I was reading online looking for the towing cap on my 90 F250 with 4.10s, 4x4 ZF 5 speed and 7.3 IDI.

What I found is that with the E4OD it would be 17,000, but the stick drops it 3K
to 14,000. Is that right?

Why?

 

Because of the clutch and the original warranty. Many people cant use a clutch without excessive wear when pulling a large load. And Ford didnt want to have to replace clutches when the truck was still under warranty.

And because the automatic has the torque multiplication of the torque converter.

 

Ok, good. I bought the truck for pulling.

How much weight did ZF rate the tranny for? I have looked and can not find it online.

 

You won't find that information because it doesn't exist. There is no such thing as the towing capacity of a transmission. They are rated by how much torque they can handle. There are lots of different factors that affect towing capacity of a vehicle and most of them have nothing to do with the transmission.

 

Most things I have towed with the ( auto) tranny is the weakest link.
If mine is not,what is?
I am trying to figure out how much I can safely tow.

 

If you are good with a stick and don't mind replacing the clutch a little more often, then tow as much as the manual says regardless of what transmission you have.

 

That's a whole different thing, it comes down to the condition of the vehicle and the brakes in particular and total weight of the combo and road conditions, etc. And btw.. that 14000lb or 17000lb number is the combined weight of both truck and trailer.. not the trailer alone.