GCWR 1984 302 for German TÜV towing approval (German title update)

[Phil-S]

Dear bullnose team,

i have a question which is discussed often but i have add-on questions which havent been answered as far as i can tell.

Background info if of interest:

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In Germany, you need to have official towing capacity (max. towable kilograms) in your title to be allowed to tow at all. So it`s not about what can i tow but also have documentation for it. (If you get pulled over by police with a trailer on your car but your title doesnt show anything about allowed towable weight you will get a fine).
So i am now in the process on getting official Ford data translated and accredited by official German certification agency (TÜV) to get it updated into car title.
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I have a 1984 longbed single cab V8 302 with AOD, 3.55 axle ratio, 4900LB GVWR.

Here is the problem:
- TÜV doesnt accept „RV brochure“ (since it is „marketing media“)
- They offered to use information out of the owners manual
- Unfortunately, 1984 owner manual (i have it at home) doesnt show anything about GCVWR
- Thanks to Gary i see info on 1985 and 1986 owners manual on GCVWR
- But since i have no EFI they would not allow 1986 manual for reference.
- Since 1985 is younger than mine they could argue that values taken out of this manual is not reflecting the truth.

Main question
So i was wondering whether there is 1983 or older info available which shows GCVWR for my car
(1984 longbed single cab V8 302 with AOD, 3.55 axle ratio, 4900LB GCWR). (On Garys 1981 scan this is only for the F100.)

I had my truck once on a scale which showed 1,8t unloaded. I need to get 2tons approved to tow. So i understand i need to have a GCVWR over (1800kg + 2000kg) = 8377lb GCWR.

Add-on:
1. Can someone please tell where the axle ratio info / scan was taken out? https://www.garysgaragemahal.com/axle-ratios.html
2. In 1986 owners manual: how do i know which of the three lines i need to chose to know which GCWR is the right one

Thanks a lot and best regards from Germany,
Philipp

[Gary Lewis]

Phillipp - I understand your problem.  I'm really surprised that the 1984 nor 1983 owner guides don't have the detail in the trailer towing sections like the later ones do.  I'd never looked at that.  Bummer!

As for the 1981 info, I didn't realize that I'd only put the F100 info on the Towing page.  But, if you go to Library in the menu at the top and then click on the 1981 owner guide you'll get the whole guide and it has info on the F150.

Specifically, on Pg 102 you'll see that a Regular Cab F150 4x2 with a 302 can tow up to 3500 lbs given the right equipment, like a load distributing hitch and sway bars front and rear.  But on Pg 103 it says that the same truck is not rated to tow 3500+ lbs.

But, that's not 1984.  So this afternoon, after church, I'll look through the 1984 Dealer Facts Book and see if I can come up with information specific to your 1984 truck.

On the add-on question 1, that is from Ford's 1980 - 89 Master Parts Catalog, and Page 37 through 41 of the General Information Section.  I've converted Pg 37 into a PDF and you can download it from the link below.

FPS-8472-A_Pg_37.pdf

As for add on question #2, what page are you asking about in the 1986 owner guide?

[Gary Lewis]

Ok, I think I found the holy grail.  I have a book called the 1984 Light Truck Data Book, with the cover shown below, which is a Ford publication for their dealers.  In it there's a section called F-Series and within that there are several pages on towing.  You can download those pages in the link below, but the pertinent info is on Page 66, which is shown below to make it easy for you.  And what I see is that your max trailer weight is 5500 lbs with a 5.0L & an AOD, regardless of the axle ratio.

If you need any other pages from that document please let me know.

1984_Trailer_Towing.pdf

[BigBrother-84]

Amazing!

First time I see gCvwr data about our trucks.

Thanks Gary!

[Phil-S]

Hello Gary,

i am so overwhelmed by your support! Thank you so much for all your effort by putting all this together in such a short time! And i agree, i think you found the holy grail. This info may be it and it stemming from an official Ford data book is very helpul since it being a trustful data source for German agency.

I only have three last questions to be solid for argumenting it against TÜV.

1. What determines that you choose the second big column (gross trailer weight 2000-5000lbs)? - Am i right that you picked that one?
2. What is the value in brackets in the "Maximum GCWR" lines / cells? At first i thought it is kg but that doesn`t do the math.
3. How do you then conclude that for my combination i get 5500lbs max trailer weight?


By the way, we will be living again for two years in SC from this year August on so maybe there is a chance to meetup anytime. Either way, when living in the US again, i will search for a supercab then to fit my complete family. ;-)

BR,
Philipp

[Gary Lewis]

Phil-S wrote

I only have three last questions to be solid for argumenting it against TÜV.

1. What determines that you choose the second big column (gross trailer weight 2000-5000lbs)? - Am i right that you picked that one?
2. What is the value in brackets in the "Maximum GCWR" lines / cells? At first i thought it is kg but that doesn`t do the math.
3. How do you then conclude that for my combination i get 5500lbs max trailer weight?

Phillipp - I'm happy to help, and it felt like it was meant to be when I found that info yesterday.

As for your questions:

1. Yes, I picked the 2nd big column.  The 1st column only applies to trailers up to 2000 lbs, as the yellow oval shows below.  But you said "I need to get 2tons approved to tow."  That's 4000 lbs so I went to the 2nd column where the green oval shows 2000 to 5500 lbs.

2. Each "cell" has three values: Maximum GCWR; (Max Trailer Weight) By Engine; and Minimum Required Axle Ratio.  Note that they put "Max Trailer Weight" in parentheses, and then they put the maximum trailer weight value in parentheses as well.

3. There are three sets of cells for the three different engines in the vehicles: 4.9L I6; 5.0L V8; & 5.8L V8.  So I went to the middle set for the 5.0L because it exceeded the 4000 lb limit, as shown by the green rectangles: F150 Regular Cab; AOD; 5500.  However, if you look in the 3rd column, the one with the red oval, your truck is actually capable of pulling a 6200 lb trailer.  Maybe I should have chosen that one, but either of them is well above the 4000 lb you need to be able to tow.  So maybe point that out to the TÜV.

As for South Carolina, where?  Our daughter & family lives in Charleston, so we will be there a few times a year.  Maybe we can meet.  

[Nothing Special]

If you look at the bottom rows you can see that there are some differences in how the truck is equipped as you go from the left column to the middle or right columns.  The only "required" addition is the "extra cooling", but there are also a lot of things under "recommended equipment." I don't know how the German government will view those items, but you probably want to consider them before assuming that this document covers you completely.

[Gary Lewis]

Good point, Bob.  And since that refers to Pg 64 for info on the Trailer Towing Package I've included it below in a jpg form and a downloadable pdf for that page:

F-Series_Pg_64.pdf