GCVWR?

I really love these vans. I've been driving this one for 14 years, with over 150,000 miles, and it is great!! I know every inch of it!!

I'm sad that these are going to be phased out, probably next year. Am wondering if I should upgrade to a new E-350 while I have the opportunity, or just wait a few years and go to an F-350. I drove a F-250 and didn't ride as high in my seat, the front end was too big (compared to the E-350), but it can tow a 5th wheel someday (which may be 15 years in my future anyway).

Redterpos3 wrote:
My concern is that I'm not going to break something by being too heavy.

No need to worry. I'm pulling over double your weight with nearly the same van, and mine is still doing great at 372,000 miles! About my only suggestion would be to install a transmission temp gauge. It's actually not pulling mountain passes that cause the hottest transmission temps. It's doing stuff like getting off the freeway then backing into a driveway, since it was just run hard then airflow suddenly stopped.

If I'm understanding right. I'm good on all my numbers, not going over any of the ratings. It is really just a matter of needing to go slower the heavier I weigh (assuming I'm not going over any of the weight ratings that are affixed to the door). The heavier I weigh the more slowly it will go over hills, mountains, etc. My concern is that I'm not going to break something by being too heavy.

I really appreciate all the help here!! This is the info I was wondering about! I did pretty well in putting this rig together back in 2000 when towing was just a shining light in the distance. One thing I didn't understand was the ratio for the axle. I was wondering if my GCVWR was 15,000 or could go to 18,000.

I have the E-350 - 6.8L V-10 (excellent engine) with 3.73 limited slip axle. I have a GVWR of 10,000 lbs. My front GAWR = 5600; rear GAWR 6100. My Tires are LT275/65R20E.

My Trailer is between 7000-7500 depending what I put in it (many weights from CAT scale), but has a GVWR of 10,000lbs.

On my first trips I was just under 15,000 lbs, and later trips I added more weight a was a bit around 15,500 lbs. My axle ratings never got close (except for the heaviest being about 600lbs away from rear weight rating w/o WDH).

Thanks for the help, I'm starting to get a handle on the weights and how to read the weights at the CAT scale!!

As some have stated, GCVWR is a performance rating assigned by the manufacturer based on engine/axle ratio/tire size using their own criteria. There will be differences between manufacturers and there will be 'adjustments' between models and even model years due to the competitive market. As indicated, if you are happy with the performance given your real world needs, then that is really all that matters.

GCVWR like Maximum trailer weight, is not a safety issue so you won't find it on most vehicles DOT safety data plate. Your manufacturer can give you the information as it pertains to your particular vehicle and if you have an owners manual it is often found there. Of course if your vehicle has no factory warranty on it, the information can still be useful but doesn't really apply to anything. It merely tells you what your vehicle warranty would cover when it comes to trailer towing. It is usually a good idea to follow these ratings anyway as they indicate what the manufacturer is willing to guarantee you can tow without damaging your vehicle. If you're paying for repairs yourself it would benefit you to have no more repairs than you have to.
Good luck / Skip

Golden_HVAC wrote:
If you find the VIN number on the door sticker, enter it here.

Golden_HVAC wrote:
You can find your vehicle assembly plant, engine size, ect with this VIN decoder.

https://www.fleet.ford.com/maintenance/vin_tools/default.asp

I found out mine is a F53 chassis, V8, assembled in Mexico.

Yes I already knew that, but it is a cool website anyway.

I also found a towing guide for 2007 models.

https://www.fleet.ford.com/showroom/rv_trailer_towing/2007/2007_default.asp

You can change model year 2007 to a range from 2002 to present model year.

Fred.

You will still need to look up the axle code. It will also be on the door sticker, it might be a V or a U or a W or some other letter. By knowing that, you can find out the rear axle ratio and if it is limited slip or not.

By clicking on the towing guide for your model year, you can find the GCVWR there. I have never seen it in my owner manual. You will need to know the engine size, rear axle ratio, and then can look it up.

I think that all E-series vans are limited to tow only a 10,000 pound trailer. Remember that a 10,000 pound trailer will have about 1,000 pounds of hitch weight, and about 9,000 on the trailer axles. So your cargo inside the van is limited by both the GVWR, rear axle weight rating, and GCVWR. Lets say you have a 9,500 pound GVWR and 6,000 pound rear axle weight rating, and 18,500 GCVWR.

If you want to tow a 10,000 pound trailer then the curb weight of the van must be below 8,500 before hooking up (to not exceed the 18,500 pound limit GCVWR) and the rear axle must be less than about 4,500 pounds (because adding 1,000 pounds 56" behind the rear axle will transfer weight from the front axle to the rear one, and you will be reaching that 6,000 pound limit (because of the 3042 pound rated tires) rather quickly.

When you drive across the scales, it is fine if the van is 9,400 pounds and the trailer another 9,000 pounds. You will need to make sure that the rear van axle is less than 6,000 pounds. Anything close to 6,000 pounds most likely means one tire or the other is over 3,042 pound weight rating.


Good luck!

Fred.

In general what you are saying is true, but as always there are exceptions and my Van is one. My Van has the max ratings for everything that I think Ford ever offered from the factory for the E-350. My Van with the 7.3L and 4.10 has a GVWR of 9500, a GCVWR of 20,000, a max tow of 10K/1K with WD (limited by the receiver rating), a FAWR of 4600 (normal E-350 max is 4400, but I have the factory ONE UP option that adds 200lbs), and a RAWR of 6084 (axle is rated at 6340lb at ground, but is limited by stock tire size).

Thus my max tow is never reduced by the cargo added to the Van.

One interesting side note and this mainly applies to the 7.3L vans which only came stock with either a 3.55 or 4.10 is that if you typically have your Van weighing normally at around 7500 to 8,000lbs the mpg in town can actually be better with the 4.10 than with the 3.55 and even freeway at max speeds of under 65 is so close to what the 3.55 gets is almost negligible. Typically my Van when not towing or carrying extra cargo weighs in at right around 7700lbs and is almost exactly balanced between the front and rear axles, but I have a lot of weight normally in the rear due to my custom interior mods. I'm not all that familiar with the V10, but thought the rears offered were either 3.73 or 4.30 from the factory for the E-350 and there the 4.30 probably does suffer mpg wise vs. the 3.73. I think the 7.3L and 4.10 combo is sort of unique in that with the 4R100 tranny and the shift points it continually sits right in the "sweet spot" for the 7.3L engine mpg wise. I made one non towing road trip of 2000 miles round trip once and kept the max speed at 60mpg and got in excess of 18mpg between freeway fillups. Now if you were to compare mpgs at 70mph or 75mph almost all freeway I would loose out over the 3.55, but my WAG would be only like 2 to maybe 3mpg. I can typically get with a 60/40 mix of freeway to in town mpg in the 15 to 16mpg range and towing at a GCW of 16,500 to 17,000 average 10 to 11 based on almost 60K miles of actual on the road towing to date.

Larry

Link does not show MAx Gross combined but maybe other info listed might help you out.

http://www.trailerlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Trailer-Life-Towing-Guide-2000.pdf

I don't believe the VIN shows the axle ratio. There is a separate box on the door placard with an axle code (also needs to be decoded) and that will tell you the factory installed ratio. Or you can look at the tag attached to the diff cover.

If you find the VIN number on the door sticker, enter it here.

Golden_HVAC wrote:
You can find your vehicle assembly plant, engine size, ect with this VIN decoder.

https://www.fleet.ford.com/maintenance/vin_tools/default.asp

I found out mine is a F53 chassis, V8, assembled in Mexico.

Yes I already knew that, but it is a cool website anyway.

I also found a towing guide for 2007 models.

https://www.fleet.ford.com/showroom/rv_trailer_towing/2007/2007_default.asp

You can change model year 2007 to a range from 2002 to present model year.

Fred.

You will still need to look up the axle code. It will also be on the door sticker, it might be a V or a U or a W or some other letter. By knowing that, you can find out the rear axle ratio and if it is limited slip or not.

By clicking on the towing guide for your model year, you can find the GCVWR there. I have never seen it in my owner manual. You will need to know the engine size, rear axle ratio, and then can look it up.

I think that all E-series vans are limited to tow only a 10,000 pound trailer. Remember that a 10,000 pound trailer will have about 1,000 pounds of hitch weight, and about 9,000 on the trailer axles. So your cargo inside the van is limited by both the GVWR, rear axle weight rating, and GCVWR. Lets say you have a 9,500 pound GVWR and 6,000 pound rear axle weight rating, and 18,500 GCVWR.

If you want to tow a 10,000 pound trailer then the curb weight of the van must be below 8,500 before hooking up (to not exceed the 18,500 pound limit GCVWR) and the rear axle must be less than about 4,500 pounds (because adding 1,000 pounds 56" behind the rear axle will transfer weight from the front axle to the rear one, and you will be reaching that 6,000 pound limit (because of the 3042 pound rated tires) rather quickly.

When you drive across the scales, it is fine if the van is 9,400 pounds and the trailer another 9,000 pounds. You will need to make sure that the rear van axle is less than 6,000 pounds. Anything close to 6,000 pounds most likely means one tire or the other is over 3,042 pound weight rating.


Good luck!

Fred.