I have a prototype 1973-4 Ford chassis (390CID) 25' Sportscoach. Need to tow a trailer (aluminum any good?) with a 1997 Toyota T-100 4WD (4500 lbs.) on it. Do ytou think I can do this? If so, I need info on what type hitch to get and which trailer if one is better than another.

Specs I have for the coach are:GVWR - 12,500; GAWR - F 4300 R 9080

Weighed with Full Gasoline, Water and Propane, me (310 lbs.): Front - 4460; Rear - 7160; Total - 11620

Any help greatly appreciated. Need to leave in a couple of weeks.

 

Do you have a GCWR (Gross Combination) weight? That includes towed weight capacity.

 

Motorhome was a prototype built on a Ford chassis. They were never officially released. The VIN, which I was told is the Ford chassis number, is N45HVR46749. The listed numbers are all I have. Sportscoach company is not a lot of help. I am moving out and need to tow my truck on a trailer (it's 4WD).

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I am totally in the dark here.

Thanks

 

Mobile home+trailer+4x4 add up to over 17,000 lbs. GCWR depends on engine, transmission, and axle ratio, and a 17,000 GC puts you into V-10 and diesel territory.
http://www.clubfte.com/users/monsta/TrailertowingV2.htm.

Another problem is braking. Does the trailer have brakes, and does the motorhome have trailer brake hookup? Even if you can get it going, there's a lot of weight to stop.

See if you can find the gear ratio somewhere. There's usually a metal tag stuck under one of the bolts on the rear cover of the differential--that's going to make a noticeable difference. Higher numbers=lower ratio=less load on the engine and tranny, although also means generally lower speed.

Considering the 390, the fact that your mobile home is 31 years old, and the lack of information on the chassis, I'm going to err on the side of caution and say you would be overloading it. I'm also going to say that, IF you can stick to slow, straight, relatively level back roads AND you can hook up trailer brakes, you could probably still do it. If it's an automatic transmission, very good idea to get an auxiliary transmission cooler. Might have one already since the mobile home is pretty heavy by itself. If you don't have trailer brakes, don't try it. You do not want to get rolling and then be unable to stop. I've done it--it ain't fun.

Please note: this is my best estimate, no warranty express or implied, cash value $0.00, etc. I've thrown a few numbers out for you to think about....you still should talk to someone with more heavy towing experience before doing it. Better if it's someone who can look at the mobile home itself too.

 

I'm going to be re-gearing the rear-end on my 2002 F-250 SD SC V10 from 3.73LS to a 4.10LS. ford lists the GVWR & GCWR for the 3.73 & 4.30 only. how do I compute my new values. If you look at the data for deisel the 4.10 & 4.30 ar rated the same in carrying capacity. Am I incorrect in assuming that the same would hold true for a gas engine. If someone has a formula to compute this, it would be appreciated.

I'm putting in the 4,10 because I'd only be towing 25% of the time and while I want more torque at the wheels, I don't want to foul up my milage too badly. Apparenty Ford has dropped the 3.73 in favor of the 4.10 for 2005 so I feel I'm on solid ground here.

Any comments would be appreciated

 

Just average the difference between the 3.73 GCWR rating and the 4.30 rating. V10 w/ 3.73 is 17,000. With 4.30 it's 20,000. Assume 4.10 to be about 18,500 . The GCWR is the rated amount your truck and trailer can weigh together, both loaded). The GVWR is a rating for the chassis of the truck, and does not change with axle ratio or engine choice in your year of truck. For an F250 Superduty, the GVWR should be either 8800 lbs or 9200 lbs, I forget which. This is the max amount your truck is allowed to weigh, and includes the trailer's tongue/pin weight too, since that weight is carried on the truck.