I just bought a 1990 F250 long box, 460 with tow pkg. and 3.55 axels 4X4 auto. Can I pull a 25ft fifth wheel weighing 10,000lbs loaded with this truck or do I have to change to 4.10's. I live in BC CAN. with lots of mountain driving to do. I am new to rv'ing and searching the newsgroups for advice. Thanks Eric

 

>I just bought a 1990 F250
>long box, 460 with tow
>pkg. and 3.55 axels 4X4
>auto. Can I pull a
>25ft fifth wheel weighing 10,000lbs
>loaded with this truck or
>do I have to change
>to 4.10's. I live in
>BC CAN. with lots of
>mountain driving to do. I
>am new to rv'ing and
>searching the newsgroups for advice.
> Thanks Eric

You can tow a maximum of 10,600 lbs. with 3:55's...12,500 lbs. with 4:10's.
If your 460 is stock (no headers, no dual exhaust,no K&N air filter, etc. expect to only maintain around 40 MPH on steep mountain grades with the 3:55's (you'll probably be in 2nd gear).

Deen Hylton
Ford F250 460 C-6, K&N, Headers, Dual Exh.,Comp. Cams,Shift Kit
Pioneer CD w/Bose Speakers.
Other Passion: Blown 77 Corvette (Sorry Guys/Gals)
How I can afford to Drive the above: 93 GEO Metro

 

I agree, 4.10s would be very nice for towing long distance through mountains. I have 3.55 but I tow locally through hills, not mountains. My trailers are under 10,000#.

Nathan

 

I have a 94 F250 Supercab with 460, 4x4 with 4.10 gears and E4OD. So I don't know if any of this really applies to your rig...

Strangely the owners manual does not even show tow rating for a 460 engine. I don't have my manual with me today but I can speak from experience that with my 30 foot travel trailer which is rated about 8,000 dry and I think maxed out around 10,000?. I have no problem pulling it almost anywhere. I only have to down shift to 2nd in really long steep climbs. I have travelled from Seattle down to Los Angeles, which means I have gone up many hills including the infamous Grapevine, with no problem. The Grapevine is a notorious tranny killer.

On the Grapevine in the middle of summer with 105 degree air temp, I had to drop down into second at times to maintain a speed of something like 30-45mph(2years ago so I forget). On normal hills I usually only see the cruise control drop down to 3rd every one in awhile. It often does a lot of gwear hunting so I would put it in 3rd for hills.

So in my opinion, if the truck is in good condition with good cooling and especially tranny cooling you should be OK for most drives. Make sure you have the correct towing setup, either weight distributing or 5th wheel, I forgot if you mentioned what you had. The 3.55 gears might cause you to bog down on the steeper hills though.

Good Luck,
Jim Henderson

 

>I just bought a 1990 F250
>long box, 460 with tow
>pkg. and 3.55 axels 4X4
>auto. Can I pull a
>25ft fifth wheel weighing 10,000lbs
>loaded with this truck or
>do I have to change
>to 4.10's. I live in
>BC CAN. with lots of
>mountain driving to do. I
>am new to rv'ing and
>searching the newsgroups for advice.
> Thanks Eric


I have a 1993 f-350 crewcab 4x4 with a 460 and 3.55 rear end. The truck at first was our family car so I wanted a high rear end for fuel milage, I recently bought a 31' travel trailer that weighs about 7700lbs dry when I tow my trailer on flat land its fine but when I hit an incline even a small one the truck has a hard time pulling the trailer it just seems to be working to hard. I would definetly recommend 4.10 gearing, I am totally unhappy with the truck for towing I am also thinking about changing my gearing also dont forget you have to do both the front and rear end. good luck

 

I've also got a '90 F-250HD 4x, 460, auto, that originally came with 3:55's. It ran fine when I towed my trailered jeep. I upgraded to a 4" SkyJacker suspension lift, 35" BFG All Terrains and a Detroit Locker, among many other things. The larger tires really robbed it of power. Re-geared to 4:10's and have found the power again. If, however, I was to do more offroading with the truck, I might consider 4:56's.

What size tires are you, or will you be, running?

 

>I've also got a '90 F-250HD
>4x, 460, auto, that originally
>came with 3:55's. It
>ran fine when I towed
>my trailered jeep. I
>upgraded to a 4" SkyJacker
>suspension lift, 35" BFG All
>Terrains and a Detroit Locker,
>among many other things.
>The larger tires really robbed
>it of power. Re-geared
>to 4:10's and have found
>the power again. If,
>however, I was to do
>more offroading with the truck,
>I might consider 4:56's.
>
>What size tires are you, or
>will you be, running?
Thanks for the reply. I am running Michelin LT235/85R16E tires.
I'm thinking I'll try these for awhile and see how I do. We pick up our new fiver on April 21. It will be about 8500# loaded. Eric