[1772896wtf]

Hi y'all,
My family and i are moving west to east and wondering what anyone with relevant experience would think of this:

We would be driving a E450 PSD 7.3 4R100 dually (13k lbs total) towing a 24ft flatdeck (16k lbs total).

Is it doable of we take it easy? Everything is in tip top shape and within local regulations. I also have a switch on the torque converter clutch, and a temp gauge on the tranny to make sure i keep on eye on things.

Any recommendations?

Cheers

 

[Believer45]

Going by your number, you are dealing with 29,000 lbs combined vehicle weight (truck and trailer both), 13,000 lbs plus 10% of the bumper pull trailer as tongue weight so 14,700 lbs weight on the van itself. I have not been able to find tow ratings for an E450 older than 2003 but those values show GVWR for an 03 as 14,050 lbs so you would be 650 lbs over on the van itself (assuming the ratings on a 1999 are similar), not perfect but not a huge problem in my opinion. The problem comes with towing a 16,000 lb trailer. Combined weight rating for a 2003 E450 with 4.10 gears is 20,000 lbs, the combined weight rating for 3.55 gears is 16,000 lbs so you would be either 9,000 or 13.000 lbs OVER the maximum combined weight rating of a 2003. I am assuming the ratings for a 1999 would be somewhere close to those numbers. Trailer is way too heavy for what you want to pull it with. If you have the manuals for your van you may be able to get the ratings for your 1999. All tow and weight ratings I have dealt with over the last 50+ years have been going up as time passes so your 1999 ratings would most likely not be higher than the 2003 figures I found.

You also say moving west to east but not where to where. You would be dealing with one to three mountain ranges with some rather high passes, depending on where you are starting from and ending.

As I said, way too much trailer for your van. 4 1/2 to 6 1/2 tons over ratings.

Dave / Believer45