manuel trans- 9200lbs for 3.08 gears(which I didn't think where available), 12000 for 3.55, and 14000 for 4.10. So I was wrong when I said 12 for both, but I have 3.55 so it's still the same situation. Then the 460 with an auto goes up to 18500 gcwr. But I'm wondering how any cop would even know? Do they look it up by vin? Because I can't find it written anywhere on the truck.
Ok thanks pickupman, I just don't want to get big fine. I probably tow a trailer a few times a month but it's usually another full size truck, so I am in fact "overloaded" according to the Manuel. But if I ever do get hassled I'll just play dumb and hope it's not a big fine. I know a guy though who rolled over the scales in an f150 at over 20k with truck and trailer and he's never been busted too bad. And I have seen him load two trucks on each other on a flatbed and bring them to the scrap yard. Come to think of it it can't be too bad around here because I saw an obs powerstroke on the highway towing a loaded 3 car wedge trailer. Also while I'm on towing I have seen a newer dually chevy gas job towing three Honda crv's and he passed me at 75mph. Don't know if that's impressive or reckless or both
mohavewolfpup
Diesel Wolf Puppy
Wreckless and scary. I don't get that. Especially hauling the I-15 here with two summits, I prefer to double nickel it and wait to crest the hill and see those jockeys smashed up over the cliff. Scary was a modern powerstroke doing 95+ mph hauling a fifth wheel trailer. one wind gust which the area was known for and it would have been time to break out the white or yellow sheets...
Ya I leave for work early in the morning so I see all the sketchy stuff on the highway. I had a trailer truck riding my bumper once with no traffic and he kept switching lanes with me so I went faster, anyway after my my old 2001 f350 was topped out at 96 the truck flew by me. He must of been doing 105 with a 53' ****** unit. It scared the **** out of me it was a lot like the movie duel haha.
You may want to check licensing requirements... Seems like they want you to pay for gross weight now and have a GCWR sticker in addition to a DOT number for over 10,000 lbs.
Anything over 10000 gcwr? Or 10000 trailer weight. I'll have to give the dmv a call and find out what the deal is because there's no way I'm going to pay them to tow less than the factory rating. But if I can just go get a 18000 gcwr tag or whatever and not have to worry about it I will.
10,000 GCWR... I sold my truck right after they put the rule in so I never did it myself. The DOT number is free but you have pay for the gross weight just like commercial. Not sure what they'll let you tag it for though with factory being 12K
2stroke
Full Access Member
I can talk from experience as follows:
When towing a trailer over 10,000 you need a cdl
GCWR must be paid for with the registration of the power unite
You need a dot number for the above unless you post not for hire on your door
When pulling a RV the above do not apply except for GCWR registration costs
When towing a trailer over 10,000 you need a cdl
GCWR must be paid for with the registration of the power unite
You need a dot number for the above unless you post not for hire on your door
When pulling a RV the above do not apply except for GCWR registration costs
mohavewolfpup
Diesel Wolf Puppy
Wonder if that's what the DMV buffoons tried to do here... The motorhome we got that I later turned into my truck was taken in for registration. We had one amount, then it came back almost double. somehow in a shift change and two different people, it went back to the same desk and came back as "well you'll have to pay commercial registration on it" Huh? a barely 20 foot? motorhome that weezes up a hill with a TBI 350 (1989) and you want us to pay commercial registration fees? classy...
I am not sure on the older trucks, but on the newer trucks (03 6.0 Excursion) it says in the Diesel Supplement to the owners manual that I can tow a 12000 pound trailer. I have not looked that close at the door tag for the weights listed, but the manual plainly says 12k lbs trailer.......
tanman_2006
Full Access Member
My 06 and 93 are both tagged at 36,500. They will let you tag them for about anything
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