We just looked at a truck today and drove it. It's an F250 XLT regular cab long bed 4x4 7.5L/460. We want to tow our heavy 5th wheel with a GCWR of 12,000#.

What I noticed in the truck is that it didn't have an overdrive button and didn't have the "D" with a circle around it to indicate where to shift into overdrive. Does it have overdrive? Do we need it?

Thanks for your help.

 

For that kind of hauling you will be much better off with the stronger C6.

 

What year is your F250? F250's and F350's from the '90's were available with both the C6 3speed auto, no overdrive, and the E4OD 4speed auto overdrive. My '92 F350 has the C6. You dont necessarily NEED overdrive, but it is nice to have it for driving at today's fast speeds on the freeway, especially if you have a low axle ratio (4.10). The E4OD will have the overdrive button on the end of the column shift lever. I believe all F-series trucks from '99 and later have overdrive.

As for your trailer towing, how much does the trailer weigh, and what axle ratio does your truck have? Your GCWR (total amount the truck plus trailer are allowed to weigh) will depend largely on your engine, transmission and axle ratio. Also, with a 5th wheel trailer you have to watch that the trailer's pin weight doesn't overload the truck's rear axle. The rear gross axle weight rating (GAWR) can be found on the VIN sticker on the drivers' side door frame. That is also where you can find the truck's GVWR (max the truck can weigh). Heavy 5th wheel trailers have a habit of overloading 3/4 ton trucks' rear axles and sometimes GVWR as well. For towing a very heavy 5th wheel trailer, a dually truck is usually the safest and best way to go.

 

It's a 1991. How can we tell if it has a C6 3 speed auto, no overdrive or a E40D 4 speed auto overdrive?

We're trying to find out the axle ratio-just need the axle code from the door jam. The trailer weighs-the GCWR-12,000#. We haven't weighed it yet but if it was over weight, we'd get rid of things to make it work right.

The GVWR of the truck means the total the truck can weigh before or after having the trailer attached?

Thanks.

 

Well it doesn't have the E4OD since you don't have the overdrive button.

We also have a towing forum so please check that forum out regarding towing questions

 

12,000# is a lot for a 250. You are near the limit or past it I bet. I don't have my book with me but I am pretty sure my 94 250 heavy duty, supercab, longbed, 460 E4OD 4.10 with tow package would be marginal. A lot depends on axle, tranny, gears, and suspension and brakes etc. Some 250s have a whimpy limit while others would be close to max for that trailer weight.

The GVWR is the maximum weight the truck can have on both axles including passengers, load, fuel etc. The "tongue" weight of that triler should be pretty well over 2,000#. That's a lot. The other weights you need to look at are GCWR(Gross Combined Weight Rating) that is the loaded up(fuel, water, toys etc) weight of the truck and trailer(trailers gain weight fast). the other rating to watch is GAWR(Gross Axle Weight Rating) that is the weight on each axle. Figure roughly half the weight of your truck loaded up plus the tongue weight of the trailer on the rear axle will be a ball park. With 5th wheelers the "Tongue" weight and how it sits on the axle is calcualted differently from my regular trailer so what I say is only a ballpark estimate.

All these ratings can be found in the manual and the door post. Strangely they are not all in one place, at least not on my truck.

Having OD is nice for normal driving, especially with gas costing the way it does. When towing, if the tranny hunts gears, downshift. Most of the time my 250 tows an 8,000# trailer just fine in OD. In hills and strong head winds I may go to 3rd. So yes you can get away without OD, and sometimes it is better for wear and tear on the tranny, but other times the gas savings and less noise is nice.

Good Luck,

Jim Henderson

 

Fifth wheel trailers are recommended to have a pin weight of 20-25% of the total trailer weight. If your trailer weighs 12000 lbs, expect a pin weight of 2500-3000 lbs. That's alot for a 3/4 ton pickup.

You say your trailers weighs-GCWR-12000 lbs. I'm not understanding that notation. Do you mean your trailer has a GVWR of 12000 lbs? If so, your actual loaded trailer weight will likely be less than that, unless you pack it real heavy or your trailer has a low payload capacity. The best, and actually the only, way to know for sure is to take your trailer, loaded for camping, to a scale and weigh it, that way you know what you're actually dealing with here.

It will be difficult to take the truck to a scale, since you apparently are only looking to buy it, but it wouldn't surprise me if the truck weighs around 6000 lbs empty. The GVWR of that '91 F250 should be 8800 lbs. and the rear axle weight rating (GAWR) should be ~6000 lbs or maybe less.

For reference, the rear GAWR for my F350 SRW (not dually) is 6084 lbs and my GVWR is 9200 lbs and my truck weighs 6000-6500 lbs 'empty' (depending on how much gas is in it). That makes my 'payload' ~2700-3200 lbs. A 12,000 lb fifth wheel would put my F350 very near, or likely over, my GVWR and rear GAWR limits (especially when loaded for a trip) and would likely put an F250 well over it's limits. By comparison, an F350 Dually will have a GVWR of 10,000 to 12,000 lbs, depending on year and how it is equipped, a rear GAWR of 7500 lbs or more and usually a payload of 4000-4500 lbs, depending on weight of the truck.

Once you have the axle code off the door sticker, you can go to the 'tech articles' section of this website and use the axle decoder charts to find out what the ratio is and if it has a limited-slip or open differential.

Once you have the axle ratio, you can find out what the GCWR is. I can tell you this much though... to tow a 12,000 lb (actual weight) trailer, you will need a truck with GCWR of at least 18,000 lbs (assuming the truck weighs 6000 lbs) and even then you will likely exceed the GCWR once you load up the truck for the trip.

I'm thinking your trailer probably weighs less than 12,000 lbs actual weight.