Sorry if this has been asked before, but I can't find the information anywhere. Last year I bought a '94 F250 to use as a work truck. 7.3 IDI turbo, 5 speed, 4x4, longbed, extended cab, 3.55s. I know the GVWR since the door sticker is intact, but that doesn't do me a hell of a lot of good without know how much the truck weighs in the first place. Also, I'm finding lots of conflicting information regarding towing and hauling capacity with my truck's configuration.

 

Welcome to FTE.
A F250 is rated at 3/4 of a ton or 1500 lb. Deduct that from your GVWR to get a rough idea of your curb weight. As far as towing goes it depends on transmission, rear axle, and spring types.The axle, spring and transmission info is on the ID plate on the driver's door janb. Ford offered several towing packages of varying capacity.

 

Well here's the thing with that, the f250s had a gvwr of around 6600, f250 hd trucks have a gvwr of around 8500+. My 89 Ford dealer brochure lists the payloads.

 

No, it's not that simple (and doesn't make that much sense). "3/4 ton" means nothing other than that it's between what Ford calls a 1/2 ton and what it calls a 1 ton. Toyota called the Tacoma a 3/4 ton at one point because it had a payload of 1500 lbs. Full-size truck capacities are well over the named ratings.

An F-250 with a diesel will actually be an F-250HD. My '97 F-250HD crew cab short box, with a 460 and E4OD has an empty weight of 6100 lbs. With a GVWR of 8800 lbs that's a payload (including driver and passengers) of 2700 lbs.

Your diesel and long box will be heavier than my 460 and short box, the ZF5 and SuperCab will be lighter than my E4OD and crew cab. So your empty weight might be close to mine. The only real way to find it is to get the truck on a scale.

As for tow rating, subtract the truck's loaded weight (not the GVWR, the actual weight the truck is currently at) from the GCWR. From my '97 owners manual the GCWR for an F-250HD SuperCab with diesel, manual trans and 3.55 gears would be 16,000 lbs. If your truck weighs 6100 lbs empty and you weigh 200, you can tow a 9700 lb trailer if the truck is empty. If the truck is loaded to 8000 lbs (not counting trailer tongue weight) you can tow 8000 lbs. Of course those numbers are with the GCWR from the '97 owners manual. You need to find what the GCWR of your '94 actually is.

 

Agree with NothingSpecial and FordTruckFan. It's best to know what your GCWR and GVWR along with the curb weight of your truck.

Then that doesn't even get into what the DMV says you can tow, which, where I live, is based on your tag. Here in NC you can get several different tags.
1. Private pass vehicle - 5k
2. Private\Commercial vehicle - 6k
3. Private\Commercial vehicle - 7k
4. Commercial tag 7-26K (may be 25).

The tag on the truck has to cover the GCW of the whole thing. It does vary from state to state (and at least here on who at the DMV you talk to). I ended up with a 12k tag on the F150 to be able to haul the Jeep and trailer legally.

 

^^^ Exactly as bob stated. Go weigh the truck and subtract that from your GVW

 

For actual curb weight take it to a local grain elevator and ask for a "custom weigh." Driver on or off is up to you. If you're mainly going to haul a certain trailer with it, weigh the combined rig. You will be charged a small fee. You can get an "empty weigh" at a truck stop as well.

If you're doing it commercially, the weight is how you get taxed and the tags you have to buy (and the ticket's you pay if you're over that weight). If you're just doing private work and don't want to break your truck, your towing package is the foremost consideration (larger radiator, transmission cooling, suspension, and hitch rating/mounting).

[Other posts concurrent with me typing. In Kansas, most personal use pickups are tagged "12M" and trailers under 2M GVWR don't need a tag. (For clarity, "M" = "thousand pounds", what most people use "K" to represent.) Here, if you go by the doughnut shop in a private vehicle and nothing's falling off or sparking as it drags on the pavement, you're golden...until there's an accident.... Commercial vehicles they are by the book on FMCSA guidelines for weights, measures, and load securement.]

 

My 1996 F350 crew cab long bed SRW 4X2 7.5 w/E4OD was weighed when I bought it at 6250 lbs.

 

If it's any help to future readers, I recently had my 1990 F250 XLT Lariat 2WD Extended Cab weighed at a weigh station.


The short answer: with approximately 20 gallons of unleaded gas, plus an aluminum truck bed toolbox, truck weighed 5,540 lbs.
For clarity, the other number on the image is the weight of the trailer I was pulling.
See link below.








Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet


Hope this helps!