Just curious how many leafs do you have up front and what is your spring code?

 

Ford has clearly de-rated the front ends of these trucks. Look at the front tire pressures compared to the rear.

Here are mine FYI...

Spring Code 75F
Rear GAWR 6084....80psi
Front GAWR 3850...44psi
GVWR 8600

 

Worse than that, on my '85 F-250HD (351W, 4 spd manual, 3.54 gears) the GVWR was something like 8,600 lbs but the GCWR was something like 7,600 lbs. So I guess I could only load the truck to it's max if I was towing a trailer that weighed -1000 lbs (maybe a trailer full of hot air???)

 

ALL F250s/F350s of this era came with only 2 leafs. Any more and it was added

 

lol.what? id just guess your manual/literature was misprinted.

 

It was the combination of the 3.54 gears and manual trans. Both really hurt the GCWR. An auto with the 3.54s would have given me 10,000 lbs. I just never really worried too much about GCWR when I owned that truck.

 

i understand how a manual trans is less than an auto,and the 3.55 would be lower than the 4.10 option as well.however the trucks combined rating can't be less than it's weight weighting.

 

LOL...maybe the engineers came up with these figures by hooking the trailer to the front of the truck.

 

I figured the GVWR was based on the axles, springs and frame, and the GCWR was based on the engine, trans and gear ratio. Then they just plugged in the inputs and out came the answer. It didn't have to make sense, it was RIGHT.

Besides, they had incentive to offer the higher GVWR then because if it was over 8400 lbs they didn't need the catalytic converter.

 

yeah but it's still got to move the weight of 8600 lbs.what the truck can weigh.it's curb + payload.
you can't say it's combined weight,what the trucks curb + payload + trailer and it's payload needs to weigh less than the 8600 lbs.
to not be able to tow,they need to at least say the combined is 8600lbs cus it's got to be built to move this much weight no matter what.
does anyone have the '85 literature? are you just messing with us?
(my old man used to use that exact combo to tow a 34' 5ver for many years.his was an '84.he bought her brand new in '83.no wait,i remember his had the 4.10's though.)

 

I have a friend that ordered a F 550 a few years ago , when it got to the dealers he had them send it out to a spring shop for additional springs , an additional sticker was added with raised rating . A lot of documentation from Ford and Spicer was necessary , but my point is brakes were part of this equation .

 

I'm not messing with you. And yes, I understand that Gross Vehicle Weight Rating means truck + payload and that Gross Combined Weight Rating means truck + payload + total trailer weight = GVW + total trailer weight. It's saying that the truck wasn't rated to move as much as it was rated to carry. I'm not saying it makes any sense. It sounded as stupid to me when I read it back in late '84 when I got the truck as it sounds to you now. But it is what I read. And sorry, no, I don't still have any of the manuals or the door sticker or anything. I sold that truck 16 years ago.

I never towed all that much with it, and rarely hauled HEAVY loads. I put about 4K of pressure-treated lumber in the bed once, that was probably the only time I was over the GVWR. It rode pretty mushy with that load. And I towed my Model A and my CJ5 with it, maybe 4500 lbs max trailer weight. It handled that fine, even stopping it with no trailer brakes. But acceleration with about 180 hp and 3.54 gears was not exactly exhilarating.

 

she sure wasn't the 460/e40d/4.10 combo hey?

 

No, but the thing is, the carbed 351 / NP235 / 3.54 gears performed satisfactorily as far as I was concerned. Sure my current truck can spin a tire when starting around a corner carrying my slide-in camper. But I'd give ability that up in a heartbeat if I could get 15 mpg instead of 10 (not that I got 15 mpg with the '85...)

 

I didn't realize there was such thing as a crew cab short bed ..very interesting ...
Are they rare?? I did a quick search and came up with pics of beds with two tanks... was there two fuel doors on the short beds for the crew cabs?