1956 F100 what can it pull?

The 9" rear end was used in F100's, F150's, full size Broncos, Econoline E100's, E150's and most of Ford/Mercury/Lincoln's full size and mid size passenger car line during the 60's, 70's and early 80's. So that gives a good idea of what the axle's weight carrying capacity is.

All Ford 9" rears are not equal. There are small housing and big housing versions, as well as small bearing and big bearing versions and different axle shaft diameters and spline counts. So, they all have slightly different weight carrying capacities. 2500-4000 lbs seems to be the range of capacity that I have seen for the various versions of 9" rears.

Of course, you can have Currie, Dynatrac or Dutchmen custom build you a Ford 9" or Dana 60 rear to do just about anything you want it to do, if you have the money. :)

With good LT tires instead of the weekend drag slicks I think you will be fine.
I would be more inclined to get some custom rear springs more than air bags.

Press new bearings on the rear axles to make sure they are tight. My old Mustang (9" rear) had one come loose on a mountain road.

An old rule of th thumb I learned years ago before the current advent of gcwr ratings. 2x grawr = max trailer at you want to pull with a given rig. The more hp torque, gears etc, = better performance.
If your truck has say 4000 lbs of tires as lowest denominator tween Adele, springs, braking capacity etc to range, then max trailer is 8000 lbs you want behind the truck.
Generally speaking. For older half tons like this, 5-6000 lbs is probably about max you want to pull from a chassis standpoint. You may have the engine that can do 10-15k......go for lowest denominator.
Marty

The problem I have is that you can say all these things are "built," "beefy," and "heavy duty" but you're not giving us any numbers.

"Heavy duty" means a lot of things to a lot of people. Anything rated for more than "stock" is considered "heavy duty." Your "heavy duty" airbags may be rated for more than the stock airbags, but are they rated for the 4500-ish pounds of weight that will likely be on this truck's rear axle?

The terms "built" and "beefy" also suffer from the same problem. There's "built/beefy" as in more than stock, and "built/beefy" as in designed for the intended purpose. Those can be two different things.

I have no doubt that if you use the correct components, and do quality work, what you want to do will work marvelously.

You can build that truck out to tow however much you want it to tow. The onus is on you to do your homework to make sure the parts you choose are up to the task.

I have a couple of picture of before and now but can't figure out how to post them.

dvargas2040 wrote:
What I really want to know is, is there somewhere I can take my truck
that will test the pulling rate and tell me the maximum trailer weight I can pull? I'm not sure how Ford tests their trucks to determine how much trailer weight capacity can be used, but that's what I'm after. If anyone knows the answer that I seek, please reply.

For several years each manufacturer had their own tests and in the mid-2000's we were head long in the towing wars. Of course those claims always came with asterisks....i.e. which engine, cab, trim, 2X4 or 4X4...those all factored in to what the OEM claimed they could tow. They still do, but which tests were performed with various packages varied by manufacturer.

After 2010, SAE- Society for Automotive Engineers proposed SAE Standard J2807 to level the playing field so that consumers could have an apples to apples comparison for tow ratings. Of course each OEM wanted to make sure their interests were protected but it seems beginning in the model year 2015 the US Big 3 adopted the J2807 Towing Standard.

I found a link describing SAE Standard J2807 for Towing Capacities. The kicker is SAE wants $74 to download the document. If you're dead set on pursuing this I'm sure you could get the document or search corners of the internet until you find the details. The next big question is once you have the info, would you be able to find a proving ground with the necessary equipment to conduct the test and establish a new GVWR and GCWR for your '56.

From your description of the truck it sounds like you have extensive fabrication skills. I'd say with all of your proposed mods to the truck it will be sufficiently capable of towing the trailer you suggested. As others have suggested retro trailers I have to say I'd go with that too. At minimum if you pulled an Airstream or an old Avion it would fit a little better as both of those have a very unchanged, retro look.

Good Luck.

Kevin

dvargas2040 wrote:
What I really want to know is, is there somewhere I can take my truck
that will test the pulling rate and tell me the maximum trailer weight I can pull? I'm not sure how Ford tests their trucks to determine how much trailer weight capacity can be used, but that's what I'm after. If anyone knows the answer that I seek, please reply.

No matter what you do, it is still a 1/2 ton, short wheel base truck. Limit the trailer length to 25 feet maximum, and weight to no more than 7,000 pound trailer GVW. You won't be happy with a trailer pushing your truck around like the tail wagging the dog.

I think the best you can do is get specifications for the different components you are piecing together. The weakest component rating will be your limit. As I posted earlier, that semi floating axle you chose may handle horsepower well but does not have much weight carrying capacity compared to a full floating axle. That will limit your payload which will limit your hitch weight which will limit the trailer weight.

What I really want to know is, is there somewhere I can take my truck
that will test the pulling rate and tell me the maximum trailer weight I can pull? I'm not sure how Ford tests their trucks to determine how much trailer weight capacity can be used, but that's what I'm after. If anyone knows the answer that I seek, please reply.

wowens79 wrote:
I'd just like to hear that thing pulling up a long hill, bet it will sound awesome!!

I was at a rest stop on somewhere on I90 in SD back in 92 or 93. I remember an F350 dually towing a large 5`er going by as I was walking my dog. this thing sounded awesome. I would guess by the sound it had the 460, probably spinning at 3+000 RPM. best sounding thing I had heard up till that time!