Help with towing capacities

[nrsmd]

I have a 1995 Econoline 150 with a GVWR of 7000, GAWR of 3600, and GAWR of 3800. I can find no other numbers on the door or in the owners manual.

We want to pull an RV with a hitch weight of 362 pounds, axle weight of 3889, unit dry weight of 4251, and GVWR of 6362.

How can I determine if the Van is suitable to tow this RV?

The passenger and van cargo weights would not exceed 500 pounds.

Any help would be wonderfully appreciated.

Nathan

[email protected]

[tackhammer]

You looked at the example in the owners manual page #230 in my 96 manual you have to match engine, trans. and rearend. then the chart will tell you. My father had a E 350 Club Wagon with a 460 V-8 Heavy Duty Ford Trans. Dana 4-11 rearend that he towed a 12,000 pound travel trailer with and he had very bad swaying problems even with sway bars, and burned up 2 trans. Finally bought a Ford F350 Dually. I have a E-250 with a 4.9 engine overdrive trans. and a 3.54 ford rearend max trailer weight is 4,700 lbs. towing through the mountains of western carolina is rough on it, even if I get a running start long hills will cut me to about 35 mph our trailer doesn't weight but 1,600 so don't max out.

[MagicRat]

Originally Posted by nrsmd

I have a 1995 Econoline 150 with a GVWR of 7000, GAWR of 3600, and GAWR of 3800. I can find no other numbers on the door or in the owners manual.

We want to pull an RV with a hitch weight of 362 pounds, axle weight of 3889, unit dry weight of 4251, and GVWR of 6362.

How can I determine if the Van is suitable to tow this RV?

The passenger and van cargo weights would not exceed 500 pounds.

Any help would be wonderfully appreciated.

Nathan

[email protected]

Nathan,
Yes, your van will comfortably tow that kind of weight.
Get the correct trailer hitch. Use a class III or IV hitch only.

If you find the back end sways a bit too much, or the back sags too much, consider adding a leaf to the spring pack. Make sure your tires and shocks are good. I suggest a good light truck tire (6 ply with an LT rating, if you don't have that already.)

Make sure the trailer has good working trailer brakes and you have the proper brake controller. Learn how to apply the trailer brakes manually, throught the controller. This is a handy feature in case the trailer starts to sway too much