Not wanting to spend a lot of money to be able to have a 5th wheel travel trailer I bought both the trailer and the tow vechicle used.

1990 Ford 460 with tow package and 5th wheel hitch set-up. Trailer is about 10,000 pounds.

Seems to tow well except for climbing very steep gravel roads with no four wheel drive.

Is this a good set-up in your opinion? I can't seem to find out how much horse power this truck has. One source said 240 horse at 2500 rpms. Can that be correct?

What is the difference between new truck horsepower ratings and this old war horse?

thanks for any help,

boont

 

Not sure about horsepower and such, but I do know that the 460 in my '79 F-250 was only rated from the factory at around 220. If it is having trouble pulling your 5th wheel, I would think there is something going on though. It should have no problems dragging it around with relative ease. We've put 12K+ on the back of my old horse and she pulled it around with no issues at all. Only mods she has are Edelbrock intake and a 650cfm (too small) carb.

I wonder what kind of gearing you have in the rearend...

 

I have an 86 F250 4x4 C-6 3:55 gears. The 460 has an Edelbrock Performer manifold with a Holley 4160 600 CFM dual exhaust with turbo mufflers. I have a 32' pull behind travel trailer that bone empty weights 7500# since we live full-time in it with our stuff it tips the scales at about 10,000#. I have no problems towing it, it slows pulling hills, but anything over 65MPH with that kind weight is crazy, you can't stop, and if that trailer decides to come around on you it's over. Ask any old truck driver. The fifth wheels are easier to pull no doubt. I'm going to go to 4:10 gears, and install an early model timing chain. I have 175,000 miles on my old work horse. Before I buy a new truck I will spend $10,000 on the one I have and still be up $25,000 + lower ins. and lic. fees.

 

well that 10k trailer does put you way over the legal GCWR of that truck. 240 hp is correct also.

 

"well that 10k trailer does put you way over the legal GCWR of that truck".

How can a 3/4 ton Ford 7.5 Liter 460 long bed truck with a fifth wheel hitch and the Ford towing package not be able to tow a gross dry weight trailer of 7589 (GVWR 9950 lb) trailer?

The GCWR is 15000 lbs.

b.

 

Also, how the heck does a 7.5 liter 460 cubic inch Ford big block engine have only 240 horse power?

Hell, my V6 GM marine engine has more than that. My Toyota has almost that much horse power.

What gives?

boont

 

Look at where the horse power peaks are for the V6 Chevy and Toyota, you will find they are quite a bit higher. You have to remember, EPA controls emissions by grams per mile so larger engines are penalized more than smaller ones. I think you will find that Ford was very conservative in their ratings.

 

The only issue I have ever had pulling 16000 lbs of backhoe and trailer with my 1989 f-superduty 460 5sp 4.56-1 rear alxle has been at high altitude somewhere around 6000 ft asl It can't get enough air to make any power. But that is not an issue anymore I moved to the flat lands. It pulls fine and has a lot of low end torque. You do need to learn how to shift and when to shift. Keep the rpm's up and you won't have a lot of problems. If is an automatic then you will learn the art of manual shifting Ford is bad about letting there automatics shift to soon then you are in bog down mode.

 

That's because you don't understand the difference between horsepower and torque.

A big rig truck has a 12 liter-ish diesel motor that puts out maybe 300 horsepower, but they don't have any problem pushing around 80000 lbs. That's because horsepower doesn't do a thing for you when you're towing. What you want is torque, and you want it as much of it as you can get at an RPM that's as low as you can get. Torque is what turns the wheels - horsepower is just an abstract concept.

A big truck has an enormous amount of torque - over 1000 lb-ft of it. That's what moves the load, not the horsepower.

 

continuing andym's thought, the V6's with 200+ horsepower have about 200 foot pounds of torque while the 460 has 400+ foot pounds of torque.

 

""That's because you don't understand the difference between horsepower and torque."

You know what andym? I don't understand a lot of stuff but you don't have to be rude. If you don't want to answer the question, just pass it by.

I am not a mechanic. I don't know about horsepower vs torque. But I could tell you all about electronic editing and make a fool out of your questions.

Of course I wouldn't do that because there would be no point in it. I would try to answer you question as best I could or ignore it.

So andym, instead of being the school yard bully, just post whatever information you care to share or nothing at all. I don't see any actual information in your post that I can use.

boont

 

if the truck weighs around 7,000 lbs that leaves you 8,000 lbs towing capacity.

 

the 460 was rated at 210 hp and 345 ft pounds torque

 

OK, I guess I can see how you interpreted it that way, but I promise you I didn't mean it in a rude or condescending way at all. I apologize if I offended you. I am definitely not a "schoolyard bully" - I was actually beat up more times as a kid than I care to remember. Probably for being such a smartass.

I remember what it was like to not know much of anything about engines, how they work, or what the terminology around them meant. But I read a lot, both on this site, and on other sites. www.howstuffworks.com has a great automotive section. There are some things that I still look up on there from time to time.

If you can look past what I said, I think I gave a pretty clear explanation of why your 460 only puts out 240 horsepower but still can tow a 10000# 5th wheel.

If you need a better explanation, I really suggest checking out the site I mentioned above.

Also, when someone here on FTE uses a smiley face: it means they are joking. Generally, someone with more than a few hundred posts is a seasoned user here and plays by the rules - no disrespecting other users.

Again, sorry to offend.

 

gashog,
granted I can't find official Ford numbers, but everything I have found shows the '90-'97 era 460's as having 245-250hp and 400-410ft lbs of torque. 210/345 sounds more like a 351 to me.