Trackrig wrote:
How are you going to "officially" re-certify the truck?
Ford issued the original certification which considers the engine, transmission, brakes and suspension, are they going to redo it for your truck by re-analyzing all of the components as a whole? I didn't know a vehicle could have its weight capacities re-certified?
Live and learn?
And to answer your question, I tow a TT that's about 8,500# behind an F250 2005 diesel in a lot of mountains and that's about all I want to do. I did tow an 11,000# track rig on a 1,500# equipment trailer for 50 miles last week. It's more than I'd want to tow on a regular basis. The cooling fan kicked on several times both in traffic and on a couple of short hills. The plan is to move up to an F450 in two years.
Bill
There are many places that can re-certifiy a vehicle. They are typically up-fitters that install utility bodies, flatbeds, dump beds, bucket lifts, etc. Most any truck that has had the bed replaced with an aftermarket one has a sticker on it listing who did the up-fit, if they re-certified the GVWR, and what the new GVWR is. Trucks that leave the factory with no bed as a cab & chassis are considered incomplete vehicles and receive a sticker from whoever installs the bed.
I once wanted to buy a new '05 Dodge dually and have a tool box body installed. Dodge said they had problems with the frames cracking on the duallys with heavy tool bodies and that they would void the warranty if I had one installed. I talked to the local certified truck bed company. They said that Dodge told them the same thing, they would loose their Dodge certification if they put an aftermarket bed on one of the new duallys. So, I bought a Chevy.
The point is, manufacturers do work with up-fitters who modify their trucks.