All,

I am in the process of purchasing an '83 F-100 that does not run. It's to be used for parts. The trouble is that I need to tow it for quite a distance. What's the best way to tow an F-100? Tow bar? Trailer?

If I choose to use a tow bar (flat tow), will a tow bar rated for 5,000 lbs work even if the truck is over 5K - i.e. 5450?

Also, I have an 86 F-150, with a bumper hitch. What is the bumper hitch rated for?

I don't have the manual for the F-150 so I'm stuck asking some very basic questions.

 

For towing "quite a distance" particularly with your '86, get a car trailer, with trailer brakes.

Towing with a tow bar gets very interesting when the towed vehicle is similar in weight to the towing vehicle (especially when the towing vehicle is light in the back end). Remember, when flat towing, the towing vehicle is going to have to be able to stop both vehicles, not just itself.

As far as your hitch goes, is it on a factory bumper or is there a platform hitch under the bumper? If it's just a ball on a factory bumper, forget trying to tow that much weight either on a trailer or flat towing with a tow bar.

Good luck

 

x2 with the above. I would be looking at a car trailer with at least surge brakes if not electic. That bumper is probably not rated for even 5K. I would be putting a reciever under the bumper, at least a class III with a trailer plug so you can plug it in.

Your 86, does it have a trans cooler or at least some guages? May want to look into it if your gonna tow it in some hills.

 

The hitch is a simple ball on the bumper. The bumper is factory and there's no trans cooler just the factory 4 spd. At this point I'm exploring my options. There's a friend of the guy I'm buying it off of that offered to tow it for for gas money so I'm probably going to take him up on it. I just wanted to explore my options to see if I could do it myself. You can buy tow bars for next to nothing so I wanted to see how feasible it was.

I found out the F-100 is 4700 lbs but still that's only 700-800 lbs lighter than my truck.

Is there some place I can look up the tow capabilities of my truck? I'd like to know what my limitations are. Also, you mentioned a Class III hitch. Would a class 3 be able to handle a full car trailer with a 4700 lb truck?

Thanks for the info! I'm learning as I go and I don't want to do something stupid!

 

This should help:

What Are The Different Classes Of Trailer Hitches?
There are five classes of tow hitches for towing trailers. Each class is designed for a specific trailer weight range. The information below is pretty technical, so get a cup of coffee before starting and read carefully.

When selecting the appropriate tow hitch make sure the weight rating of the trailer hitch is greater than the loaded weight of the trailer that will be towed. The tow vehicle capacity for weight carrying and hitch attachment will vary and will sometimes dictate the class of hitch that can be used.

CLASS I TRAILER HITCHES
Class I tow hitches are weight carrying (WC) hitches rated up to 2000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 200 lbs.
A Class I hitch usually has a 1-1/4" square receiver opening.
A higher class drawbar does not increase the towing capacity of the hitch.
Class I hitches usually attach to the bumper, truck pan or vehicle frame.

CLASS II TRAILER HITCHES
Class II hitches are weight carrying (WC) hitches rated up to 3500 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 300 lbs.
A Class II tow hitch usually has a 1-1/4" square receiver opening.
A higher class drawbar does not increase the towing capacity of the hitch.
Class II hitches usually attach to the bumper or vehicle frame.

CLASS III TRAILER HITCHES
Class III hitches are weight carrying (WC) and also are weight distributing (WD) depending on the vehicle and hitch specifications.
Not all Class III hitches are rated to be both. See the specific hitch for that information.
Class III hitches used as weight carrying are rated up to 6000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 600 lbs.
Class III hitches used for weight distributing are rated up to 10,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1000 lbs.
A Class III hitch usually has a 2" square receiver opening.
A higher class drawbar does not increase the towing capacity of the hitch. To use this class of hitch for weight distribution requires a weight distribution system.
Class III hitches attach to the vehicle frame only.

CLASS IV TRAILER HITCHES
Class IV tow hitches are weight carrying (WC) and weight distributing (WD) hitches depending on the vehicle and hitch specifications.
Not all Class IV hitches are rated to be both. See the specific hitch for that information.
Class IV hitches used as weight carrying are rated up to 10,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1000 lbs.
Class IV hitches used for weight distributing are rated up to 14,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1400 lbs.
A Class IV tow hitch usually has a 2" square receiver opening.
A higher class drawbar does not increase the towing capacity of the hitch. To use this class of hitch for weight distribution requires a weight distribution system.
Class IV hitches attach to the vehicle frame only.

CLASS V TRAILER HITCHES
Class V hitches are weight carrying (WC) and weight distributing (WD) hitches depending on the vehicle and hitch specifications.
Class V hitches used as weight carrying are rated up to 12,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1200 lbs.
Class V hitches used for weight distributing are rated up to 17,000 lbs. gross trailer weight (GTW) with a maximum trailer tongue weight (TW) of 1700 lbs.
Your ball mount and hitch ball need to both be rated for Class V to safely tow these weight loads. To use this class of hitch for weight distribution requires a weight distribution system.
A Class V hitch has a 2-1/2" square receiver opening.
Class V tow hitches attach to the vehicle frame only.

 

senix,

Excellent, thanks for the information. It'll be good to know and I don't mind it being technical...that just makes it better!

Jeremy