Hello, Looking at buying this truck tomorrow afternoon, But before i do i thought i would ask what people think.

I own a 31 foot 10,000LB travel trailer.

The truck I'm looking to purchase is....
1990 F-250 7.3L Diesel (3.55 Gear Ratio) 2WD Extended Cab Lariat.

Will this work? Can it tow it? I'm not doing long drives... 5-250KM's max. Mostly flat surfaces, Maybe some hills that last 10-20 Seconds, Nothing major.

Thanks!!!

 

Manual trans trucks are rated lower towing capacity than at. What trans does the truck have?

 

The short answer is "Probably yes", but like bashby said....we need more info. What trans does it have? I am assuming it is a non-turbo, correct?

If you are experienced at towing, then just humor me. If not, this is my take on it. I will be making some assumptions.

1. With that weight you will need the correct hitch and braking setup. Weight distro, anti-sway and a good brake controller. You can also look to see if you would benefit from air bags or helper springs.

2. As stated, the manuals are rated lower than the auto's. From my experience this is due to the holding power of the clutch and the skill of the driver to work the clutch/trans. You can burn up the clutch pulling a heavy load if you don't engage correctly etc.

3. Assuming it is an auto. You will want a large, high quality trans cooler and a trans temperature gauge. I am thinking that year auto is an e4od (not the c6). If so, I would start putting some money back for a rebuild. Not because the e4od it a terrible trans, but in the earlier years of production there were some weak parts. They now have updated parts that can take care of these issues and are installed during a rebuild. With your short trips and minimal hills you may not stress it enough to even require a rebuild. Whether it is an e4od or a c6 I would recommend an aftermarket/low stall/diesel/towing torque converter.

4. Maintenance, maintenance, maintenance!!! With this age of a truck that many times have sketchy maintenance history this is going to be very important. Especially since you will ge working it quite a bit with the load. Coolant flush, trans fluid change, brakes, IP/Injectors, wheel bearings...etc.

5. Install gauges. EGT, Coolant temp, trans temp.

6. A swap to 4.10's will make it pull better.

7. Don't expect to be fast when towing!! These are not modern diesels with crazy tq/hp numbers. They will get you where you need to go, reliably and consistently......just slowly. Hills will slow you down. Just waive to people as they pass.

Depending on the truck I would plan on investing another $1-2K to make it solid/tow ready if the previous owner didn't do anything to it.

 

you'll want 4.10's.since the truck is 2wd,it's as easy as 1,2,3.
1.pull the rear axle.
2.source a same year range axle with 4.10's and buy some new u-bolts.
3.install the axle with 4.10's with a bud's help in a single afternoon for just a couple hundred bucks.

 

you will be fine. Our S1600 service truck weights 17-18k and moves along fine with a NA 6.9. My 92 turbod pulls 17k great up long 6% hills (anything more and its not as happy but still does it).

I would drive it some and see how it does. Its been my experience that changing gears never makes any real differnce (as far as towing is concerned) unless you are are pulling alot more than you should be. 3.55s are great for mileage.

 

A friend of mine worked a deal with a seller that he will buy it if it pass the towing test , The seller agreed for $500 deposit and it all worked out. I once done the mistake buy buying a truck that was a great deal but was the biggest mistake ever .

After i bought it i had that sinking feeling that it wont pull my heavy diving boat out of the steep wet ramp and what you know the sucker couldn't pull the boat out of the water but thankfully it made it out of the ramp .. Truck was sold 2 weeks later .

Most sellers would work something out as long as you wont tow miles and miles with it as they might fear you damage something .

 

Sticks have tall firsts (4.14:1) in these things, not a great combo for heavy towing with 3.55's. Swap to wide ratio transmission gets you a first (5.72:1) with 3.55's that is comparable to close ratio running 4.88's in the axles. I'd swap the trans and keep the 3.55's personally. Assuming it's stick.

Where you will run into problems is as noted- pulling a boat ramp or any similar situation. If you can't get it rolling initially, well, big bummer. This is one really nice thing about 4x4 trucks when it comes to towing- you never will run out of grunt to get a load rolling.

I have a lot more faith in towing with a stick than an auto regardless of manufacturer recommendations. Having trouble pulling is one thing, having trouble *stopping* is a whole other, and sticks help keep you off your service brakes.