Has a rebuilt 360, rebuilt tranny. Need to decide
to put a hitch in it to tow the 5th wheel we have
or buy an RV and tow it (put a canopy on it and take
it up into the back country where the RV won't go).

Thanks.

 

Sure it will, depending on how big the 5'ver is.

My 95 year old neighbor bought a 73 F250 New with the Camper package, supercab, C6 and a 360. He towed a 35ft or so 5'ver with it for 20 years, still has both in his barn.

So it'll do it.

DT

 

5th wheel is a 35 (I think), 2 slides. It's been sitting
for seven years.

I work from home (over the Internet), so can take my
work with me wherever I go. Figured it was time to
go.

Need to figure out a checklist to get ready, and then
go down the list, make sure we've got everything.

Feeling good about the truck is the first step. (I fell
*ss end over teakettle the minute I saw it.)

Thanks.

 

Ya it'll do it fine, but you won't be the fastest of most comfortable. A 2 slide is pretty heavy.

DT

 

Traveling partner (mom actually) wants to put captain's
seats in the cab. I don't think they'll fit, but she wants
to try. (I like the bench myself.)

We have some time to try to get over the Cascades and
down into California -- we're in Portland, OR. No hurry.
I want to be in New Orleans by February. Hopefully the
flood waters will have receded by then.

 

Hopefully they will.

That's a long haul, hope ya'll make it ok

DT

 

That's why I'm asking, do I really want to try it
with this truck.



Was hoping if I did it little bits at a time we'd
be okay, but I don't want to take off thinking
"hopefully" we'll make it. (I'm not that kind of
girl.)

 

It will handle it ok, weight wise. If it were me, I would give the truck a VERY thorough going over before taking it anywhere. I'd look at replacing most of, if not the entire, brake system.

 

Guy I had install the water pump said it's got
a rebuilt tranny in it. I had him put on new
front end and shocks, and replace the valve
cover gasket. Finally figured out where the
transmission fluid leak was coming from and
fixed that. (The radiator is not factory let's say
and when we replaced the water pump, one of
the clamps came loose.)

Since we started using a gas treatment, it runs
really well, has stopped dying off of fast stops.
Thinking of rebuilding the carburator, and somebody
here said we need a heat shield for the starter.

So yeah, we've been giving it a front to back
once-over.

It was a well loved old beast. The guy had all
of the aluminum off and was pounding dents out
of it and priming it up for a new paint job.
(I got it faded yellow, haven't decided what color
I want.)

There's a lot of testing when we hook up the rig
to the trailer too, but I'm still muddy on spending the
$$$ to install a hitch. Once we do that, we're
committed.

 

I think you are going to be illegally heavy with a 35' double slide. The truck will move it but if you are ever pulled over and the officer checks the weight, you may be forced to buy a bigger truck just to continue on your journey.

 

kaity, The ol truck will handle the load fine. I might ad that a newer truck could be a lot more comfortable to travel in. Creature comforts have been greatly improved on since your truck was built. For short trips, I would be concerned, but Portland to New Orleans is a long trip.

I doubt there is going to be anything there to visit but a work camp.

Have fun, be safe.

John

 

What rearend ratio does it have? Anything lower than a 4.10, forget it. A 4.50 or higher would be better. Make sure it has a big transmission cooler and a good brake controler. Make sure the hitch is bolted to the frame, not just the bed. How heavy are the springs? Overload springs? What is the GVWR of the truck? Get rid of the split rims yet?

IMHO, you are going to be marginally safe with it. I've owned 250s of that vintage. It will pull it if the rear end ratio is high enough. best of luck
ray

 

Please, PLEASE, PLEASE ....
Point me to one example of where this actually happened.
If you can't..... Please quit telling people something as stupid as this *MIGHT* happen. It NEVER has & NEVER will.

 

I can't provide any documented cases and don't care to dig them up to back up what I said. I would counter that it would be even more challenging for you to prove that it has never happened.
There are, however, laws governing the legal amount of weight that you can hook up to a truck that is rated for a specific weight. Now if a police officer happens to see an illegal setup going down the road and that same officer has had a bad day.....
I personally don't want to spin that roulette wheel. And I really don't want to tell people that they can just blithly go about thier vacation plans with an overloaded truck.
Twice I have driven past pickup trucks with huge trailers, missing rear wheels and blocking the road. Once in Canada, it was a 1/2 ton with a 5th wheel hitch, pulling a trailer that was too big for the truck. The axle bearing failed, the left rear wheel came off and it ground to a stop, blocking traffic in a very dangerous position. Half the trailer was sticking out into the traffic lane at the bottom of a long hill just around a corner. Recipe for disaster. Nobody was around or I would have offered to move the trailer for them to a safer spot.
The second time was in Idaho. F-250 pulling a 30+ trailer, this time with a broken rim. Highway patrol there and the owner of the truck with a very bewildered look on his face. And I don't get out that often!!!
The purpose of the original poster of this thread was to get some input on whether they ought to pull a 35' foot 5th wheel cross country with a 34 year old F-250. Personally the thought would make me very nervous. I've personally done it with a very similar setup and don't care to repeat it ever again. The rear axle and brakes are very underated for that task. That's why I bought the F-550.
Do you want to be the one who told them that the trip would go without a breakdown like that?

 

I wouldn't chance pulling a heavy trailer with a truck that old they were never ever designed for that. A 360 is gotta be the worst under powered fuel burning pig of a engine you will be looking at 4mpg. A truck that old has very small brakes they had trouble stopping the truck with 2000lbs in the box.
The suspension is old you get that kind of weight pushing on the truck your just asking for troubles.

That combination is a DOT eye catcher you get caught with that you might aswell give your bank account number to the DOT man because you will be getting fines. I can tell Leader has no clue about trucks and trucking and what kind of hassels the DOT can give you. Most of the time if your caught overweight then you need to call a tow truck to tow the truck and trailer off the highway/interstate etc. Your trip is pretty much done because the DOT won't let you pull the trailer with the P/U because its overweight.

Trust me start looking for a newer dually P/U if you want to pull that trailer and leave the 70s F-250 as a daily driver it will never pull the trailer safely. You end up causing a accident you will prolly end up in the gray bar hotel after you killed a bunch of people because your undersized truck couldn't handle the load.