Trailer towing capacity??? Need help deciphering Ford's Hyperbole!

OLDBULL8

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This is what I towed thru the West Virginia, Virginia, N. Carolina and S. Carolina Mountains. Black truck is a 90, truck on trailer is a 92, trailer is a 24 ft. GN. Did it running on just 6 cylinders, 2 injectors stuck open, Black smoker er all the way home, 760 miles.

Trailer weight certified empty 5460#. GCW is 14,000#

92 F350, 8750#

90 F350, 7850#

GCW of all three = 22060#

Basically, trailer was overloaded by 210#.

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kc0stp

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Since it was brought up, the newer half tons definatly have enough braking power for what their rated out, just got back from a 1k round trip towing my 7-8k lb car trailer and quite frankly except for lacking in the torque department (4.6L gasser V8) it did perfect and I barley even used the brakes going down 6-7% grades in Utah (the newer trucks also come with engine braking, cant match our IDIs but a lot better the previous) Honestly when it comes to stopping power that setup is more limited by avalible grip from the tires then the brakes themselves, even with all the electronic nannies it still has an occasional lockup under hard braking (aka when the idiot cuts you off then hits their brakes...:backoff)

Now that said the IDI can out tow the half ton any day of the week however stock vs stock the half ton has the IDI beat in the braking department
 

towcat

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guys-
do bear in mind a 3 car wedge is a gooseneck type trailer or a fifth wheel type trailer. those types of trailers can give you an additional 5k in capacity compared to a bumper pull type trailer.
 

Clb

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93 idit,,,

Wanna clarify that math???
The cgvwr has to stay at a constant what ever gearing ,axle and suspension are fitted.
right?
I'm gunna follow this one, thanx
 
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jayro88

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Truck is a 91 4x4 F350,SRW 5sp, 4:10 LS rear.


I began working on finding out what my truck can haul weight wise and also what it may be able to tow...

VIN tag on door

VIN 2FTHF36M3CA97075

GCW 9000 Lbs/ 4082 Kg

Front axle 4410 Lbs/2000 Kg

Rear axle 6084 Lbs/2759 Kg


Body B84

Axle C5

Trans C

Springs T4F


In the owners manual there is a chart that makes no sense to me

my books page....shows some weird stuff I cannot understand...

Any one help me out?

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So what can I tow...subtract my trucks weight from 14K or 11K? this is not clear The axle ratings don't match the door tag. I would say CGVW is 14K but that's me...maybe a trip to the dealer?

I had this same question a month or 2 ago. The manual doesn't give a good explanation of what the different weights on the chart mean. When I read on further in the towing section of the manual it talks about different trailer weights depending on your hitch set up (bumper, frame mount, weight distribution). From checking in a number of different places it seemed that the different amount were for your vehicle with the different hitch set-ups. With the proper hitch set-up you have a GCWR of 14k, so just subtract the truck weight from that. My van is about 5.8k to 6k pounds (I think) so I would be rated for an 8k pound trailer. Of course you have to figure in tongue weight and make sure it doesn't put you over your GVWR or your axle ratings etc.

Or this is what I found.....if I am wrong, let me know.
 

rlb245

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Now that was a great discussion and I got allot of information that will extremely useful. This is a great place. I can't go to bed with out check out the post of the day. I'm truly hooked.
 

riotwarrior

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Now that was a great discussion and I got allot of information that will extremely useful. This is a great place. I can't go to bed with out check out the post of the day. I'm truly hooked.
Thanks for the compliment, we strive to provide good info here. Now get some sleep...and ya..most of us are hooked...
 

Clb

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Now that was a great discussion and I got allot of information that will extremely useful. This is a great place. I can't go to bed with out check out the post of the day. I'm truly hooked.
Nice sig line....
definetly a great spot to data mine.
cb
 

GOOSE

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So the chart shows clearly that a 4:10 equipped diesel can to a 9,000lb trailer and have a CGVW of 14,000lbs. I do not believe that Ford made a 5,000lb diesel truck to meet these mathematical requirements.
 

oregon96psd

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So the chart shows clearly that a 4:10 equipped diesel can to a 9,000lb trailer and have a CGVW of 14,000lbs. I do not believe that Ford made a 5,000lb diesel truck to meet these mathematical requirements.

2WD standard cabs gotta be gettin close, probably little more than 5k but these old trucks are very light compared to the new ones.
 

RLDSL

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So the chart shows clearly that a 4:10 equipped diesel can to a 9,000lb trailer and have a CGVW of 14,000lbs. I do not believe that Ford made a 5,000lb diesel truck to meet these mathematical requirements.

Yeah, those figures are pretty laughable.
Especially when you consider my crew cab with a Western Hauler bed weighs 8k empty LOL and that truck spent the first 200k miles of its life pulling a 3 car wedge for a car lot, and I regularly gross between 18-22+k and it does just fine ( that bed and gooseneck setup are massively reinforced, Western Hauler says its designed to take every bit of that 30k rated on the ball and then some the way its all tied into the frame just so long as the trailer has the brakes for it and as much time as ive spent under that thing, I have no reason to doubt it ;Sweet these things have been bouncing across Texas and Oklahoma hauling full loads of drill pipe for years.
 
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