just need to know what the curb weight of the 88-90 F-250's is... I'm borrowing a trailer and don't want to over load it... has 351w and a ZF if that makes much of a difference...

 

Regular cab ? Super cab? 4x2 or 4x4? These options will add about 600 pounds. The best way to know is weigh the truck on a public scale.

Give the rear axle ratio also and I will look at my 1992 Ford Trailering Catalog and tell you what Ford states for maximum GCVW and maximum trailer weight.

 

yeah well I am picking up and extra parts truck so I can't weigh it... just don't know if the tires will hold the load so needed a guess on the total truck weight...

351w, ZF, 4x4, reg cab...

 

I think 5500 lbs would be a decent assumption. My '87 2 wheel drive F150 was about 4800 with a toolbox in the bed.

 

my 89 f250 reg cab 8 ft bed 351 and zf5 4wd ( according to the title) unladen weight 6,084 hopefully its helpful

 

1989 F-250 Super Cab 4x4 351 zf5b 285/75/16 tire's w/ a canopy and Me 6550lbs
Hope that helps.

 

I noticed that one of your other trucks is a F250 ,351,4x4 (Thor) also. I dont know which of your trucks that you are going to use as a tow vehicle-but you may find this interesting:

My "1992 Ford Recreation Vehicle and Trailer Towing Guide" states that a 1992 F250 4x4 HD with 5.8, auto transmission ,and 3.55 gears should be able to pull a trailer weighing up to 6400 pounds .

And the maximum GCWR (gross truck and trailer weight) is 11,500 pounds.

 

Actually as much as I will get chastized for it I am probably going to do a slow drive home with Thumper as the tow vehicle...

Thor just became the parts doner this last week as I found a 89 F-250 HD, 5.8 351w, 4x4, XLT Lariat, ZF-5spd with very little rust for $300... We'll call her Zeus for now...

Zeus's bed is beat up but I have a spare rust free bed... The 5.8L 351w in Zeus is blown but again I have a rebuilt 5.8 waiting for a new home (5.8 donor motor from thor)...

Anyhow I just need to get Zeus home and the only truck I have running now is Thumper (4.9L zf-5spd)... I plan to use a bumper tow bar (Reese Products 74344 - Reese Class III Tow Bars - Overview - SummitRacing.com) and no trailer and take a easy 45-50mph ride home the 80 miles. Kinda like you see guys hooking their cars to campers on the interstate... I figure I can tow a 5500lb truck 80 miles without too much trouble... LOL

This sort of thing is the reason I want to get Thor or Zeus going so I have a tow vehicle! Phoneman91 what does your book say I can do with truck like Zeus for towing? Basically your 92 with a 5spd ZF instead??? does the manual tranny change anything?

 

Just looked on Kelly Blue book... 1990 F250 4x4, 351w, 5spd under specifications...

KBB says curb weight is only 4003lbs which I can hardly believe! Especially since everyone is about 6000lbs or higher??? It also says maximun GVWR is 6600lbs... max towing claims 12500lbs... so I don't think I'll be beliving these number on KBB for specs anymore. After I get Zeus running we'll haul a load to the dump and see what she weighs empty... Thanks for the help guys!

 

With a manual transmission, a 1992 F250 HD, 4x4,5.8,ZF,3.55-the maximum trailer weight goes up 100 pounds to 6500 pounds.(This is unusual-manual transmission equipped trucks usually have less towing capacity than autos. But then-this is a ZF granny transmission!)

And the GCWR stays the same at 11,500 pounds.

 

I weighted mine today at the local scrap yard it weighted 5560 with me in it empty I was surprised it was so low but good i guess lol if it was heavier I would not get any gas milage.

 

took a 87 f350 to the scrap yard , no engine or tranny , 10' flatbed and it weighed right at 5500 # !

 

I hope the OP got it figured out by now, post is over a year old.

 

I didn't even notice the date on it , I learned alot about my truck just by taking a look at all the data on the vehicle and on this forum

 

Ok, I know most of these posts are old, but I decided to chime in. I have a 1992 Ford F-250 HD 4x4 5.8 w/ a ZF S542 tranny. The last time I went and weighed it at the scrap yard if you subtract my weight it came in at an even 5000#'s. Now, I'm sure that since I know the guy that runs it that he probabably set his scales low, but even considering that I can't imagine that my truck weigh's more than 5500#'s empty, with me in it that's 5700#'s. That sound's right to me also because my uncle has an '04 Superduty extended cab
long bed 4x2 with a 5.4 and an auto tranny and it weighs 6200#'s empty, and he's got a lot more truck, so if he had a front axle and transfer case he'd probably go about 6700#'s and that works out in my mind considering the 2 trucks size difference. Now, as I was reading through this there was somebody that said that an automatic would out pull a manual, and to that I have to ask "Were you dropped on your head as a baby?!", because, simply put, an automatic transmission sends less horsepower and less torque to the tires than a manual. The reason: an automatic first of all runs off of a torque converter, which does exactly what it says, it converts the engine torque down to the torque that an automatic transmission can handle. Then, the next stage is a fluid pump that is run by the engine. An example: an engine w/ an ac compressor has less hp than the same engine w/o an ac compressor because the ac compressor is a pump that requires a small percentage of your hp to be able to work. Well, a transmission fluid pump does the same thing. So, you lose torque mainly with the converter, you lose hp in the fluid pump, and the gearing of the tranny doesn't make up for it. Another example: performance street cars designed for real speed (example: Ford Mustang GT) almost always have a manual tranny. They don't put manual tranny's in sports cars because they output less power, they put them in there because they output more power. The only time an automatic puts out more power than your average manual is if you're talking about an automatic tranny that's specifically designed for drag race cars running insane hp and torque and those trannys use specially designed torque converters for drag racing that don't even pull until you hit excessively high rpm's, hence the stall converter, but, these setups are race only and you couldn't even drive them down the road right because they wouldn't even move at normal rpm's or shift. Think about it, with a tractor trailer, the tractor uses in almost all cases a manual tranny, and yes, part of the reason is that manuals if in a vehicle w/ proper gearing for that particular tranny get better fuel mileage, but the main reason is simply that in a manual tranny when that clutch is fully attached to the pressure plate (the pedal totally released) the transmission is being turned at the same rpm's as the engine is turning, in an automatic you lose somewhere around 10%- 20% of your torque, hp, and engine rpm's in the distance between the flywheel and the driveshaft. My percentages might not be exact, but ask anybody else if you think I'm wrong, I bet they'll tell you that I'm right.