You know what they say about opinions? Of course some folks have an adversion to taking a stand & ever stating their opinion. In some respects, in terms of the vehicles they've created, FORD is a god. Although "not writ....on a stone tablet" FORD's recommendations are laid down in B&W for anyone to see.

Starting w/FORD's '06 advertised 6700lb maximum loaded trailer weight for E350 extended Club Wagon AND using this most conservative figure "as low as 50(%)" we'd end up with just a paltry 3350 lbs! Please count me among the "few macho braggarts" on this one! Using this "BOTTOM LINE" it could be challenging to find any car light enough to put on my car trailer & beat that artificially low max loaded trailer limit! I'm not bragging when I state the fact that I've towed far heavier loads down the E coast behind the '85 300/6 E150 Club Wagon I used to own.

Of course FORD's Maximum Loaded Trailer Weights "are maximums". Its says so right in the title. Try to impress that upon the "few macho braggards" who've claimed to tow loads dramatically over FORD's recommendations.

Sorry, I'm not moved & will continue to trust FORD's published specs over some "quote (that) came from a post in the forum".

 

Wow, I don't see any of those figures in the PDF file.
VAN WAGON
engine axle GVWR E150 E250 E250ex E350 E350ex /E150 E350sd E350sdex
5.4SEFI 3.73 13,000 7,500 7,400 7,400 7,400 7,200 /7,000 6,700 6,500

http://www.fordvehicles.com/assets/pdf/towing/08ECN_towing.pdf

 

Club Wagon,

Responding to you is a waste of time. You don't read what is posted or can't understand plain English.

Gene

 

I "read" & "understand" just fine.

IF you had, you'd know I'd answered Surfdaddy's Q's, responded w/FORD's ratings & quickly quantified my opinion that his proposal was exceeding FORD's recommendation.<TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width="100%">
Surfdaddy: "Is the tow rating on a e-350 club wagon (or anything else) based on the van fully loaded."

The fact that many FORD owners have commonly exceeded these ratings is well established. The safety, reliability & liability issues get thornier the more you exceed FORD's ratings. When your avowed goal is to "stir the pot" odds are good it'll be "a waste of time" & that's no "lie". If "trailerists" are satisfied a measely w/50% of FORD's rating & only "macho braggarts" exceed it, so be it.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

 

Apparently, you also "don't see" that I've repeatedly referred to FORD's '06 offerings in order to be consistant w/Surfdaddy's rig.

That PDF is '08 figures.

 

My bad! Got switched on the years somewhere. He was wondering where they got the numbers for the 08 F-150....

 

"He"? Who? For that matter "they" who?

If the question is 'where FORD got the numbers'? IMO it wouldn't matter if their source was alchemy or bean counters down in advertising Dreaming of Sugar Plums-they'd still be FORD's published numbers & a standard basis for comparisons.

FORD is definitely funny "about numbers" for instance they seem to be embarassed about the weight of these vehicles. The traditional Curb Weights were deleted from sales literature years ago. Would it be too much to ask FORD to weigh each vehicle & plainly print the actual weight on the door jam sticker? I don't find Curb Weights in Owner Manuals anymore either. Had to ask dealer, what an '08 E-150 Club Wagon equipped my way weighs ~5400 lbs. A quick way to find weights of my FORDs is FL titles, they show a 'data base' weight from VIN placing my '98 F150 at 4356 lbs. Pretty sure most states still use weights to calculate registration fees, not sure how accurate or if they all print weight on title. I do agree & recommend driving your FORD onto a scale at least once.

For years FORD used the excuse "MPG figures were not available at time of printing" to avoid advertising how badly these beasts guzzled gas. Then directed you to EPA for awhile. These days FORD doesn't even seem to bring up the topic of MPG in sales literature, let alone print numbers, although they may apply the word economical. Seems like the gov't doesn't require it for vehicles over 5000 lbs so FORD gets a pass.

Sure has been amusing reading that FORD's ratings are so controversial, having come from a long rural tradition of believing they were conservative & commonly exceeded.

IMO down on the farm, out at the construction sight, or over at the boat ramp the "trailerists" are going to have a very hard time selling their idea that FORD's ratings should be cut by 50%.

 

The government doesn't rate fuel economy on vehicles over 8500 pounds gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR.) It doesn't matter how much the vehicle weighs, only what it's GVWR is.

In Ford's case all 150 series vehicles are under 8500 pounds GVWR, so they have an official fuel economy rating. All 250 and up Fords are over 8500 pounds GVWR and do not have a fuel economy rating.

 

Gene, while I agree with what you posted, I gotta point out that sometimes the manufacturers do underrate vehicles as far as horsepower is concerned. Look at the 2000 Mustang Cobra R for example or even some of the 03-04 Cobras.

In all seriousness though, you are very correct and did a great job of explaining it. There is more to tow ratings than what the owners manual says.

 

If you take the GVWR and subtract the maximum recommended tow rating, that will give you a pretty close wieght of the vehicle.

 

Maybe.

Go to the scale and weigh the truck. I'll do it your way with my Explorer tonight and I'll then take it to the scale and we can see how close. Honestly, it isn't much work to get to a scale and weigh the vehicle and is much nicer than guessing at weights.

 

Does this mean you believe the weight figures found on "the vehicle" title/registration and quoted by FORD dealers are mere "guessing"? Or are you concerning yourself entirely with the unknown weight of whatever load is carried?

However you go about determining if your load exceeds FORD's ratings, at some point it "is much nicer" if you utilize FORD's figures. Early on Surfdaddy had posted the weight of his trailer from a scale & inquired about additional load carried inside his Club Wagon.

 

Please excuse me for not specifying E-Series, when trying to keep to the theme of this thread. The '08 F-150 brochure does have MPG figures.

What I posted about MPG figures being absent applied to E-Series sales lit, including "150 series".

I also did not suggest MPG was or was not rated, only that FORD did not include the figures in these sales brochures.

When I posted "seems like" what I should've said was: what the FORD dealer told me. For whatever reason, I haven't seen MPG figures in E-Series sales brochures for a very long time.

Also, I was under the impression that other E&F FORDs, in addition to just "all 150 series", had an "official fuel economy rating" included on their window stickers. Surely somebody's rated them, if not the EPA?

Maybe we should ask the "trailerists" & "macho braggarts"? That would probably give my E150 a spread from 6-25 MPG.

 

I'm saying that the weight of your vehicle will be different due to junk you keep in the truck, fuel level, etc. It will get you close though.

 

Gene, you are just now figuring this out?

Steve
'95 Clubwagon XLT