Greetings O Ford people
Brother tells me of a 1964 F-250 Camper special Near his home. I tried researching to find that these were first made in '65, so I'm guessing that's the actual year.
I will only need the truck to occasionally tow a flatbed, bringing home another project, and I'm here to ask what the tow capacity is on this truck assuming the trailer weighs 2000 LBS, how heavy a car can I put on the trailer?
As far as I know truck has Y-block and manual transmission. Trailer has electric brakes . I don't expect this truck to tow as much as my broken down 74 F-250, but if I'm going to put my time and $ into a truck, I'd rather do it to the 65 CS.
Hopefully this is the correct place to post this important question.
thank you.
Erik

 

Camper Special (C/S) introduced in 1965 F100/250 2WD, Y block (dizzy behind the carb) cancelled at the end of the 1964 model run.

1965 C/S's would have come with either a 300 I-6 or 352 2V V8 (dizzy in front of carb).

 

Thank you. I think he said 352, it was just my lack of knowledge that inferred that it was a Y-block.
I'll print up any notes to take along if i check it out.
Erik

 

I've looked high and low for an actual factory tow rating on my '65 F250 and cannot find it. I'll go out on a limb and say that back then the belief was if you can move it then you can tow it. While there were brake controllers for pickups (mine had a 1966 brake controller and operator manual when I bought it), using a pickup truck to tow horrendous loads at interstate speeds was not thought of in the mid-60's. That plus the engines acted like a built in safety limiter. A 352 FE at 315 lb ft can't move an 8 ton fifth wheel at 70mph and never drop out of overdrive like today's 800 plus lb ft diesel monsters can.

 

Back then, people used full sized station wagons, International Travel-All's to tow with.

 

F-250 axle ratios were commonly 4.10 or 4.56, and 1st gear on the NP435 4 speed is a granny so it will get the load moving; I wouldn't think you'd have much trouble towing a 4,000 - 5,000 car on top of your 2,000 pound trailer. You might not do it very fast though.

 

Thanks all.
I don't expect to tow anything weighing more than 4, 5000 LBS, and I may put the built for torque 390 into the truck, so that's not as much a worry.
Either way, it will only be used a few times a year, so I'm more concerned with the ability to stop rather than going fast.
Erik

 

My 66 F100 with 88 F150 4wd on back.




Bossman with 18ft. trailer and 88 4wd on trailer. Total combined weight 10,520lbs. Notice that the 88 is back on the trailer to balance the load. I pulled it forward until it dropped the rear bumper a total of 2in. and stopped. The hitch is tongue heavy as it should be without overloading the ball. <br/><br/>Bossman aint no sissy truck and pulled it like a man.

John

 

Thanks again all of you.
That Bossman is a handsome truck!
When my brother and his son loaded the 74 F-250 on my trailer, they didn't like all that weight on the tongue either. They instead reloaded it tail first onto the trailer. Brought it up with my d*dg* 3500 over the Siskiyou mountains into Oregon.
Had to down shift into 4th at one point. V10 in the d*dg*.
No, I don't get to use the d*dg*.
Eric

 

Camper Special package on F250's were first offered late in the '64 year model ( yes with straight axle and 292), available under DSO, Domestic Special Order. 1965 was the first full year of the Camper Special, and available as a (RPO) regular production option.

 

This is for '64, should be similar for '65. Figures are with truck at maxiumum payload and towing trailer. In todays world, you would be at a tremendous disadvantage of other vehicles on the road with large 4 wheel disc brakes. Remember even back then, brake controllers and special order power brakes were recommended. '66 F 250 Camper Specials got better with larger brakes from the factory.

 

Bossman pulled it like an F 250!

 

Thank you all again!
that is information that has eluded me in my searches, and I appreciate the effort.
Seems like I'll need to upgrade the brakes on the truck if I purchase it.
will probably look at it this coming week.
Though if I'm reading that chart right, the truck isn't rated to tow more than a 3,000 pound vehicle on my 200 pound trailer. Though I haven't had my second cup of coffee yet, and do not claim to be totally coherent yet.
Thank you.
Eri

 

Eri As you can read what my bud has to say. All this rating crap is suggestive. If the truck has the gonads to pull it and the driver has the gonads to drive it it really doesn't matter.

I drove that F100 with that load on the trailer.


John

 

I got to agree with tripleframe. The tow ratings are based on what the thing can stop more than what it will pull. My wife asked once if she could pull a trailer with her Scion XB. I said, sure darlin as long as you don't have to stop!