Hi all, hoping someone here can be of assistance. I am in Australia and am the proud owner of a F250 which was imported and assembled here by Ford Australia. It is a 351W EFI, C6 and was imported as a cab/chassis then fitted out as an ambulance. My problem now is that it only has a towing capacity of 6100lb and am trying to find a way of getting this increased to 8000lb. Google tells me there are F250LD and F250HD with differing towing capacities but I can't find what differentiates a LD from a HD.

 

Basically everything below the body is bigger on the HD.. the frame, the suspension, axles, brakes. The F250LD is little more than a beefed up 1/2 ton so there is little you can do to it to legally increase payload or towing capacity.

 

YES conanski but what diff, front and rear brakes are used on the LD and the HD? Mine is running the Sterling 10.25/10.5 diff with full floating axles and 2.5" brake shoes, dual piston front calipers. All this seems to suggest HD to me.

 

An HD would have a Dana 50 front axle(4wd) and the 10.25 full float rear axle. Where did you get the 6100lb tow rating from? Sounds like you may have an HD.

 

sorry, 2WD. Info has come from various sources;carsdirect.com has F250LD GVWR 6600 lb F250HD GVWR 8600lb.ford-f250.com and wikipedia give a GVWR of 8800 lb FOR f250, trailers.com give tow capacity of 8500lb for the 351 and higher for the diesel and the 460.Our aussie specs say gross vehicle mass of 3370kg (7430lb).I have a copy of a Haynes manual and that talks about the full floater diff and dual piston calipers being fitted to the heavy duty and semi floating rear and single calipers light duty which I would think would be Bronco, F100, F150 & F250LD. Unfortunately google can't find me anything of an offical Ford specs document. Aussie specs say a tow capacity of 2800kg which converts approx 6100lb.

 

A quick check to determine HD vs. LD is to measure the frame thickness. An HD frame is close to .250" thick, and an LD frame is about .1875" thick. The LD frame might also have a crumple zone at the front of the frame, behind the bumper.

I don't know specifically how Australia vehicle laws work, but the towing capacity in the states is based on the gross combined weight rating. There is a table in the owner manual that lists different equipment combinations, and their associated GCWR plus an estimated max trailer weight based on average vehicle curb weight. You would take your measured gross weight (including all cargo, passengers, and gas), and subtract it from the GCWR that matches your vehicle equipment to get the max trailer weight.

 

I don't know specifically how Australia vehicle laws work, but the towing capacity in the states is based on the gross combined weight rating. There is a table in the owner manual that lists different equipment combinations, and their associated GCWR plus an estimated max trailer weight based on average vehicle curb weight. You would take your measured gross weight (including all cargo, passengers, and gas), and subtract it from the GCWR that matches your vehicle equipment to get the max trailer weight.

My compliance plate doesn't list a Gross Combination Mass, only a Gross Vehicle Mass of 3370kg(7430lb), some paperwork I have shows a GCM of 5600kg(12350lb) so that would give a tow capacity of 2230kg(4900lb).
Would a F250LD still have the dual piston front calipers and full floating rear end or just the 8.8" diff?

 

LD F250 has a semi float 10.25" Sterling rear, 3/16" thick frame.

An HD F250 is equipped with a full float 10.25" Sterling rear, 1/4" thick frame.

Gear ratio plays a large part in rated tow capacities.

I doubt your empty truck is 7430lbs. Only way to know is to get it on a scale. Is "Gross Vehicle Mass" what Australia says the maximum mass your truck can be when loaded (synonymous to our GVWR)?

 

Yes tare weight is 4350lb, maximum laden weight is 7430lb

 

ok, thank you all. Measured chassis thickness this afternoon and looks to be 3/16", making it a F250LD