1988 F150 tow capacity / Limited slip differential?
09-30-2012, 08:29 PM
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1988 F150 tow capacity / Limited slip differential?
Hello,
I need a truck for my farm to haul a Ford 5000 tractor with. I currently have a Ford Ranger truck with a 4.0L V6 which I love but which is too light for this type of towing. A coworker of mine has a 1988 Ford F150 which he would like to sell me to very reasonable. It has about 98k miles on it which is almost unheard of for a truck of this vintage but he only drives it once every few months. He has owned it since it was new. I was wondering if this truck is heavy enough to tow around 6000 lbs? I was also wondering if these trucks have any sort of limited slip differential in them for driving offroad in grass fields? I put the VIN number into the VIN decoder here on the site but it did not return much. All it told me was that it has the 5.0L engine in it but not much else. it is a stick shift also. The VIN number is 1FTDF15N1JNA00xxx (last three digits xxxed out).
Thanks for any info anyone can provide. This truck is old but is in pretty good shape for its age.
I need a truck for my farm to haul a Ford 5000 tractor with. I currently have a Ford Ranger truck with a 4.0L V6 which I love but which is too light for this type of towing. A coworker of mine has a 1988 Ford F150 which he would like to sell me to very reasonable. It has about 98k miles on it which is almost unheard of for a truck of this vintage but he only drives it once every few months. He has owned it since it was new. I was wondering if this truck is heavy enough to tow around 6000 lbs? I was also wondering if these trucks have any sort of limited slip differential in them for driving offroad in grass fields? I put the VIN number into the VIN decoder here on the site but it did not return much. All it told me was that it has the 5.0L engine in it but not much else. it is a stick shift also. The VIN number is 1FTDF15N1JNA00xxx (last three digits xxxed out).
Thanks for any info anyone can provide. This truck is old but is in pretty good shape for its age.
09-30-2012, 09:59 PM
#2
Well the obvious is to test drive it towing. In those days the manual tranny had a very low tow rating compared to the AT. The axle type is on the door jam label. Plenty of places online to look it up after getting it. If its 19, 29 or 39 its open I believe but could be wrong.
10-02-2012, 12:04 AM
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Thanksfor the info but....
What exactly do you mean by If its 19, 29 or 39 its open?? Rear end gear teeth, splines? Also, why would a manual have less towing capacity? I would think it would have more because you could slip the clutch easier. Am I missing something?
Last edited by gdk771; 10-02-2012 at 12:12 AM.
11-27-2012, 07:41 PM
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hey i know im lil late on this but dont let that lil ranger make u think it cant tow i hauled 7000lbs with mine i was haulin my 04 ranger on a 14ft solid steel trailer no problem and also hauled a 20ft tri axle pintle hitch dry was about 4000lbs down the I40 here in tn at 70mph no problem all my ranger is a stock 4L OHV with a stock A4LD trans
11-29-2012, 05:21 PM
#5
88 f150 sounds to be a perfect farm truck. If taken care of that truck will last another hundred thousand miles easy. Towing a tractor like that would probably be close to max capacity for a half ton pickup. The engine and drivetrane would probably be fine but the truck might swim down the road a little. You could however, up grade the front shocks and rear leaf springs to make a stiffer ride and better controle when under load