What tow rating should I look for?

cyoung said:
Thanks everybody; lots of great ideas and comments. After looking at current prices of these vehicles a bit more, I'm a little blown away.
Starting to think more about what I have in the 91 250. It is a 4x4 Super Cab, C6, 5.8. Only 160k original miles and about as clean as any I've seen. I expect back in the 90's this was a pretty well respected tow rig. Not all the modern stuff, crappy single digit mileage towing and a giant turning radius. Other than that, if all is in good working order, esp brakes and trans; any worries pulling 5k - 5.5k in the mountains? Not worried about getting there fast....I'm really only talking a few times a year in reality. I'd like to think more but reality suggest otherwise. Thoughts on the 91?
Thanks!
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Throw an extra trans cooler and a trans temp gauge on it, a good brake controller and up the tires load capacity but keep them stock size and it’ll work. Just gotta keep everything nice and cool is all.
 
cyoung said:
Thanks everybody; lots of great ideas and comments. After looking at current prices of these vehicles a bit more, I'm a little blown away.
Starting to think more about what I have in the 91 250. It is a 4x4 Super Cab, C6, 5.8. Only 160k original miles and about as clean as any I've seen. I expect back in the 90's this was a pretty well respected tow rig. Not all the modern stuff, crappy single digit mileage towing and a giant turning radius. Other than that, if all is in good working order, esp brakes and trans; any worries pulling 5k - 5.5k in the mountains? Not worried about getting there fast....I'm really only talking a few times a year in reality. I'd like to think more but reality suggest otherwise. Thoughts on the 91?
Thanks!
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My only advice is don't test drive something newer.
 
jeepinmatt said:
My only advice is don't test drive something newer.
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“Don’t test something newer….? Yeah, you’re probably right if I did I’d probably never even try the old 250😊 but that’s a bunch of money for something I may really only need a few times a year. We will see. Thanks again for all the input
 
cyoung said:
Good Sam? I don’t honestly know what that is but I do have a AAA membership.
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Good Sam has RV specific road side assistance. You can also add an RV package to AAA. I've never been one to buy 'unnecessary' insurance but with all old vehicles now (my newest is 2006) I signed up for Good Sam before a couple of camper towing trips this summer.
 
cyoung said:
“Don’t test something newer….? Yeah, you’re probably right if I did I’d probably never even try the old 250😊
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Nah, you'd still love and drive the old 250, but you wouldn't want to tow or go down the interstate in it.
 
Does Good Sam or any of the others cover towing of the RV and the trailer being towed with the RV?
 
cranbiz said:
Does Good Sam or any of the others cover towing of the RV and the trailer being towed with the RV?
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If you're talking a motor home towing a trailer, not sure. I didn't look at that. Good Sam will tow your tow vehicle and towed camper. AAA will if you add that coverage.
 
LBarr2002 said:
If you're talking a motor home towing a trailer, not sure. I didn't look at that. Good Sam will tow your tow vehicle and towed camper. AAA will if you add that coverage.
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Yes, talking about a class C with a Jeep on a trailer. With a 1994 Class C, some roadside assistance might be prudent.
 
LBarr2002 said:
Good Sam has RV specific road side assistance. You can also add an RV package to AAA. I've never been one to buy 'unnecessary' insurance but with all old vehicles now (my newest is 2006) I signed up for Good Sam before a couple of camper towing trips this summer.
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Yeah, I have a newer DV, but I’m at 70s 80s 90s guy at heart
 
I bought my current daily driver so that I could pull a camper of similar weight. I bought a 2021 Z71 Tahoe. It is rated at 7700 lbs. It has the 5.3 liter and 10 speed auto with low range transfer case. In Tow/Haul mode, pulling the trailer it gets about 9 mpg. My daily driver mileage has been getting 20-21 typically with it's best 50 mile average was 23 mpg. Best part is that with three teenagers, each of them gets their OWN seat!

Whatever you get, make sure it has a trailer brake controller. I had to have one added to mine. It was already prepped for it, but was not equipped with one from the factory.
 
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cyoung said:
Well, the 91 will get its first shot with the camper this Saturday so we’ll see how it goes. Got the proper plug on the back yesterday and confirm that the brake controller is working. Since this trip will be mostly coming down from the mountains, at least I’ll see about the brakes.
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For some reason I just remembered that for years my mom pulled a camper that was probably similar in weight with a 96 F150 with the 5.8
It did good and I only remember one issue which was the transmission got hot once, we let it cool down and it was good to go.
 
77GreenMachine said:
For some reason I just remembered that for years my mom pulled a camper that was probably similar in weight with a 96 F150 with the 5.8
It did good and I only remember one issue which was the transmission got hot once, we let it cool down and it was good to go.
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When you hear people these days, it's a miracle anything got done before 1000lbs/ft diesels with AC seats and reverse cameras.
 
Bebop said:
When you hear people these days, it's a miracle anything got done before 1000lbs/ft diesels with AC seats and reverse cameras.
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Exactly. People having been towing loads for years and years, when an old 350 was the motor to have lol.
Think about how many horses and cattle was moved across the country in the 70s/80s with an old 3/4 ton truck
 
77GreenMachine said:
Exactly. People having been towing loads for years and years, when an old 350 was the motor to have lol.
Think about how many horses and cattle was moved across the country in the 70s/80s with an old 3/4 ton truck
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For sure.
But people also werent trying to pull those trailer 75 and 80 mph either.
Which Im not a fan of speed racer towing myself. Too many variables involved for when something happens.
 
My first truck was a 3/4T Chevy with a 250 and a 3-on the tree.

It got the job done....a creeper gear and power brakes would have made life significantly better.

I have yet to have a truck that wouldn't tug around 10k lbs without much effort.....new trucks just make the pucker factor less, they also allow the driver to be less involved (ignore following distance, pay attention when merging, know how to backup a trailer, etc).

Back up cams are pretty handy for initial setup, BUT.....100% not necessary.

I would throw money at making the Ford reliable enough you feel comfortable using it to tow, rather than buying a new vehicle.
 
Bebop said:
When you hear people these days, it's a miracle anything got done before 1000lbs/ft diesels with AC seats and reverse cameras.
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jeepyjman said:
EVERY time I always think about the same thing when a similar thread to this comes around.
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77GreenMachine said:
Exactly. People having been towing loads for years and years, when an old 350 was the motor to have lol.
Think about how many horses and cattle was moved across the country in the 70s/80s with an old 3/4 ton truck
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Sure. It's not that the older ones couldn't do it, but its the way the newer stuff goes about it.

Last week, I was taking the 5/8" shank bolts off the drive motor sprocket on my skidsteer. There are about 20 of them, torqued to oblivion, with threadlocker and rust for good measure. I was using my high torque 18v battery impact, and thinking to myself "Man, this would REALLY suck to have to break em loose with a breaker bar and spin em off with a ratchet", especially since they had gummy threadlocker that fought em most of the way out, and about 1.5" of thread. 50 years ago, my grandpa would have done it by hand. 30 years ago, my dad would have broken them loose by hand and spun em off with a loud, shitty impact. And 15 years ago, I would have been tripping over an air hose and waiting for the compressor to build pressure back up so I could break the next one loose with my smooth "quiet" high zoot Ingersoll-Rand impact. But nowadays, I just grab the Milwaukee battery monster, zing em off in less than 3 minutes, and move on to the next thing. It doesn't make the others wrong, but its nice to have a very effective tool that gets the job done with less stress on the user.
 
shelby27604 said:
My first truck was a 3/4T Chevy with a 250 and a 3-on the tree.

It got the job done....a creeper gear and power brakes would have made life significantly better.

I have yet to have a truck that wouldn't tug around 10k lbs without much effort.....new trucks just make the pucker factor less, they also allow the driver to be less involved (ignore following distance, pay attention when merging, know how to backup a trailer, etc).

Back up cams are pretty handy for initial setup, BUT.....100% not necessary.

I would throw money at making the Ford reliable enough you feel comfortable using it to tow, rather than buying a new vehicle.
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I think, this is exactly where I’m heading, just be sure the old Ford is good and roll with it….
 
jeepinmatt said:
Sure. It's not that the older ones couldn't do it, but its the way the newer stuff goes about it.

Last week, I was taking the 5/8" shank bolts off the drive motor sprocket on my skidsteer. There are about 20 of them, torqued to oblivion, with threadlocker and rust for good measure. I was using my high torque 18v battery impact, and thinking to myself "Man, this would REALLY suck to have to break em loose with a breaker bar and spin em off with a ratchet", especially since they had gummy threadlocker that fought em most of the way out, and about 1.5" of thread. 50 years ago, my grandpa would have done it by hand. 30 years ago, my dad would have broken them loose by hand and spun em off with a loud, shitty impact. And 15 years ago, I would have been tripping over an air hose and waiting for the compressor to build pressure back up so I could break the next one loose with my smooth "quiet" high zoot Ingersoll-Rand impact. But nowadays, I just grab the Milwaukee battery monster, zing em off in less than 3 minutes, and move on to the next thing. It doesn't make the others wrong, but its nice to have a very effective tool that gets the job done with less stress on the user.
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With logic like that you must love self driving cars :)
 
Bebop said:
With logic like that you must love self driving cars :)
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I still use a wrench sometimes too. Even the adjustable hammer wrench. Right tool for the job ;)

But if you're saying there's a way to get my nuts off effortlessly...:laughing:
 
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