HELLO,
1991 350 1 ton, is a ambulance. I need to know if I could convert the box to allow me to haul a tractor weighing approx. 5,000 lbs.

Do you think it would have enough power to haul this weight ?
I will make a larger opening at the rear to allow the loading of my tractor, nothing fancy just a vehicle to haul tractors approx. 5000 to 6000 lbs.

I would appreiciate any advice.
sincerely, JOE

 

Moved to correct forum.

 

any pics? of the ambulance

 

Is it dual rear wheel or single? What's the rear axle weight rating?
I wouldn't want to put that much weight up that high. You'd be better off hauling with a trailer.
I have a 93 F350 dump that I put 6000 lbs. in routinely, but the center of gravity of material in a dump bed is relatively low. That load is significantly over the axle weight rating, and also put me over the gross weight rating by a lot, but the truck handled it well. It's a dually, with very heavy spring packs & overloads...
Even so, I'm switching to an F-Superduty because the F350 just isn't designed, or legal, for that kind of load...

 

I'm with the others above in thinking that this isn't a really good idea. That ambulance box already weighs a ton (maybe quite literally, although it's probably less in reality), and as pointed out, the weight will be up high which will not help stability. Plus you're over the weight rating for that rig anyways.

The other thing you will have against you is the shorter wheelbase which makes the truck less stable and more likely to swap ends. You will notice that most of the full trucks (as opposed to tractor-trucks with 5th wheels) that are rated to carry this kind of weight have a significantly longer wheelbase and it's for a good reason.

Now, if you removed the box from the back and installed a 5th-wheel, and towed a goose-neck trailer with the tractor on it (with trailer brakes of course), I think you'd have a much safer and stable setup.

I've scared myself too many times hauling/towing either too much weight or having it loaded wrong - even when you do everything just right, bad things can still happen (like this morning in my area where a wheel on a trailer failed (either the rim broke off or it was a mobile-home-axle type of wheel) and flew through the windshield of the passenger side of a car going the opposite direction).