Does anyone know the towing capacity for a 1988 F250 4.9L inline six cylinder with a 4 speed manual transmission? Will it pull a trailer with a Mustang? Will it do so for a 4-5 hour drive? I cant find this information anywhere?

 

Welcome to FTE and thanks for joining us in the Towing forum!

Hopefully someone with an owner's guide for that year can help you out. In the meantime if you post back with the GVWR, axle ratio and wheelbase it may help you get the information you need.

 

That truck should have about a 4.10 rear axle with sturdy NP435 4speed. It may not be very fast at times but you will not hurt it and with the granny gear first gear it will have not trouble getting it moving. Just pace yourself and do not try to set any towing speed records and you will do just fine.

 

It all depends on what the gvw of the truck is if its a 8600lb gvw the truck should be fine if its the light duty F-250 you don't have the heavier brakes.

If its a one shot deal you might aswell go for it make sure your brakes all work and your trailer brakes work and hit the road. Make sure you bring some pain killers with you for your legs and right arm. Your left leg is gonna be sore as h*ll from pushing the clutch 10 thousand times your right foot is going to be cramped up from holding the pedal to the floor and your right arm is going to be sore from banging through the gears.

 

Get real, it will do fine. His biggest problem will be a bit of a lack of power but he well not be shifting that much and it will do okay. Not much frontal area for wind drag with a car hauler and it well not pull as hard as a travel trailer of the same weight. About 5 year ago we towed my 4200 lb tractor on a equipment trailer for my friens house for the day with his 86 F150 4x4 with a 300 and a 4speed and 3.07 gears. (I offered to use my one of my trucks be he wanted to see how it would do) Had no trouble getting it rolling with granny gear, even on a grade but it lacked badly in 4th because of the tall axle ratio. If it had had a 4.10 it would have done much better there. Almost 30 years ago I hauled a old fullsize Dodge Charger on a trailer for Ohio to Tenn near North Carolina border with a 3/4 ton chevy with a 250 six and a manual (it had a factory 4.57 rear axle) and it did surprizing well and never left drive on interstate hills and we did 60 to 65 all the way there. If it is geared right, a six can move a lot of weight reliably.

 

The GVWR is 6600 lbs and it is a long wheel base truck. How does this factor into the towing capactiy? I am not sure about the rear gear ratio, but at 60 mph in 4th gear, I am at 3,000 RPM's. I would guess a 4.10 gear though. Is the 6600 GVWR the maximum total weight of the truck plus the weight of the car hauler and car?

 

The GCW is the "rated" max weight of the truck itself, not the combined towing weight (GCWR). It sounds like a base F250 and it is likely limited to that weigh by tires or springs but not actual axle capacity as you should have sturdy running gear under that truck. Yep, sounds like you have 4.10's too.

 

Oops. Typo. GVWR is the rated max weight of the truck itself.

GVWR=Gross Vehicle Weight Rating, on the door pillar sticker, and is the max total weight of the truck itself.
GCWR=Gross Combined Weight Rating, in the owner's manual tables, and is the total rolling weight of the truck plus anything it's pulling.

Jason

 

Yep that darn keyboard I guess.

 

Like the SnoMan said..... It will do just fine. If you were going to do this everyday, you would probably get a truck (or car) better suited to pulling but what you have will do it SAFELY if the driver can.